Bill and Gail Dakin's bear story has stirred outrage far and wide. Writer Peter Fimrite, of the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story on December 26, 2005, 'Wine Country Casualties', which has now ignited controversy and a slew of angry letters to the editor from people both inside and outside the wine industry.

The Sierra Club was contacted by the Dakins in a desperate cry of 'help' to stop the senseless killing of an entire population of black bears and mountain lions in Swartz Canyon located in Napa County.

Bill, a San Ramon retired fire fighter, lives in Swartz Canyon above Pope Valley, in a remote rugged canyon. Gail Dakin hikes every day in the back county and knows every cave, rock and ravine like the back of her hand, wandering this wild land with no fear of the elements. The Dakins live content on their land, apart from TV, Internet and computers. Their beautifully crafted old-world Hansel and Gretel type cottage is surrounded by deep, quiet woods, and the house runs on three solar panels and hydroelectricity. They love where they live and the animals they share the land with.

The Dakins have a small pond which is a wildlife attractant. Bill and Gail long ago set up a motion-tripped camera so they could photograph the mountain lions, bears, bobcats and other wildlife that frequent the pond under cover of night. We marveled at the many pictures they'd taken. In the nine years they have lived in this magical place they have come to know individually six bears - by how big they were, the scarring on their faces, and the number and sizes of their cubs. Recently, an older bear had raided a hornets nest a couple of times and had extensive swelling on its head. As we hiked with Gail and Bill, they pointed to the raided nest, showing us the leftover grubs.

Many vineyard owners tolerate an occasional bear ­ they figure it's the price of sharing their land with Nature - but Bill said that last month the neighboring Aetna Springs Vineyard (note: not Aetna Springs Winery) was raided by bears. The radios and the air cannons going off every couple of minutes didn't scare them off. However, the loud blasts throughout the days disturbed the quiet character of the woods. Then the Department of Fish & Game (DFG) brought in dogs to chase and harass the bears - but when a posse armed with guns showed up on their property, Bill and Gail ordered them away. The local DFG official opined that electric fences wouldn't work and instead issued the vineyard owner a 'depredation permit' to kill the bears. They ordered a team of paid hunters from the Wildlife Service to track the black beauties down with dogs and shoot them. Four bears, officially, were killed. Neighbors later found the carcasses of two more bears.

The vineyard manager had also corralled goats near the vineyard and was outraged when lions came in for an easy dinner. When the vineyard manager lost a goat to a mountain lion a depredation permit was issued and professional hunters killed two mountain lions. Again, the neighbors said they'd found an additional lion killed.

Currently, there are a number of steps the DFG follows to discourage wildlife before issuing a depredation permit; steps such as fencing, enclosure of food sources, noise makers, and chase and harassment techniques. Category I bears are ones that "stray into populated areas," and can be trapped and released elsewhere. They may be shot with large rubber bullets and "hazed" with dog chases. Category II bears have "become habituated to humans and may be a nuisance problem (no property damage involved). Reasonable corrective measures shall include, but are not limited to area clean up, removal of trash, electric fencing, and/or the techniques listed in Category I above." Category III bears are the ones that do damage to dwellings, structures, vehicles, or apiaries, are repeat offenders and "As the situation dictates, corrective measures shall be made prior or in addition to, issuing a depredation permit." In Swartz Canyon, or any other case, according to that loophole, a license can be issued without requiring any of the other non-lethal means first.

Vineyards are rapidly invading wildlands throughout the Pacific Northwest. Consequently, every effort should be taken to protect habitat and wildlife. The Redwood Chapter has asked for a change to the protocol for issuing depredation permits for wildlife. The DFG policy should be revised to include the use of electric fencing before our top predators are hunted and killed. The expense is minimal, especially for vineyard owners, and well worth the benefit to wildlife. In a Redwood Chapter letter to DFG we enclosed an estimate from a supply house for bear fencing (which is sturdier than electric fences for horses) for a quarter section of 160 acres. For a quote of $1,953 (connected to the power company), or for $3,233 (with a solar powered unit), including maintenance, an owner can provide adequate protection against even the largest animal.

The Canadian government has an electrified fence around their popular Lake Louise campground to keep out 1500 pound Grizzly Bears. Kenya's 44 square mile National Park in Africa erected an electric fence to keep elephants from raiding farmer's corn fields and vegetable plots. It's a matter of using heavier wire and of constant maintenance. If bears become a problem in California we can certainly do the same for our 300 ­ 600 pound black bears.

What you can do:

• The Redwood Chapter Forest Protection from Conversion Committee is addressing the larger issue of forest conversions to vineyards. Agriculture encroachment into native forests has a variety of negative impacts, including decreasing wildlife habitat. Visit www.redwood.sierraclub.org for more information.
• To support changing DFG policy, please go on line and read the DFG Bear Policy at www.dfg.ca.gov/hunting/bear/statewidepolicy.html
• Then write California Department of Fish & Game, Wildlife Program, Doug Updike, 1812 Ninth St., Sacramento, CA 95814 and tell DFG of your feelings about killing wild animals without trying all possible alternatives before issuing a depredation permit. Send him newspaper clippings of the bad publicity this incident has created and ask that the protocol for dealing with Category III bears be changed to include mandatory use of electric fencing.
• Contact Robin Ellison at 253-8925 if you want to help get signatures to change the DFG bear policy.