WEST GLACIER, Mont. — A coalition of wildlife groups are threatening to sue BNSF Railway over the death of eight federally protected grizzly bears in the mountains of northwest Montana in 2019, the most killed in a single year.
The groups allege that the railroad is not doing enough to protect the animals from being hit and killed by trains. Because the bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the railroad is legally required to come up with a plan to reduce the number of fatalities. BNSF officials say they are working on a plan, but wildlife advocates say they are not working on it fast enough.
“While [BNSF] has twiddled its thumbs for 15 years rather than taking essential measures to protect grizzly bears, trains have killed dozens of grizzlies, including at least four cubs,” says Sarah McMillan, conservation director at WildEarth Guardians. “This neglect that has such lethal impact on protected bears is simply unacceptable.”
According to the Western Environmental Law Center, between 1980 and 2018, trains have killed or contributed to the death of 52 grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. It is one of the largest grizzly bear habitats in the continental United States, following the Continental Divide from Missoula, Mont., north to the Canadian border. Many of those fatalities occur along BNSF’s main line along the southern edge of Glacier National Park. Between 1980 and 2002, trains struck and killed 29 grizzly bears along 67 miles of track between West Glacier and Browning.
More than 1,000 grizzly bears live in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.
This year has been a particularly bad one for grizzly bears along the railway. Earlier this month, a train struck a cow near East Glacier Park, which attracted five bears to the right-of-way. Two of those bears were killed by trains and three bears were struck by cars on nearby U.S. Highway 2. Last week, two cubs were struck and killed by trains west of Whitefish.
Wildlife advocates say the bears are attracted to the right-of-way because of spilled grain, vegetation, and the scent of other animals that have been killed by trains. Critics say actions the railroad could take to help prevent deaths include removing carcasses, slowing down trains, and running fewer trains at night when the bears tend to feed and travel.
“The deaths of these grizzly bears and cubs was entirely preventable and there is no excuse for BNSF’s continued failure to safeguard the railroad from these lethal collisions,” says Josh Osher, Montana director for Western Watersheds Project. “Whether it’s a lack of concern, laziness, or just plain greed, it’s time for BNSF to be held accountable and to take immediate steps to stop further killings.”
The Western Environmental Law Center filed a notice of intent to sue on Oct. 19. The notice states that if the railroad does not resolve the problem within 60 days it will file a lawsuit in federal court.
In a statement to the Missoulian, BNSF spokeswoman Maia LaSalle says the railroad is working on a conservation plan to reduce grizzly bear fatalities and that it will soon be released to the public.
“For more than 20 years, BNSF has worked to reduce the number of grizzly bears struck by trains on the BNSF operated right-of-way by instituting mandatory reporting of grizzly strikes by train crews and protocols for removing grain, carrion, vegetation and other attractant from the track structure,” LaSalle tells the newspaper. “BNSF continues to work, along with its partners… to reduce the number of bear strikes.”
BNSF is not the only railroad to struggle with bear fatalities in recent years. Further north in British Columbia and Alberta, Canadian Pacific has teamed up with Parks Canada to try and reduce the number of bear fatalities in Yoho and Banff National Parks. CP even teamed with University of Alberta researchers to install devices on the tracks to warn the animals of an oncoming train [see “Smartening the average bear,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 29, 2017].
