Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials currently have "no intent" to allow grizzly hunting on National Park Service lands if the bruins are removed from the Endangered Species List.
Dan Thompson, supervisor of the department's large carnivore section, told the Traveler on Monday that while it's too early to say how the state's hunting regulations might turn out if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delists grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, "right now there’s no intent to hunt" either in the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway or on inholdings located within Grand Teton National Park. When the parkway was created, hunting was not prohibited.
The iconic species has made an incredible comeback in the past four decades, growing from fewer than 150 individuals in 1975 in the more than 34,000-acre ecosystem that includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks as well as the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, to nearly 700. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have based their delisting proposal, which could be finalized by year's end or early in 2017, on an estimated population of 674 bears within the ecosystem, and set a minimum acceptable population of 500 bears.
But concerns arising from those numbers and how they might change in the future, as well as uncertainty of how the states will manage the bears outside the parks and Rockefeller Parkway, have left the behind-the-scenes work open to much criticism and concern.
To help guide delisting, a map of the GYE has been drawn up with four circles on it: 1) An inner red circle that designates the Primary Conservation Area, or PCA, that includes Yellowstone but also some areas outside the park; 2) a larger black circle that designates the Demographic Monitoring Area, or DMA, in which Fish and Wildlife would aim to maintain a recovered population of grizzlies; 3) gray shaded circles that designate grizzly bear distribution in the ecosystem in 2014, and; 4) a dark blue circle that outlines the distinct grizzly population within the Greater Yellowstone Area, or GYA.
The Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee on November 16 voted 18-1, with Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk voicing the lone objection, to approve a conservation strategy hammered out between the Fish and Wildlife Service and officials from Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.
The conservation strategy, which has not been released for public review and comment, does not discuss hunting in the parkway or within Grand Teton's borders on inholdings, according to those who attended the November 16 meeting, and a memorandum of understanding signed by the three states regarding grizzly bear management also is silent on those issues.
If the Fish and Wildlife Service decides to delist grizzly bears in the ecosystem from the ESA, and that decision withstands any court challenges, "we will be developing those harvest regulations and hunt area boundaries over the upcoming months," Mr. Thompson said, adding that Wyoming officials are aware of Park Service concerns about hunting too close to park boundaries and could craft hunting areas to direct hunters "into areas more suitable for harvest."
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Comments
The conservation strategy has been available for the public to view since 11/12 at the IGBC website. igbconline.org
Gregg--
Is https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/FINALCS.DRAFT_Feb_19_2016_FINAL.pdf the best current draft of the Conservation Strategy for GYE?
We need to expand Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to include all of the publicly owned grizzly habitat in the ecosystem. That is the only way we can be sure that the species is safe.
We cannot trust the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which made the irresponsible and politically based decision to delist the species, to ensure grizzly protection. They agency went ahead with this egregious action despite the opposition of the superintendent of Yellowstone http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/officials-move-closer-to-delisting-ye...
We also cannot trust state fish and game officials, who consider killing of grizzlies to be a "harvest." They cater to trophy hunting interests and ignore the broad opposition by people across the country to delisting and hunting grizzlies http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2016/04/opposition-yell...
Clearly, The Politicized Fish and Wildlife Service is dominated
by well paid Administrators and biased toward
highly ranked Hunter Staff. This Interior agency also does
little to Enforce Anti Poaching Laws: Imagine what will
Happen Under The Trump Family of Trophy Hunters.
https://www.facebook.com/The-Trump-Sons-Wildlife-Murderers-130447077084102/
Why Name These Lands "Refuges" from Which Wildlife Perils ?
http://wildlife.org/fws-to-offer-new-fishing-and-hunting-opportunities-o...
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a proposed rule to expand hunting and fishing opportunities on 13 national wildlife refuges (NWRs). The proposal also amends existing refuge-specific hunting and fishing regulations for more than 70 NWRs for the 2016-2017 season."
PS: The Term "Harvest" is a misnomer since Humans played NO role
in "Planting" Grizzlies or Old Growth Forests !
I want a no grizzly bear hunt boundary defined around national parks, such as Grand Teton and Yellowstone before delisting is approved. I want a safety zone for visitor and tour guides on Bridger-Teton National Forest lands/
The claim that Wyoming has "no intent" to hunt grizzlies on park lands is meaningless because once grizzlies are delisted, there is not a legally binding agreement to prevent Wyoming from hunting grizzlies on park lands.
Remember that too frequently what western legislators and governors say is not necessarily what they will actually do.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/state/idaho/article118169528.html
IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO
An adult male grizzly bear has been killed in eastern Idaho and a $6,000 reward is being offered for information leading to whoever is responsible.
Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a statement Wednesday say the bear was killed on or about Oct. 21 in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Fremont County.
Isn't it interesting how half a million homo sapiens (a large omnivorous mammal) is considered a low population density for a state like Wyoming, but only 700 bears (a large ominvorous mammal) is considered to be 200 bears too many over the population limit. Only 1 bear allowed for every thousand humans, even less if you count all the tourists. What a narcistic, cruel species we are toward anything that doesn't look and talk just like us.