Grizzly bear hunting debated

[Ithaca 37]

OK, Let's hear from BHR and all the other wackos who say we'll never get to hunt wolves or grizzlys.

Sure looks like we're getting closer!

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a public debate on Monday over its plan to lift federal protections from grizzly bears in the Yellowstone National Park area, a measure that would pave the way for hunting of the bears in surrounding Western states.

Millions of tourists visit Yellowstone annually hoping to see the outsize, hump-shouldered bears that were hunted and trapped to near extinction before being classified in 1975 as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

In the past three decades, the number of grizzlies in Yellowstone and surrounding areas -- eastern Idaho, southern Montana and northwest Wyoming -- has risen to more than 600 from 136, prompting the government to propose removing that population from the list of protected wildlife.

Public hearings on the proposal began on Monday in Montana and will conclude on Thursday in Idaho. If the measure is approved, which could happen by the end of the year, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming will oversee management of grizzlies that have ventured outside the park.

Each state has crafted a plan to allow hunting of some of those grizzlies under certain conditions, a practice banned for more than 30 years. Each state would have the authority to kill bears considered chronic nuisances to humans or livestock.

Grizzlies, like gray wolves, have been at the center of controversy in Western states ever since they came under federal protection.

The plan to lift the grizzlies' federal protection is opposed by some powerful environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club, which say it is premature to remove the bears' safety net because their long-term success is still not assured.

The outcry has reverberated in ranching communities in Montana and Wyoming, where rising bear numbers are paralleled by more encounters with people and livestock.

"When they start interfering with your livelihood, there are too many of them," said Gus Vaile, a Montana cattle rancher who last year lost a handful of cows and calves to grizzlies.

John Emmerich, assistant wildlife division chief with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said grizzlies are less popular with those who live near them while "people that don't live here think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread."

The Humane Society of the United States views the bears from the latter vantage point and is "strongly opposed to the notion of hunting grizzly bears," said John Grandy, senior vice president for wildlife.

"Being the largest predator, they are peculiarly vulnerable to sport hunting," Grandy said.

"Literally thousands and thousands" from across the nation are expected to apply for licenses to hunt grizzlies when Wyoming offers a season, which could happen as early as next year, said Dave Moody, the state's trophy game coordinator.

The excitement already is building among sportsmen. "I'd love to shoot one," said Dick Hadlock, an Idaho hunter.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/01/10/grizzly.bear.hunting.reut/index.html

 

[Tuffbucker]

Awesome....I cant wait till they open a season on both Wolves and Grizzlies. I'll put in for it every year until I draw!!

SCOTT

 

[Wapiti Slayer]

Federal government working toward delisting grizzles

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

The federal government continues to move ahead in its efforts to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the grizzly bears in and near Yellowstone National Park.

Delisting the grizzly won't be easy, and it isn't likely to come quickly, but it's the right thing to do, according to Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.





"I think it's the greatest success under the Endangered Species Act," Servheen said Monday at an open house at the Bozeman Holiday Inn. He appeared with officials from a number of state and federal agencies.

Declaring a species as threatened or endangered is not like declaring a piece of land to be wilderness, he said. Species aren't meant to be listed forever, he said, and Yellowstone grizzlies have more than doubled their population in the last 30 years to 600 or more bears today. Plus, about 9,200 square miles will be managed with grizzly bear needs in mind.

"Our job is to fix the problem and move on," said Servheen, who has spent 25 years working on grizzly recovery.

Most environmental groups applaud the bear's rebound, but they say it's too soon to delist them, which means bears outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks would be managed by the states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Michael Scott, director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, pointed to three major improvements his group wants to see before it will support delisting.

€ Wyoming's grizzly bear plan calls for too few protections of bears and not enough protected habitat for them.

€ Grizzlies breed slowly and need to have a better "safety net" in case populations drop, so a decision to relist can be made quickly "and we don't have to argue about it for 15 years."

€ Funding for management and monitoring of bears needs to be assured.

Servheen said the government already agreed to spend an extra $1.1 million annually on bear programs after delisting, and Congress has committed the money for one year.

He noted that, at current growth rates, the number of bears will double again in less than 20 years.

And grizzlies need a lot of turf. That means the current growth rate of four percent to seven percent a year has to be curtailed, which means more bears will die.

"We'll have to retard the growth at some point, or bears will be walking the streets of Cody, and Bozeman and Livingston," he said. "They'll fill all the available habitat."

All wildlife populations must be contained at some point, he said.

Delisting, if it comes, isn't likely to change things in the national parks, where habitat is protected, human development is severely restricted and hunting is banned.

Outside the parks, all three neighboring states consider grizzlies to be game animals, which means hunting seasons are an eventual possibility.

FWS has calculated that, at the current population level, nine bears could be hunted annually in the three states. If grizzly hunting returns, the number of bears shot by hunters would be included in overall mortality limits.

Near the park, human development on public land would be severely restricted (much of that land is wilderness already), but the restrictions fade as the distance from Yellowstone grows.

Still, Servheen said he is confident that most big parcels of public land in western Montana will someday be home to grizzly bears.

