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New Bill Offering $100,000 For Improved Tech To Avoid Wildlife Conflicts

Vincent van Zalinge
/
Unsplash

Proposed legislation in the Senate aims to reduce conflict between humans and predatory wildlife, with a $100,000 cash prize.

Wyoming Senator John Barrasso introduced the bill. The $100,000 Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize would be awarded to the winner of an annual competition. The goal is to develop new or better nonlethal methods of reducing human-predator conflicts.

Ann Bryant heads up the BEAR League, a volunteer organization that works to keep bears safe in their natural habitats. She says bear spray works, but it's not enough.

"We need to find something that would actually be a bear repellent," she said. "What the bear spray is, it's only effective when you spray it and it's airborne. But the minute it lands, like ten minutes later, it becomes food and then it attracts the bears."

The bill would create a new advisory board, made up of at least nine people appointed by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation would administer the competition.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

Copyright 2019 KUNR. For more, visit kunr.org.

Copyright 2021 KUNR Public Radio. To see more, visit KUNR Public Radio.

Noah Glick is from the small town of Auburn, Indiana and comes to KUNR from the Bay Area, where he spent his post-college years learning to ride his bike up huge hills. He’s always had a love for radio, but his true passion for public radio began when he discovered KQED in San Francisco. Along with a drive to discover the truth and a degree in Journalism from Ball State University, he hopes to bring a fresh perspective to local news coverage.

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