Ceding to the concerns of the state of Idaho, U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton moved yesterday to abandon plans to reintroduce grizzly bears into the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana and Idaho. Grizzlies have been removed from 98 percent of their historic range and only 1,000 or so remain south of Canada. The Clinton administration’s reintroduction plan was built on the work of a local partnership of environmentalists, timber officials, and mill workers — just the sort of model that Norton and her ilk claim to love. But Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R) has said he doesn’t want “massive, flesh-eating carnivores” reintroduced into his state (note: grizzlies are omnivores). Norton said she remained “fully committed” to the recovery of the bears.