Dan Sullivan, a grizzly bear advocate from Livingston, said he worries that poaching will increase after delisting.

Like other game animals, delisted grizzlies would be protected under state game laws.

Today, federal laws ban the killing of grizzlies except in self-defense, but almost all prosecutions are undertaken by state officials, Servheen said.

The delisting would create a "distinct population segment" of Yellowstone bears. Its boundaries are, roughly, Interstate 90 to the north, Interstate 80 to the south, Interstate 15 to the west and Interstate 25 to the east.

That doesn't mean that entire area would become home to grizzlies. Rather, it's a bureaucratic distinction.

If a bear leaves the designated area, it immediately regains the full protections of the ESA. Grizzlies in northern Montana would not lose their protections, under this proposal.

FWS is now taking comment on the delisting proposal and hopes to have a final proposal ready by the end of the year.

However, green groups have indicated they are likely to sue over the matter, and it could be tied up in court for years.

On the Web: Fish and Wildlife Service at http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/grizzly/yellowstone.htm

Greater Yellowstone Coalition at www.greateryellowstone.org

National Wildlife Federation (which supports delisting) at www.nationalwildlife.org

 

[jmcd]

Federal government working toward delisting grizzles.............
However, green groups have indicated they are likely to sue over the matter, and it could be tied up in court for years.

I don't want to say it'll never happen. Never is a big word. But at this point, there is a better chance of Ithica taking BHR off ignore permanently.

 

[1_pointer]

IIRC the head of ID F&G stated they probably wouldn't have a grizzly hunting season due the their small and highly migratory population.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Yup, It's more likely to happen in MT or WY.

 

[1_pointer]

Based on my limited understanding of their numbers I'd agree. Plus, noone really wants to go into the Selway...

 

[A-con]

ya thats way cool, another cut & past artical about what "might" happen. And after all, as soon as we started seeing these articals about wolf hunting, right away they sold lower 48 wolf tags and hunted them, right ? Oh, wait a second, no wolf hunt yet.....
O K, everybody, start holding your breath for a grizzly hunt, Ithaca, you first.

 

[Ithaca 37]

A-Con, You finally made the list.

 

[MarvB]

Ithaca what are you going to do when you get to the point upon log-in that your screen is blank because all of HuntTalk is on "ignore"???

 

[A-con]

Oooh ya, I made the list !
I really, REALLY hope they do issue public tags for these top of the food chain predators, but we all know it will take years and years of pubic debate, speckled with emotion and non sense. Law suite after law suite, scheduled hunts stopped at the last second by injunctions. Ten years, maybe. Sooner or later, a grizzly or wolf will stroll on to a school ground or into a residential neighborhood, and eat some little girl named Becky. The mom will cry on TV, and the public will go nuts, and bingo! Tags issued.
I’ll hold my breath if Ithaca will.

 

[BuzzH]

A-con,

You're starting to sound like the cheese.

Can you find any data on the last time a child was killed in a school ground or a residential neighborhood by a griz or wolf in Montana, Idaho, or Wyoming.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Besides, they'll never expand to the cesspool you live in, so dont lose any sleep over it. The natives of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho have been living with grizzlies, wolves, and other toothy wildlife for years.

For the record, Montana had a grizzly season until 1986-87, and there will be one again, count on it.

 

[Erik in AK]

What's the big deal?

You're probably looking at what, 4 or 5 tags.

Regulated hunting, however limited, will ultimately help ensure their survival.

 

[ELKCHSR]

LOL Butz the Putz....

Why would any one need to produce much of any thing for you except when they ultimately feel like it???

It's still more effort than you put into most of these topics...

Funny thing is, I try to stay out of most of these threads, but it’s my warm personality and charm that seems to bring mention so often by a few of the more infamous and scurrilous characters around here

 

[A-con]

Buzz, you already sound like ....Buzz

You make my point, it dosn't happen, but thats what it will take to finally get over the bleeding heart/law suite nightmare thats going to happen when a public drawing for tags finally happens.

"Besides, they'll never expand to the cesspool you live in"

Cesspool ? Have you ever heard of John Muir and/or Ansel Adams wilderness ?

"The natives of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho have been living with grizzlies, wolves, and other toothy wildlife for years."

You want to count teeth per square mile, have you ever heard of mountian lions ?

 

[BuzzH]

A-con,

If it takes some people getting killed by lions, griz, wolves, etc. to start a season... then why hasnt that happened in California? I've heard about a number of bikers, hikers, and kids getting killed by cats there...but still no season. Hmmmm????

Your theory is garbage.

I suggest you attend a few G&F meetings in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. Griz and wolf seasons will be implemented and thats a fact.

 

[A-con]

"If it takes some people getting killed by lions, griz, wolves, etc. to start a season... then why hasnt that happened in California? I've heard about a number of bikers, hikers, and kids getting killed by cats there...but still no season. Hmmmm????"

Because California is California, and Montana is Montana,..........Duh !

I never said it wouldn't happen, but if you think it will happen in the next year or two, your dreaming.