OPERATION LIFESAVER COMES TO DRUNKEN BEARS.

A train can be harmful to your average bear.

BNSF Railway will spend more than $2 million on grizzly bear conservation efforts in Northwest Montana in an effort to reduce the number of animals killed by trains along the southern edge of Glacier National Park.

Last week, the railroad announced that it had submitted a Habitat Conservation Plan to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for review and public comment. The plan was developed in partnership with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks, the Blackfeet Nation, and Glacier National Park. Trains killing grizzly bears had long been a problem along the former Great Northern Railway main line along Glacier Park, an area home to one of the last great griz populations in the Lower 48. The bears are considered a threatened species and thus it is illegal to harm, harass, or kill these bears, except in cases of self-defense.

One of the reasons the bears come to trackside is that every so often a very tempting picnic basket rolls by.

The plan will be administered by the Montana Outdoor Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization that works closely with Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks Department on conservation efforts throughout the state. Funds from the railroad will be used to hire more bear conservation managers; support the continued development of a database to track grizzly bear movements and mortalities; and reduce bear attractants along right-of-ways (like spilled grain). If the permit is authorized it would allow the railroad to kill up to 18 bears over seven years, noting that the railroad has taken steps to prevent the deaths and is supporting other efforts to help the population.

That "allow the railroad to kill" sounds odd, but that's a risk assessment.  It's not cost effective to put a bear-proof fence the length of the right of way through Glacier Park.  Thus, every so often a bear, drunken or not, dumber than the average bear or not, is going to run afoul of a train.