Panel Declares Yellowstone Grizzlies Recovered
OutdoorHub Reporters 12.16.13
Last week an oversight panel for the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concluded that the population of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park has significantly recovered, and recommended that the animals be removed from the threatened-species list. According to the Associated Press, the Greater Yellowstone Area contains upwards of 700 grizzlies, the third-largest concentration of the species in the United States behind Alaska and Northern Continental Divide system. Experts say that delisting the bears could lead to limited hunting opportunities, but all other conservation measures would remain in place.
Grizzly bears have a long history in Yellowstone, but extensive development by humans in the last century greatly reduced their numbers. By the 1970s, there were as few as 136 bears in the five million acres of wilderness that had been their natural range. As Yellowstone was one of the few places in the Lower 48 states with a wild grizzly population, the future of the species was at risk. In 1975, the USFWS made the decision to designate grizzlies south of Canada as a Threatened Species and as result, a portion of Yellowstone was turned into a recovery area for the bears. In fact, the earliest boundaries of the Greater Yellowstone Area were informally formed around the range of the park’s bear population, around four million acres.
As of last count, there are now an estimated 629 to 740 grizzlies in the area, a number that has far exceeded the recovery goal of 500 animals set by the USFWS. The agency first announced its success in restoring the animal in 2007, but the push to delist the animal was overturned in 2009 and the species was restored to federal protections. Some conservationists say they have fears that delisting the animal could undo all the progress that was made in the past few decades.
“These bears have the lowest reproductive rate of any North American mammal. Hunting and other causes of death are certain to reverse the progress that’s been made toward recovery,” the Center for Biological Diversity’s Louisa Willcox told The Missoulian.
However, the USFWS biologists behind the grizzly recovery feel different, and so does the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Comprised of representatives from the Forest Service, National Park Service, USFWS, and from the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, the committee unanimously voted last week in favor of lifting federal protections on the grizzly bear. Ultimately, the USFWS has the final say on whether the agency will follow the recommendation and is expected to make a decision early next year. If the agency decides to delist the bears, new management rules could be drafted in as little as six months.
If this happens, states may open up a limited bear season for hunters.
“The majority of funding for bear management right now has come from hunting license dollars,” said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife manager Ken McDonald. “Sportsmen have footed the majority of the bill on recovery. There are a few who would like to see a return on that investment.”
