McCain takes shot at grizzly bear study
Grizzly bears, like the one in this file photo, have been the focus of a DNA study in and around Glacier National Park. Sen. John McCain has been poking fun at the study during his presidential campaign. File photo
By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News
Taking pot shots at a grizzly bear study here in Montana has been a staple of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign.
McCain has been critical of a DNA study in Glacier National Park and the surrounding areas and cites the study as a waste of money.
"I don't know if it was a paternity issue or criminal, but it was a waste of money," McCain said in a recent campaign stop about the DNA study.
He also made a similar joke in South Carolina.
The joke gets a laugh from the crowd, but hasn't amused too many folks in the scientific community. In fact, the bulk of the funding was actually secured by another Republican — Montana Sen. Conrad Burns.
The study, headed up by U.S. Geological Survey scientist Kate Kendall, is designed to get an accurate measure of the number of grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, a swath of land that stretches from the Canadian border along the Continental Divide all he way to Ovando.
Kendall's work is seen by many as critical for recovering the species and eventually removing them from the Endangered Species List — where they are listed as threatened.
After all, scientists can't determine the health of a species if one doesn't know how many animals are actually out there, scientists have noted in the past.
Kendall's results from the study should be out sometime this summer.
McCain's comments haven't gone unnoticed by media outlets. Scientific American recently did a long piece on the DNA project.
But this isn't the first time McCain has poked fun at the project. According to FactCheck.org, he first made fun of it back when it was first being debated on the Senate Floor in 2003.
According FactCheck.org, even in 2003, while he made fun of the bear DNA funding, he did introduce several amendments which would reduce funding for projects he considered wasteful or harmful, but none that removed the grizzly bear project from the bill and despite his claims, he voted in favor of the final bill.
The McCain campaign did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.