MISSOULA, Mont. — Wildlife conservation groups have sued BNSF Railway, saying the railroad’s trains are violating the Endangered Species Act by hitting and killing grizzly bears.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Missoula by WildEarth Guardians and the Western Watersheds Project says 63 grizzly bears have been killed by BNSF trains in an area of Montana designed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a “recovery zone” for the threatened bears. It asks that the court find that the railroad is violating the Endangered Species Act and order it to “cease causing take of grizzly bears ” — such as wounding, killing, or capture — as well as other relief the court deems appropriate.
The suit argues that there are actions the railroad could take to lessen the chance a train could strike a grizzly bear, including reducing train speeds around curves, in canyons or other areas with few escape routes for bears; systems with flashing lights or bells that would warn of an approaching train; motion-sensor alarms or electrified mats near trestles to keep bears off bridges; preventing grain spills on the right-of-way; and promptly removing livestock carcasses from the railway.
“When a company chooses to operate in the epicenter of key habitat for a threatened species, it must take some responsibility to adapt practices to minimize its impacts on these animals,” Sarah McMillan, wildlife and wildlands program director at the Western Environmental Law Center in Missoula, said in a press release. Said Erik Molvar of the Western Watersheds Project, “The Burlington Northern railway runs right alongside Glacier National Park, some of the most prime grizzly habitat in the world, so the railway should be expected to slow down and take precautions to ensure grizzly bears aren’t put at risk from train operations.”
The suit said BNSF has failed to receive an Incidental Take Permit that would address the deaths, and has failed to complete a Habitat Conservation Plan outlining measures to reduce bear strikes. BNSF said in an email to the Flathead Beacon newspaper that the delays in completing the plan reflect the company working with with the Fish and Wildlife Service to “respond to and address public comments and incorporate data and information” from Fish and Wildlife and grizzly bear monitoring in the area after BNSF’s application was submitted.
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