Government "delisting" grizzly bears near 2 parks

CODY, Wyo. — Federal officials have begun the process of removing grizzly bears around Yellowstone National Park from the Endangered Species List, ending 30 years of protection and shifting responsibility for their management to state officials who may allow hunting.

Seen as a major conservation success story, the Yellowstone population of grizzlies has increased about fourfold, from 150 to nearly 600, since going on the endangered list in 1975. It continues to grow at an annual rate of 4 to 6 percent, according to the Interior Department.

The federal "delisting" plan unveiled last week calls for maintaining the existing level of protection for bears within a 9,200-square-mile area in and around Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

But special protections will be dropped outside that loose ring of federal land. Beyond it, where many grizzlies wander and 10 percent to 30 percent of them live, bear habitat will be open to road building, logging, recreation and development. Under the delisting plans, state officials in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho will take over management of the bears and may allow hunting outside the protected areas.

The new management plan, which is undergoing final revisions, could go into effect by the end of the year.

Although conservationists agree that the bears have rebounded, many say the decision to strip protections comes at an inauspicious time for grizzlies. Two of their major food sources, cutthroat trout and seeds from whitebark pine trees, are in a steep decline. And steady population growth is causing new homes and roads to be built deeper into the bears' habitat.

"I think delisting is unwise," said Idaho-based grizzly researcher Troy Merrill with the LTB Institute of Landscape Ecology. "Food sources are drying up at a faster rate than anticipated. The picture on habitat is much grimmer. Any bears that get too far away from Yellowstone will be eliminated. There will be no opportunity for genetic connectivity [with other grizzly populations] or to spread into central Idaho, the best-quality habitat south of Alaska. The grizzlies will basically be locked into an open-air zoo."

Opponents of delisting also say they fear placing the fate of the Yellowstone grizzlies in the hands of states where there is pronounced hostility toward the bears. In Wyoming, for example, a handful of county commissions have passed resolutions that assert the right of local officials to shoot grizzlies on sight.

At least one conservation group, the National Wildlife Federation, heralds delisting as a success story. Sterling Miller, a biologist with the group, said that since the required population levels have been met, there's no reason not to delist.

"It seems appropriate to us, rather than moving the goalposts in the last minute of the game ... to proceed with the delisting," Miller said.

The Yellowstone grizzly population is the largest in the Lower 48 states. The others are in northern Montana and parts of Idaho and Washington, and will remain on the endangered list. The largest grizzly population lives in Alaska and is not endangered.

Tens of thousands of grizzlies once roamed across one-third of the continental United States, but a 19th-century campaign of slaughter and contemporary patterns of growth and development have reduced both the bear population and habitat crucial for the animal's existence.

Today, less than 1 percent of the former population of grizzlies remains, occupying less than 2 percent of their original land base in the Lower 48.

Federal officials said bears would continue to be closely monitored, pointing out that the post-delisting guidelines require a scientific review if the bear population drops below 500, or if there is a significant loss of habitat. If threats to the grizzly are deemed severe and immediate, the bears can be relisted, officials say.