State & Feds Prepare for Grizzly Bear Delisting

by Kelly Matheson

The fate of one of the West's greatest living icons, the grizzly bear, is currently being debated by a conglomeration of citizens, scientists and agency officials.

Hopes for the survival of Greater Yellowstone's grizzlies may have hit rock bottom in 1982, when females numbered as few as 47. At the time, many experts predicted the bears' imminent extinction. However, thanks to protections afforded grizzlies by their 1975 listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the bear population has since stabilized and increased, prompting some to call for delisting.

While the prospect of delisting is being hotly debated among hunters, conservation groups, ranchers and extractive industries throughout the West, both the Wyoming State Grizzly Bear Working Group and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working to develop plans to manage grizzlies in the event that the bears are stripped of the protections provided by the ESA.

During the past six months, the Wyoming State Grizzly Bear Working Group, comprised of citizens with varying social and political viewpoints, has been meeting to develop a state plan to manage grizzlies on Wyoming lands outside what is currently known as the bear's Recovery Zone. The Working Group will present its draft plan to members of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission in mid-February and then release it for public comment. Citizen input will be critical, since the final plan will play a major role in determining the level of long-term protections for the grizzly bear in Wyoming's wilderness areas.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for managing grizzlies inside the bear's Recovery Zone after delisting. The agency has released its draft Conservation Strategy and is now analyzing public comments. A final strategy is expected by the end of the year. S