Nevada Biologist Sues Bear Activists

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A longtime Nevada wildlife biologist has filed a defamation suit against bear protection advocates at Lake Tahoe he accuses of harassing and threatening him through a "vicious and calculated" social media campaign.

Carl Lackey says the repeated false and defamatory remarks in online forums and Facebook posts falsely paint him as a corrupt bear murderer who should be imprisoned --- or worse.

His lawsuit seeking unspecified damages says the attacks are "designed to incite public rage." It cites one critic who suggested, it was "maybe time for an assassination."

A lawyer for the Bear League named in the suit says criticism of the trapping and euthanizing of bears in the mountains on the Nevada-California line is constitutionally protected free speech.

Lackey says it's a "libelous smear campaign" that has damaged his reputation and made him fearful of violence.

(KA)