bzzboyz
01-31-2005, 10:46 AM
Officials seek to reintroduce black bears to East Texas woodlands
BY ART CHAPMAN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
FORT WORTH, Texas - (KRT) - In the dark shadows of densely wooded East Texas there are many creatures that add to the area's mystery and lore. Big cats cry out across the woodlands; alligators patrol the swamps, and some even hint of a Bigfoot roaming the Big Thicket.
Now, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials say, there are black bears in those woods too, and more are expected to come.
And they say the region needs to have a plan ready to handle them.
The black bear is a part of Texas' natural heritage and forest ecology, the department said in a recent announcement. The Louisiana black bear, it points out, is on the federal threatened species list, and because restoration efforts in Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma have been successful, the bears are slowly returning to East Texas.
Nathan Garner, wildlife division regional director in Tyler, said the state has to be ready for when the bears wander into town and rummage through the trash.
Black bears are in East Texas in limited numbers. So far, just a few solitary males have wandered in from bordering states. The Parks and Wildlife Department says it has documented 47 bear sightings in East Texas since 1977, about two-thirds of those between 1991 and 2004.
Parks and Wildlife officials held several public hearings in Southeast Texas last year; and a series of hearings began this week in the northeast part of the state.
The purpose of the meetings is to explain a draft of an East Texas Black Bear Conservation and Management Plan.
The plan is only a draft, and public input is being sought to complete it.
Several hundred residents attended last year's meetings to learn about the program, a part of which includes a proposal to relocate 30 females and their cubs to the area.
"That is the most controversial part of the plan," Garner said from his office in Tyler last week. "That is where the most opposition is. But we don't want to put bears out there just to speed things up; we would want to introduce them to see if we could expect them to do well. Maybe East Texas cannot support bears any more. The bears would tell us pretty soon."
Garner said he doubts that the state will relocate outside bears to the Piney Woods. "We would literally have to have people knocking our doors down wanting more bears in their counties. And I don't forsee that happening."
It is occurring to some extent across the state line in Louisiana, however. Garner said people in the adjoining state have accepted the bears and several towns and parishes are having bear festivals. "They are saying, `Let's celebrate them.' They have decided that the bears can be a boost to their economy.
"I don't know if East Texas will ever embrace the bears like that."
There will be a slow increase in East Texas black bears nevertheless, Garner said.
The bears, in significant numbers, have been gone from the East Texas landscape for 50 years, he added. But they are coming back on their own and he said the residents need to be ready.
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PUBLIC MEETINGS
The public is invited to the meetings to learn more about the draft East Texas Black Bear Conservation and Management Plan and to have the opportunity to ask questions and comment about the plan. A meeting was held Monday in Mount Pleasant in Titus County. Upcoming:
Jan. 31 - Marshall, Harrison County, Harrison County Courthouse, 200 W. Houston, 71st District Courtroom, Second Floor.
Feb. 1 - Texarkana, Bowie County, Texarkana City Hall Council Room, 220 Texas Blvd.
Feb. 2 - Clarksville, Red River County, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Service Center, 900 E. Main St.
Feb. 3 - Paris, Lamar County, Lamar County Courthouse Annex, 231 Lamar Ave., County Court Room.
Meetings start at 7 p.m.
BY ART CHAPMAN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
FORT WORTH, Texas - (KRT) - In the dark shadows of densely wooded East Texas there are many creatures that add to the area's mystery and lore. Big cats cry out across the woodlands; alligators patrol the swamps, and some even hint of a Bigfoot roaming the Big Thicket.
Now, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials say, there are black bears in those woods too, and more are expected to come.
And they say the region needs to have a plan ready to handle them.
The black bear is a part of Texas' natural heritage and forest ecology, the department said in a recent announcement. The Louisiana black bear, it points out, is on the federal threatened species list, and because restoration efforts in Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma have been successful, the bears are slowly returning to East Texas.
Nathan Garner, wildlife division regional director in Tyler, said the state has to be ready for when the bears wander into town and rummage through the trash.
Black bears are in East Texas in limited numbers. So far, just a few solitary males have wandered in from bordering states. The Parks and Wildlife Department says it has documented 47 bear sightings in East Texas since 1977, about two-thirds of those between 1991 and 2004.
Parks and Wildlife officials held several public hearings in Southeast Texas last year; and a series of hearings began this week in the northeast part of the state.
The purpose of the meetings is to explain a draft of an East Texas Black Bear Conservation and Management Plan.
The plan is only a draft, and public input is being sought to complete it.
Several hundred residents attended last year's meetings to learn about the program, a part of which includes a proposal to relocate 30 females and their cubs to the area.
"That is the most controversial part of the plan," Garner said from his office in Tyler last week. "That is where the most opposition is. But we don't want to put bears out there just to speed things up; we would want to introduce them to see if we could expect them to do well. Maybe East Texas cannot support bears any more. The bears would tell us pretty soon."
Garner said he doubts that the state will relocate outside bears to the Piney Woods. "We would literally have to have people knocking our doors down wanting more bears in their counties. And I don't forsee that happening."
It is occurring to some extent across the state line in Louisiana, however. Garner said people in the adjoining state have accepted the bears and several towns and parishes are having bear festivals. "They are saying, `Let's celebrate them.' They have decided that the bears can be a boost to their economy.
"I don't know if East Texas will ever embrace the bears like that."
There will be a slow increase in East Texas black bears nevertheless, Garner said.
The bears, in significant numbers, have been gone from the East Texas landscape for 50 years, he added. But they are coming back on their own and he said the residents need to be ready.
_
PUBLIC MEETINGS
The public is invited to the meetings to learn more about the draft East Texas Black Bear Conservation and Management Plan and to have the opportunity to ask questions and comment about the plan. A meeting was held Monday in Mount Pleasant in Titus County. Upcoming:
Jan. 31 - Marshall, Harrison County, Harrison County Courthouse, 200 W. Houston, 71st District Courtroom, Second Floor.
Feb. 1 - Texarkana, Bowie County, Texarkana City Hall Council Room, 220 Texas Blvd.
Feb. 2 - Clarksville, Red River County, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Service Center, 900 E. Main St.
Feb. 3 - Paris, Lamar County, Lamar County Courthouse Annex, 231 Lamar Ave., County Court Room.
Meetings start at 7 p.m.