The Wyoming Game and Fish Department released its draft grizzly bear management plan on Tuesday, an updated version of its 2002 grizzly plan while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes removing the bears from the Endangered Species list.

The updated plan is based on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s demographic monitoring and recovery criteria with specific mortality limits, said Brian Nesvik, Game and Fish chief of wildlife in Cheyenne.

Wyoming must have a plan before Fish and Wildlife can release a final delisting rule, Nesvik said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will proceed with a final delisting rule after the participating states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming adopt post-delisting management objectives into enforceable regulations. These regulations must adequately ensure that the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears remains recovered, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s entry in the Federal Register.

“They’ve been recovered in our state since 2004,” Nesvik said. Most of the people he talks to on a daily basis want Wyoming to manage its grizzlies.

Adaptive management criteria include maintaining a population of at least 500 bears and at least 48 females with cubs in the demographic monitoring area (DMA), Nesvik said.

The DMA surrounds Yellowstone National Park, including Wyoming roughly east just beyond the Big Horn Mountains and south to Rock Springs, north following U.S. Interstate 90 from Billings to Butte, Montana, and west as far as Pocatello, Idaho.

If annual population estimates fall below 612, it will trigger an Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) biology and monitoring review to develop the appropriate management response. If the population drops below 600, no discretionary mortality would be allowed, Nesvik said.

Discretionary mortality would include hunting.

“The most conservative estimates say we have at least 717 (grizzly bears) inside the ecosystem,” Nesvik said.

Nesvik is not concerned that recovery goals won’t be met, he said.

“I’m not worried about it going back on the Endangered Species list,” Nesvik said. “I strongly believe this is the right thing to do and it should withstand legal scrutiny.”

Hunting pros and pans

Some Wyomingites support hunting and some don’t, Nesvik said.

The Game and Fish Commission will seek the public’s input and consider hunting, Nesvik said.

“Regulated hunting may be a component of the department’s grizzly bear management program,” said the draft plan. “Hunting, along with other management tools, may be utilized to ensure the long-term conservation of grizzly bears in Wyoming by maintaining the population within a healthy, sustainable range and by potentially limiting occupancy of unsuitable habitats.”

“We are not supportive of hunting,” said Chris Colligan, wildlife program coordinator for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

Before any discussion of hunting takes place, it should be ensured adequate regulatory mechanisms are in place and a reasonable assessment of the animal’s recovery has been completed, Colligan said.

Grizzlies need core habitat and more effort must be made to reduce conflicts, Colligan said. Fifty-one grizzlies died in 2015. A leading cause of grizzly mortalities is conflicts with humans. Reducing conflicts is more important than discussing hunting, he said.

“Connectivity, that’s a goal that should be explicit,” Colligan said. 

One example of connectivity would be linking GYE grizzlies to their Northern Continental Divide System counterparts in northwest Montana.

Grizzlies need to expand occupied habitat, said Chuck Neal, Cody grizzly advocate. Give grizzlies access to the Salmon-Selway Bitteroot Complex in central Idaho where grizzlies could associate with GYE and Canadian bears.

Livestock should be removed from the upper Green River and Wyoming Range for grizzlies, Neal said. “Then they (government agencies) can come back with a plan and we’ll know they’re serious.”

Accomodating

The people of Wyoming have been patient and worked hard to tolerate and live with grizzlies. Over the past 40 years, Wyoming has invested $40 million in grizzly recovery efforts. Recently, the average has been approximately $2 million per year, Nesvik said.

“I think this plan really shows the state’s commitment to managing a healthy, viable population,” Nesvik said. “Healthy, viable, recovered.”

Bear summits

The nearest upcoming Game and Fish meeting to discuss the plan is at 5:30 p.m., Monday, April 4, at the Holiday Inn at 1701 Sheridan Ave. in Cody. Fish and Wildlife will hold a meeting beginning at 2 p.m. Monday, April 11, also at the Holiday Inn in Cody.

Game and Fish is accepting public comments until April 14. Comments will be accepted online or by mail.

For more information, check Game and Fish grizzly management at tinyurl.com/GizzManagement or Fish and Wildlife Service at tinyurl.com/FWSbearplan.

The draft plan can be found at tinyurl.com/WyoPlanForBears.