Bear researcher on trial

[Lee Borgersen]

February 25, 2014
 
...   Ely bear researcher’s controversial methods on trial

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64EHj9gF1U#t=58[/youtube]

The controversial methods of Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers essentially went on trial Monday in St. Paul. At issue, before the state’s chief administrative law judge, is a years-long dispute between Rogers and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources over Rogers’ state permit to affix bears with radio collars.

   more.....
The controversial methods of Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers essentially went on trial Monday in St. Paul.

At issue, before the state’s chief administrative law judge, is a years-long dispute between Rogers and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources over Rogers’ state permit to affix bears with radio collars.

Last year, the DNR declined to renew Rogers’ longstanding permit, alleging Rogers and his staff and volunteers at the Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center were creating a public safety hazard by hand-feeding bears.

Rogers disputes that.

Rogers sued in Ramsey County Court. That case settled with an agreement to proceed before an administrative law judge. In the meantime, Rogers was allowed to maintain a number of collars on wild black bears but was ordered to cease with his popular “den cams,” which brought international interest to several bears, as well as Rogers and his organizations.

That administrative proceeding began its climax Monday before Chief Administrative Law Judge Tammy Pust.

With dozens of potential witnesses and hundreds of exhibits — more than 800 for the DNR — it could last more than a week.

At the beginning of Monday’s proceeding, Pust explained that at the conclusion, she will issue a final report.

However, the final decision — on whether the DNR was justified in failing to renew Rogers’ permit — will rest with the DNR. The agency has stated it will appoint a DNR official not affiliated with the controversy to make the final call.

[DDSBYDAY]

  Looks like he wants them for his own personal pets.  It didn't work out for the Grizzly guy.

     [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTJlr6xVxKc[/youtube]


 

[Cody Gruchow]

finally they are standing up to this guys BS. I love it. 

[dew2]

finally they are standing up to this guys BS. I love it. 

Some of this richard heads bears eat out oF peoples hands!The guy was a nut case when he started. I remember when he did!! Save the bears was his first public opinion!! Long time  ago.Then it got scientific and if anyone ever went there its nothig but HIS anti hunting,Now its spread over the years and the den birth videos have lots of nonhunting followers.The guys a rat in mouse clothing!!

[beeker]

No science in his methods at all. Freeloader I need a grant to study the effects of not working on my hunting returns

[kenhuntin]

When will he show off the scars on his limbs from bear attacks? Maybe his autopsy will be published for the good of future bear cuddlers.

[greatoutdoors]

Lynn Rogers isn't doing himself any good by belittling DNR witnesses to downplay their testimony!
I have some strong feelings about this, that I do not want to put into print!

[beeker]

no need to express it (think I can read your mind). hopefully the judge see's though his BS and sides with the DNR

[Lee Borgersen]

  DNR: Lynn Rogers gave instructions for mouth-to-mouth bear feeding.

Lynn Rogers Ely MN August 2011 Ely, Minn., bear researcher Lynn Rogers offers nuts from his mouth to a wild black bear. Behaviors like this by Rogers have drawn criticism. This photo, taken by a participant in one of Rogers' courses, was obtained from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources via a public records request. Rogers never wanted it to become public. "I told people, please do not post this," he said. "The public would not understand. We would lose credibility. ... It would look like we were advocating that, which we're not. It would make us look foolish, which it does."

  Read more  ....
http://www.twincities.com/outdoors/ci_25250205/dnr-lynn-rogers-gave-instructions-mouth-mouth-bear?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com

[kenhuntin]

I believe the article should be edited to read
" Bear researcher Lynn Rogers offers the fact that He is nuts by mouth to mouth bear feeding"

[Lee Borgersen]

I believe the article should be edited to read
" Bear researcher Lynn Rogers offers the fact that He is nuts by mouth to mouth bear feeding"

  I second your motion!

[glenn57]

ya think BOAR with all his supposed bear knowledge does this????????

