Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem could be removed from the Endangered Species list under a proposal announced Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If approved, this would create state control of the species and allow for possible future hunting opportunities for the first time since the 1970s.

“The recovery of the Yellowstone grizzly bear represents a historic success for partnership-driven wildlife conservation under the Endangered Species Act,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe at a teleconference in Denver on Thursday. “Our proposal today underscores and celebrates more than 30 years of collaboration with our trusted federal, state and tribal partners to address the unique habitat challenges of grizzlies. The final post-delisting management plans by these partners will ensure healthy grizzly populations persist across the Yellowstone ecosystem long into the future.”

To ensure robust monitoring of the bears, balanced management and effective conservation going forward, the Fish and Wildlife Service also released two other documents for public comment, Ashe said — a draft supplement to the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan and a draft conservation strategy to describe how both grizzlies and their habitat will be managed following delisting.

Those documents can be found at tinyurl.com/BearDocuments.  

“Population and habitat monitoring efforts undertaken by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Study Team indicate that grizzly bears have more than doubled their range since the mid-1970s,” Ashe said. “They now occupy more than 22,500 square miles of the Yellowstone ecosystem, an area larger than the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined. Stable population numbers for grizzlies for more than a decade also indicate that the Yellowstone ecosystem is at or near its carrying capacity for the bears.”

In the past year there has been a slight decrease in the population, but scientist say that is just a long-term up and down population trend, Ashe said.

“The Yellowstone grizzly bear population has rebounded from as few as 136 bears in 1975 to an estimated 700 or more today,” Ashe said.

As for the grizzly population, it’s “somewhere north of 1,000 in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” Ashe said.

Nix delist?

There is “no magic number” for death thresholds that could place the bruins back on the list, Ashe said.

If populations become less than 600, bears won’t be killed for hunting or for being problematic, except as necessary for human safety, according to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.

“If we see a need for a strategy review, we will do that,” Ashe said.

Legal action

Grizzlies were removed from the list in 2007, but were back on it by 2009 after environmental groups fought the decision in court.

Ashe said he hoped those critical of the decision would take time to appreciate the grizzly’s recovery.

“Given all of the uncertainty facing the Yellowstone grizzly, we do not think it is time to declare victory for these bears just yet,” said Sylvia Fallon, Natural Resources Defense Council senior scientist in an email to the Tribune following the announcement. “Yellowstone grizzly bears are an isolated population that is experiencing high levels of conflicts with people and is likely declining in the wake of the loss of whitebark pine, a critically important food source. The Endangered Species Act has been tremendously successful at saving this population and preventing its demise. And retaining those valuable protections until the Yellowstone grizzly population is more robust and its future more certain is the best way to turn that past success into true recovery.”

The lack of whitebark pine was one of the reasons the court overruled the 2007 delisting, but the 2013 food synthesis report for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team said there was no decline in body mass or reproduction due to less whitebark.

“The grizzly bear population seems to be quite adaptive and they are adapting,” Ashe said.

Conflict and commitment

It’s possible that grizzlies are causing more problems and preying on more elk and livestock due to the decrease in whitebark, Ashe said.

“We see increasing human-bear conflict because we are seeing a growing population,” he said.

One man was killed in 2015 in Yellowstone National Park. In 2014, one human death in Wyoming was attributed to a grizzly, according to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.

In 2007, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming had the option to allow hunting, but did not. At this time, the three governors have not decided if they will authorize hunting in their states.

All three of those states assured Fish and Wildlife they will have a regulation process developed prior to the agency’s final ruling, Ashe said.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will create a draft management plan, but it will not include hunting, said Renny MacKay, Game and Fish communications director.

First, Fish and Wildlife must make a final rule to delist, MacKay said. Even if the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission considers hunting seasons this year, those would not begin until 2017. First the commission would weigh the decision and seek public comment before reaching a final decision.

“We are committed to maintaining a recovered grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Area into the future,” said Scott Talbott, Game and Fish director. “Wyoming has already contributed over $40 million to grizzly conservation and recovery. We need to recognize the commitment of Wyoming stakeholders such as sportsmen, ranchers, conservationists, outdoor recreationists and other users of the Greater Yellowstone Area.”

The states are up to the task of managing the grizzly, Ashe said. “We’re confident that they’re ready, willing and able to do that.”

“Yellowstone grizzly bears are one of our country’s greatest conservation success stories and transitioning bears off the Endangered Species List must be done in a way that continues this legacy,” said Caroline Byrd, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. “The delisting rule must adequately protect grizzly habitat, commit to reducing human-caused conflict, and promote connectivity. It must also require coordinated management among Montana, Idaho and Wyoming that maintains a healthy, stable population. If these critical issues are not addressed, we will use all tools available to ensure that grizzly bears remain protected.”

The proposed rule, and the supporting documents, will be published in the Federal Register soon.

Comments will be accepted for 60 days after publication at www.regulations.gov or by mail at Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS–R6–ES–2016–0042, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, MS: BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803. Submissions merely supporting or opposing a potential delisting, without supporting documentation, will not be considered in making a determination.

Here’s a look at some significant events leading to Thursday’s proposal:

1890 to 1940s: Yellowstone National Park visitors are entertained by nightly “bear shows” at garbage dumps frequented by grizzlies seeking easy meals.

1970: The last of the park’s garbage dumps closes, largely to end visits by bears that were becoming habituated to humans and threatening visitor safety.

1975: Grizzly bears across the Lower 48 states are protected under the Endangered Species Act after widespread extermination; Yellowstone population is estimated at 136 bears.

1993: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service adopts grizzly bear recovery plan.

2007: Yellowstone grizzlies are removed from the threatened species list.

2009: U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy orders bears back onto the protected list, citing potential threats to their food supplies due in part to climate change.

2011: Two hikers are killed by grizzlies in separate attacks, the first bear-caused human fatalities in Yellowstone in almost 25 years.

2013: Government scientists recommend lifting bears’ protected status, citing studies that show the animals can adapt to changes in food supply.

2015: An estimated 717 bears live in the 19,200-square-mile Yellowstone region.

2016: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to again remove the animals from the threatened list.