https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowN...zzly-bear-&_ID=36059



Press Release

Secretary Zinke Announces Delisting of Yellowstone Grizzly Bear
Partners celebrate Endangered Species Act delisting following decades of collaboration
June 22, 2017

Contact(s):
Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov


WASHINGTON – Due to the success of conservation efforts and collaboration among a variety of stakeholders, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced today that the Yellowstone population of the grizzly bear has been recovered to the point where federal protections can be removed and overall management can be returned to the states and tribes. The population has rebounded from as few as 136 bears in 1975 to an estimated 700 today and meets all the criteria for delisting.

“As a kid who grew up in Montana, I can tell you that this is a long time coming and very good news for many communities and advocates in the Yellowstone region," said Secretary Zinke. "This achievement stands as one of America’s great conservation successes; the culmination of decades of hard work and dedication on the part of the state, tribal, federal and private partners. As a Montanan, I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together.”

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) consists of portions of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern Montana and eastern Idaho. Grizzly bear populations outside of this DPS in the lower 48 states will be treated separately under the ESA and will continue to be protected.

The GYE grizzly bear population is one of the best studied bear populations in the world thanks to the longstanding efforts of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST). Population and habitat monitoring efforts undertaken by the IGBST indicate that GYE Grizzly Bears have more than doubled their range since the mid-1970s. They now occupy more than 22,500 square miles, an area larger than the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. Stable population numbers for grizzly bears for more than a decade also suggest that the GYE is at or near its capacity to support grizzly bears. This decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was informed by over four decades of intensive, independent scientific efforts.

The GYE grizzly bear population was determined to be recovered because multiple factors indicate it is healthy and will be sustained into the future. These factors include not only the number and distribution of bears throughout the ecosystem, but also the quantity and quality of the habitat available and the states’ commitments to manage the population from now on in a manner that maintains its healthy and secure status.

In addition to this final rule, the USFWS will also release a final supplement to the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear population. The Conservation Strategy that describes management of the grizzly bear following delisting was finalized by the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the IGBC in December of 2016. That document can be found here: http://igbconline.org/wp-conte...-Strategy_signed.pdf.

The final rule, and the supporting documents, will publish in coming days in the Federal Register and the rule will take effect 30 days after publication. More information can be found here: https://www.fws.gov/mountain-p...e/es/grizzlyBear.php.

This could be interesting!!!

Yes once the lawsuits from the anti's are done. It could be really interesting.

Page 3 in today's Wall St Journal

Grizzlies today,lions and elephants soon! Trumps election and his subsequent appointment of right minded Cabinet and Dept. heads is going to be the best thing that has happened to gun owners,sportsmen (and wildlife) in a VERY long time.

quote:

Originally posted by JCS271:
Grizzlies today,lions and elephants soon! Trumps election and his subsequent appointment of right minded Cabinet and Dept. heads is going to be the best thing that has happened to gun owners,sportsmen (and wildlife) in a VERY long time.

quote:

posted 23 June 2017 21:58 Hide Post
Grizzlies today,lions and elephants soon! Trumps election and his subsequent appointment of right minded Cabinet and Dept. heads is going to be the best thing that has happened to gun owners,sportsmen (and wildlife) in a VERY long time.

+1

This is not going to happen overnight, the obstructionist will come out of the woodwork.

The truth is Grizzly bears have been a nuisance south of Jackson hole all the way to the La Barge creek drainage for at least ten years! Be great to shoot some of them. I'm for more elk and fewer predators.

Hopefully we learned some lessons from getting wolves delisted and hunting seasons implemented we can avoid long court battles. Can't wait to put hand in the hat to try and draw a tag. They need to be thinned out a little out here and they have lost fear of man some of them

http://blog.humanesociety.org/...zzly-bear-plans.html



“See you in court,” HSUS tells feds on grizzly bear plans

June 30, 2017

The HSUS, along with its affiliate the Fund for Animals, today filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) over its removal of federal protections for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. By taking away the “threatened” status for bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the federal government is for all practical purposes handing over the bears to the whim of fish and game agencies hell-bent on allowing private citizens to slay these majestic animals for the thrill of the exercise. Even before the bears lost their federal protection, wildlife agencies in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have already adopted frameworks to authorize trophy hunting as early as this fall. They’ve been polishing their rifles and loading up for years, regardless of the bears’ numbers and the range of other threats that imperil their long-term viability.

Specifically, the delisting rule ignores the ongoing existential threat posed to these bears by habitat loss, disappearance of staple foods like whitebark pine and cutthroat trout, and continuing challenges associated with human-wildlife conflict. These and other factors contributed to a surge in grizzly bear deaths including a famous 25-year old bear named Scarface who was shot three times at close range right outside Yellowstone National Park (in 2015, there were 61 confirmed dead and in 2016, 58). And that’s before the states let loose the hunters. With trophy hunting now looming, the bears will face a full-on assault, including spring hunts in 2018 targeting female bears with infant cubs.

Indeed, the states have already divvied up the hunting allocations, with the lion’s share going to Wyoming (58%), followed by Montana (34%) and Idaho (8%). Grizzlies spending most of their lives in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks will be at risk, since they frequently roam across park boundaries in search of food. The states have no plans to prohibit hunting along the peripheries of these parks. The HSUS filed two lawsuits in state court challenging the hasty and illegal process Montana and Wyoming used to adopt these shortsighted hunting frameworks.

Through the official public comment process, the American public has responded in overwhelming fashion, signaling that it wants grizzly bears conserved and protected from trophy hunting and other forms of needless human violence and hazard. Federal protection has brought the bears back from the precipice, but threats continue to jeopardize their future. The federal agencies’ work is not complete, and it’s wrong for this hand-off to occur when they know—when we all know—that the states cater to trophy hunters salivating at the idea of killing one of the continent’s greatest predators.

It was trophy hunting and other malicious forms of bear killing that put the animals in a perilous condition in the first place. The philosopher George Santayana famously said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The communities with the longest story-telling memories related to grizzly bears—Native American communities throughout North America—have been unanimous in condemning the idea of a trophy hunt.

These bears are an economic engine in the Yellowstone region—a vital draw for millions of Americans and people throughout the world. Handing their lives over to a few dozen trophy hunters—who will diminish the opportunity for millions to see these amazing animals in the wild—is morally wrong and will stifle commerce in rural communities that depend on the public’s appreciation of these icons within what is perhaps America’s most important, intact, and storied ecosystem. We can’t let that happen.

quote:

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) consists of portions of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern Montana and eastern Idaho. Grizzly bear populations outside of this DPS in the lower 48 states will be treated separately under the ESA and will continue to be protected.

The above is the information people need to pay close attention to, the bears are expanding into new areas, but bears Outside of the DPS will still be protected by the endangered Species Act.

This still has a ways to go.