[beeker]

I believe we have a new picture for the "write a caption" segment

Bear thought bubble "well at least it's not honey smeared on his crack again"

[DDSBYDAY]

 

[Lee Borgersen]

                      Updated: 3/5/14

Residents at Ely bear researcher's 'trial' say no bear problems in area.


The wild black bears studied by Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers aren’t dangerous and don’t cause problems, several property owners of a northern Minnesota community told an administrative law judge Tuesday.

  ..... more

ST. PAUL - The wild black bears studied by Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers aren’t dangerous and don’t cause problems, several property owners of a northern Minnesota community told an administrative law judge Tuesday.

Their testimony contrasts with accounts last week by fellow property owners that bears around Eagle’s Nest Township between Ely and Tower had become so used to people -- and see people as a source of food -- that they sometimes won’t leave, even when hazed.

The differing accounts came during the second week of legal proceedings involving Rogers. In essence, Rogers’ controversial methods, which include feeding bears from his hand, are on trial.

Last year, the Department of Natural Resources refused to renew Rogers’ longstanding research permit to collar bears and install video cameras in their winter dens. Rogers challenged that decision, and the question of whether the DNR acted properly is being argued in front of Chief Administrative Law Judge Tammy Pust in St. Paul.

Last week, Pust heard the DNR’s case, including accounts from several people who own homes or cabins in Eagle’s Nest and related experiences where bears, often those with Rogers’ research collars, refused to leave garages, decks and driveways, sometimes with small children nearby, forcing them to change their lifestyles.

This week, Rogers’ attorney are presenting his side, and they’re calling witnesses who portray a different experience.

"I do what I do when I'm at the cabin,” said Sherry Hill, a Bemidji resident who spends weekends at a cabin in the Eagles Nest area, which has about 600 property owners. “I have things to get done and I get them done. ... My nieces play outside.”

Hill is among a number of residents of the area who feed bears. Hill said she often spends about $100 at Walmart on food like grapes and trail mix to feed to bears from a trough in her backyard.

Another resident, Charlie Meyer, said he began feeding bears the second day he spent in his cabin, in 1998. “We've always enjoyed feeding the wildlife wherever we lived, so it was just natural to feed the wildlife,” he said.

Such behavior flies in the face of advice by every state and provincial wildlife agency and the vast majority of wildlife biologists in the United States and Canada. It’s also against the advice of at least one part of Rogers’ website; yet Rogers’ also espouses the benefits of feeding bears to reduce human conflicts.

The feeding by residents of the Eagle’s Nest is a major reason Rogers said he chose the area to study -- to study the effects of feeding on black bears.

Rogers’ views and actions surrounding food and bears are at the center of the DNR’s case. Rogers also hand feeds bears as a way to build trust so he can walk with them in the woods. He says it’s to study them; the DNR alleges it’s to provide little more than entertainment to people who pay Rogers to attend his bear course.

Rogers also has fed bears food from his mouth and overseen at least one instance where a teenage boy did the same, according to undisputed evidence presented so far.

The DNR has accused Rogers of doing little actual science in the topic of food. Under questioning by attorneys representing the DNR, neither Hill nor Meyer recall being approached by Rogers to participate in his research on the effects of feeding. Meyer buys his bear food -- sunflower seeds -- from Rogers directly.

Also on Tuesday, two former bear course participants testified in support of Rogers. Roberta Sonnino, a vice dean at Wayne State University who specializes in scholarship, said she believes Rogers is performing science, although he hasn’t published anything in a peer-reviewed journal based on data from his current research permit. Thomas Wood, an associate professor of conservation studies at George Mason University, said Rogers’ ability to be close to wild bears without causing them stress offers “tremendous potential” for research.

On Tuesday morning, Pust denied a bid by Rogers to have the case dismissed, in part, on grounds that he doesn’t actually need a research permit to collar bears and install den cams. But Pust said the DNR had provided enough evidence so far that could establish that he, through his feedings, exerts enough control over the bears to require a permit.

