Game and Fish ponders how grizzlies will be regulated if delisted

Posted 6/28/16

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Thursday evening public meeting in Cody covered Wyoming draft grizzly bear regulations, not actual hunting rules if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removes Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears from …

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Game and Fish ponders how grizzlies will be regulated if delisted

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Deadline to comment is this week

A public meeting last week didn’t concern grizzly bear hunting per se, but it did include regulations concerning the bruins.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Thursday evening public meeting in Cody covered Wyoming draft grizzly bear regulations, not actual hunting rules if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removes Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears from federal protections.

Under Fish and Wildlife’s proposed rule for delisting announced in March, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho must create hunting regulations before delisting will happen, according to Game and Fish. The department drafted regulations for the public to examine.

“This isn’t about how we hunt grizzly bears tonight,” said Dan Thompson, Game and Fish statewide supervisor of the large carnivore management section.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission will consider hunting regulations at its July 7-8 meeting in Pinedale, according to Game and Fish. However, there will be no hunting unless delisting occurs.

If the animal is delisted, Game and Fish will hold additional meetings to discuss hunting regulations that will be subject to public review, Thompson said.

Should delisting occur, Game and Fish is committed to managing grizzlies to ensure a recovered population, Thompson said.

The demographic monitoring area (DMA) of approximately 19,279 square miles is where the population will be monitored and recovery goals demonstrated. The management area surrounds Yellowstone National Park, heads north into Montana and includes a chunk of Idaho. In Wyoming, it extends east to Cody and southeast past Jackson into the Wind River Range.

Montana, Idaho and Wyoming will coordinate grizzly management.

Last year’s population estimate was 717 grizzlies in the management area, Thompson said. Most of the DMA is in Wyoming. Outside the DMA, grizzlies won’t be included in the population estimate or recovery goals.

“We have an area that is good for grizzly bears. Within this line, that’s where we have to demonstrate recovery,” Thompson said, pointing at the map delineating the management area.

Surrounding the DMA is the distinct population segment (DPS). It runs from Sheridan northwest to Billings, then heads west to Bozeman and Butte, Montana, before going south into Idaho, following Interstate 15 to Pocatello, Idaho, snaking south into Wyoming, south of Cokeville to Rock Springs and Rawlins, swinging north and northeast to Casper and running back up to Sheridan.

Management of grizzlies within Wyoming’s portion of the DPS may include a hunting season, according to Game and Fish. Any grizzlies outside the DPS would remain under federal protection, according to the draft regulations.

Assuming delisting proceeds and there is hunting, Game and Fish will calculate bear mortalities each winter to determine hunting quotas. If mortality limits are exceeded in any year, those would be subtracted from the following year’s hunting quota, Thompson said.

If the population estimate falls below 600 grizzlies, all discretionary mortality in the DMA would be suspended, except to protect human safety, according to the draft regulations.

The hunting quota would be modest. “It’s going to be extremely conservative,” Thompson said. A grizzly license would be a once-in-a-lifetime license.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway (separating Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks) is under the authority of the Game and Fish. Whether hunting is permitted there would be up to the commission, Thompson said.

Whitebark and cutthroats

In 2007, grizzlies were removed from federal protections in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, but lawsuits put the bruins back on the list in 2009. A federal judge ruled in favor of re-listing largely because whitebark pine was declining. Whitebark pine provides a nutritious nut bears will consume.

The 2013 Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team Food Synthesis Report said lack of whitebark did not adversely affect grizzlies.

About one-third of grizzlies have whitebark pine in their home range, Thompson said. 

Grizzlies consume 75 different food types, Thompson said.

Another concern is declining native cutthroat trout that grizzlies feed on.

In any one year, 46 to 59 grizzlies, or 8-10 percent of estimated Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population, visited Yellowstone Lake’s streams to catch spawning cutthroats, according to Mark A. Haroldson in a 2014 “Wildlife Management” magazine article.

Army cutworm moths provide another high-calorie food for bears in August.

Only about 200 DMA bears find moth sites, which appears to be learned behavior, Thompson said.

Genetic diversity is solid within the DMA, so their is no need to import grizzlies to augment genes, Thompson said. “The genetic health is already good enough as it is right now.”

Grizzly sprawl

In 1975, grizzlies were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Thompson said. The population at the time may have been as low as 136 bears, living mostly in Yellowstone.

Many officials have claimed grizzlies reached carrying capacity within the best habitat. At the same time, some claim population growth is static.

Before 2002, population growth was 4 to 7 percent per year. Since 2002 growth has been 0 to 2 or 3 percent annually, Thompson said. Since 2007 the population has increased by 200 bears, so growth has not flatlined.

Commend

Game and Fish has written great draft regulations, said Mark Bruscino, retired Game and Fish bear management program supervisor.

The department has been managing grizzlies for 30 years, said Loren Grosskopf, Park County commissioner. “I think the state of Wyoming and Game and Fish need to be commemorated.”

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (federal and state officials) will continue to monitor recovery goals, Grosskopf said.

“And we’re (Game and Fish) part of it,” Thompson said.

Global scrutiny

Glenn Graham of Redwood City, California, visits Northwest Wyoming to see grizzlies. In 2015, 61 grizzlies were killed, he said.

Graham said he is against hunting grizzlies simply to hang their heads on a wall or to make a rug. Still, he said he can’t fault the Game and Fish for its thorough drafting of regulations.

He and others who come to see grizzlies are monitoring delisting proceedings, Graham said. “The world is watching.”

Leslie Patten, who lives in the Sunlight area, said she opposes hunting because the population will be slow to replace animals killed by hunters due to the bear’s slow reproduction rate. “I’m totally against trophy hunting for (grizzly) bears,” she said.

Comment

Written comments must be received by tomorrow (Wednesday). Mail comments to Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wildlife Division, Attn: Regulations, 3030 Energy Lane, Casper, WY 82604 or at wgfd.wyo.gov/Get-Involved/Public-Meetings.

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