Grizzly bears: Delisting comment period reopened

Posted 9/8/16

To continue that discussion, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday reopened the comment period on the proposed rule to delist the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzly bear population for another month. The call for comments initially …

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Grizzly bears: Delisting comment period reopened

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Public discussion has yielded comments, pro and con, concerning the proposed removal of federal protection for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area.  

To continue that discussion, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday reopened the comment period on the proposed rule to delist the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzly bear population for another month. The call for comments initially ran from March 11 to May 10.

Numbers

To date, there have been 30 recorded grizzly bear deaths within the GYE this year, according to preliminary data compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey.

That’s an upward trend from 2015. At this same point last year, there had been 25 mortalities on record — and 2015 ended with a total of 61 known deaths in the ecosystem.

“Unfortunately, 2015 was a record-breaking year for grizzly bear mortalities in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem,” said Andrea Santarsiere, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Despite comments by state agency officials to the contrary, we are on track for another record-breaking year in 2016.”

In 2014, there were 28 grizzly mortalities in the GYE, according to the Geological Survey. In 2013, the grizzly mortality was 29, down from 56 in 2012. There were 44 grizzly mortalities in 2011 and 50 in 2010.

“With mortality rates on the rise and the population declining, one would think this is not the most opportune time to consider delisting grizzly bears,” Santarsiere said.

In a news release Tuesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service said stable population numbers for grizzly bears for more than a decade indicate that the GYE is at or near its carrying capacity for grizzly bears.

“The Yellowstone grizzly bear population has rebounded from as few as 136 bears in 1975 to an estimated 700 or more today,” the news release said. “Grizzly bears have more than doubled their range since the mid-1970s and now occupy more than 22,500 square miles of the ecosystem.”

Peer review

The decision to accept more comments was made following July’s release of the findings of an extensive scientific peer review of the delisting proposal, according to the service.

“The five independent peer reviewers were selected by an outside, third-party contractor based on their technical grizzly bear expertise,” according to the service.

One question for reviewers was: “Is the management of discretionary mortality, including hunting, scientifically sound and sufficiently detailed?”

Generally, reviewers answered affirmatively.

“In summary, I am satisfied that the proposed approach is scientifically sound, conservative, and is precautionary in approach,” said one reviewer.

“Identification of potential linkage areas and management of these habitats will be an important component of the management of the GYE grizzly bear population,” a reviewer said. “In the foreseeable future, however, the steps being taken to facilitate connectivity are meaningful and science-based.”

State wildlife management agencies in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on May 9. They said the final grizzly rule should identify that the tri-state management objective for the Demographic Monitoring Area is at levels well above the population recovery criterion, which is 500 bears for the entire ecosystems.

“The state agencies agree that the Demographic Monitoring Area encompasses suitable habitat and is an appropriate geographic area for monitoring and mortality assessment,” the states’ letter said.

But Bonnie Rice, Sierra Club Greater Yellowstone/Northern Rockies’ senior campaign representative, objected.

“The states are disavowing the very things that the FWS included in the rule to keep grizzly bears in the region on the road to recovery, most importantly connecting grizzlies in Yellowstone to other populations, a long-term post-delisting management plan and maintaining a population of about 674 bears,” Rice said.

“The wheels are falling off the wagon of grizzly bear recovery, with sky-high bear deaths threatening the health of grizzly bears in and around the nation’s oldest park,” said Louisa Wilcox, founder of the Grizzly Times. “The government must rally to the defense of bears, not strip needed protections and launch a blood sport for bears. It must start by being honest about the problems, which relate to how certain people behave, especially now livestock operators and big game hunters. We can coexist with our bears and still reach recovery, but not unless we change direction fast.”

Speak up

Reopening the comment period also allows the public to comment on protective measures passed by Wyoming, Montana and Idaho for post-delisting management of grizzly bears. Peer reviews and documents illustrating those states’ post-delisting management approach to the Yellowstone grizzly bear population are available at www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/grizzlybear.php, according to the service.

The public comment period ends Oct. 7. Comments can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter the Docket Number for the proposed rule, FWS–R6–ES–2016–0042. Then click on the search button. On the resulting page, enter a comment by clicking on the “Comment Now!”  

Comments also will be accepted via the U.S. Postal Service or hand-delivery to 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.

A story in the Sept. 1 issue of the Powell Tribune misinterpreted federal data about the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Because the article compared data from the first eight months of 2016 to a full year’s worth of data from 2015, it erroneously concluded there had been a decline in bear deaths this year.

In actuality, there have been more deaths reported than at this same point in 2015.

The Tribune regrets the error.

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