One example she gave was based on a video the DNR presented of a scene on the deck of the cabin of Rogers’ Wildlife Research Institute:

“The individual wanted the bear to dance for the amusement of those gathered to watch, and the individual’s actions did in fact cause the bear to dance,” Pust wrote. “Therefore, a reasonable inference would be that the individual had constructive possession over the bear. The evidence of constructive possession would include the individual’s action of feeding the bear.”

[Lee Borgersen]

                    ....Update

 Court: Rogers can’t collar bears, but he can place den cams

  ..........
The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday gave what amounted to a win for both parties in the case of Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers versus the Minnesota DNR.
Rogers will not be able to collar bears but he will be able to place cameras in bear dens.
The DNR, however, has pointed out there is a state law that requires a permit to disturb bear dens between Nov. 1 and April 1.
In a press release, Rogers said he will resume den camera broadcasts this winter.
The DNR has stated that Rogers could place the den camera prior to Nov. 1 without a permit. But he couldn’t go in and adjust it.
On the issue of collaring bears, the DNR was the clear winner.
The court ruled that the DNR has authority to require a permit to collar bears since collaring falls under possession of an animal.
The court wrote, “The act of attaching a radio collar to an habituated black bear with the resulting capacities to remotely track and locate the bear in the wild and to locate the den of the bear, amounts to constructive possession of the wild animal.”
Rogers said in the press release that he “is considering whether to re-apply for a permit to radio collar bears, or appeal this narrow legal issue to the Minnesota Supreme Court.”
The issue turned into a legal one after the DNR denied Rogers a permit to collar bears and had an administrative law judge rule in the agency’s favor.
Rogers appealed the ruling and the Court of Appeals issued its opinion Monday.
The court compared den cameras to trail or game cameras now commonly used by hunters and outdoorsmen.
“We note that the use of trail cameras and the like is commonplace; they are used by hunters and wildlife enthusiasts. No argument is made in this appeal that automated photography of wildlife requires a permit.”
Rogers was first given a permit to collar bears in April of 1999.
The research turned into a business in 2003 when through his Wildlife Research Institute, Rogers operated a bear field study course.
The court wrote, “For $2,500 each, participants may participate in a four-day program that allows them to locate a collared bear in the wild, observe bears at WRI, listen to lectures presented by relator, visit an unoccupied bear den, look for bear signs in the forest, analyze bear scat, and, until 2012, hand feed uncollared and collared bears, as well as pet, kiss, sit next to, and pose for pictures with bears.”
In June 2013, the DNR decided not to renew Rogers’ permit due to public safety concerns and a lack of peer-reviewed studies based on his research permit.
The court noted Rogers research was “built upon intentional activities that cause habituation in bears.
“Rogers habituated bears using food. As a result he is able to closely observe bears, rest with them, and place radio collars around their necks. The bears are ‘continually fed’ at WRI from feeding troughs and, until 2012, by hand. Rogers is able to get close enough to the bears to take their pulse. Rogers also pets, pats, strokes, and engages in other physical contact with the bears.”
The DNR started investigating Rogers in 2012 after incidents where bears came in contact with people in the Eagles Nest Area.
The court noted in 2013, the DNR received information that Rogers had taught over 650 bear field study course participants how to feed bears by hand.
The focus of the case in relation to collaring bears was what the definition of possession was in relation to Rogers’ activities.
“We hold that the act of attaching a radio collar to a bear with the attendant capacities to track and locate the bear in the wild and to locate the bear’s den amounts to constructive possession of the bear,” was the court’s ruling.
The two sides have been spent a combing $850,000 in legal fees on these issues.
Rogers has said there are 50 wild bears in the Eagles Nest area that are human-habituated and food conditioned.
Minnesota’s game and fish laws make it clear that bears are wild animals owned by the state.

[Cody Gruchow]

You can't say that den cams are the same as trail cameras. This guy is a fraud. Cant stand these tree huggers.