https://www.wyofile.com/gordon...r-grizzly-delisting/



Gordon: Wyoming will petition feds for grizzly delisting


September 16, 2021 by Angus M. Thuermer Jr. Comments


Wyoming will petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to return management of the grizzly bear, now protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, to the state, Gov. Mark Gordon said Thursday.

Grizzly numbers reached federal recovery goals in 2003, Gordon said, and now exceed 1,000 bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Wyoming has spent some $52 million over 46 years ensuring grizzly bear conservation, he said.

The petition, to be filed in coming weeks, will be specific to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of bruins and the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, Gordon said.

Why it matters

Conflicts between grizzly bears and people have increased over recent decades as the number of bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has increased.

Many observers believe the growing number of bears is responsible for an increase in conflicts. Another school of thought — advanced by Montana grizzly scientist David Mattson — is that a loss of foods in core habitat areas has forced bears to travel farther to seek sustenance, increasing the frequency of human-bear interactions. Yellowstone cutthroat trout and whitebark pine nuts are two key parts of the bear’s historic diet that have diminished in recent years, according to scientists.

History

Wyoming planned a grizzly bear hunting season in 2018 after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed federal ESA protections guarding the species. A judge subsequently prevented the action and blocked the hunt, which had a proposed quota of up to 24 bears.

As legal wrangling continued, a federal appeals court in 2020 questioned Wyoming’s assertions that the species no longer needs federal oversight. The court later determined there were several problems regarding Wyoming’s position, and the bear remains protected today.

One was that Wyoming hadn’t committed to changing a minimum population goal if it also changed the way it counts grizzlies. By adopting a new, more accurate counting method to replace previous, conservative systems, the official count of grizzlies could increase.

Without a corresponding increase in the baseline goal, a several-hundred bear “surplus” would suddenly exist on paper. That surplus might then be expendable through hunting or other actions, a prospect the court found unsettling.

The court also questioned whether the isolated GYE population would suffer genetically if hunts and other states-sanctioned policies effectively severed potential migration routes between Yellowstone and grizzly populations in Montana.

Who said what

Gordon said Wyoming will “directly address those concerns.” The state will amend its management plan to resolve worries regarding methods that estimate the number of bears and how those estimates relate to baseline population goals.

Wyoming also will help ensure genetic diversity. The state “will provide for transportation of bears into the populations,” Gordon said.

A conservation organization panned Gordon’s plan.

“Federal officials should reject this outrageous request, which aims to turn Wyoming’s imperiled grizzly bears into trophy hunting targets,” Andrea Zaccardi, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Wyoming, Idaho and Montana have shown repeatedly that they’ll do anything to appease special interests like the agricultural industry and trapping associations. These states just can’t be trusted to manage grizzly bears.”


Gordon said grizzly bear numbers in the Yellowstone ecosystem are “far beyond all scientific requirements” for delisting. The only roadblocks are legal and administrative, he suggested.

Wyoming can manage the species appropriately, Gordon said. “We are committed to long-term grizzly bear conservation.”

If they have too many they could give some to Colorado ...

And why would you want the damn things in Colorado.

Make life more interesting. I lived in Western Montana throughout the 1970s. Spent a lot of time in the great outdoors. Never was too concerned about them except in the Spring when they first woke up, it was mud season then anyway

They weren’t a problem in the early ‘70’s….

quote:

hey weren’t a problem in the early ‘70’s….

True this.

That concept is actually bullshit.

My father was the undersheriff of Fremont County when I was a kid growing up in the 1970's and 1980's.

I remember at least 3 separate grizzly killed bear hunters that almost every deputy sheriff, police officer and Wyoming National Guard spent weeks looking for only to find a bear killed and eaten hunter.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
That concept is actually bullshit.

My father was the undersheriff of Fremont County when I was a kid growing up in the 1970's and 1980's.

I remember at least 3 separate grizzly killed bear hunters that almost every deputy sheriff, police officer and Wyoming National Guard spent weeks looking for only to find a bear killed and eaten hunter.

Would like to see the official reports on those.

The last known grizzly in CO was killed in 1979 in an attack on a hunter. Happen just south of Fremont County in the South San Juans near Blue Lake.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
That concept is actually bullshit.

My father was the undersheriff of Fremont County when I was a kid growing up in the 1970's and 1980's.

I remember at least 3 separate grizzly killed bear hunters that almost every deputy sheriff, police officer and Wyoming National Guard spent weeks looking for only to find a bear killed and eaten hunter.

Would like to see the official reports on those.

The one I can remember the most details from the father of the hunter had found the bear killed remains of his son and buried them. I think I was 8 or 9, when he told me this story. I brought it up to him a few years ago and he was surprised I had remembered it.

It might not be comprehensive, but this is supposedly a list of the fatal bear attacks in North America.

Hunters shoot grizzly bear after being charged in Idaho

By Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews | Updated - Sept. 24, 2021 at 7:03 a.m.

ISLAND PARK, Idaho — Two hunters are safe after a grizzly bear charged at them in the Stamp Creek Meadows Road area of Island Park Thursday morning.

The men told officials they were walking when the grizzly sow appeared and began running toward them. One of the hunters deployed bear spray and the other shot the animal, according to Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman James Brower. The bear died and the men were unharmed.

There were grizzly cubs in the area that likely belonged to the sow and conservation officers are working to locate them.

"Everything seems to point that this a case of self-defense," Brower tells EastIdahoNews.com. "We are trying to find the cubs and make a plan on what to do with them."

There have been other incidents in this same area of Island Park involving bears this year. While out on a run, a man survived being mauled by a grizzly in July.

Weeks later, a mountain biker avoided being hurt after being chased by a grizzly with cubs.

And those are only the fatal ones. I was there (living just North of West Yellowstone) until 73, then either in Sula or Kalispell for the rest of the time including 1980. I remember seeing on the local news about the Glacier Park ones. I was living outside of Kalispell about 20 minutes from MacDonald creek when they happened.

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And those are only the fatal ones.

Getting a accurate count of non-fatal bear attacks is hard.

This month, I saw pix of two grizlies taken with archery in Alaska. One had a beautiful coat.

Lots of reading material out there. A few more 'lists' to peruse.

Bear Attacks in NA

Bear-Inflicted Human Injuries and Fatalities in Yellowstone

32 Bear Attack Statistics and Facts to Learn in 2021

This goes to only June of this year.

A Round-up of 2021 Bear Attacks “So Far”

Chocolate Legs ( about man eating Griz in Glacier Park ) by Roland Cheek
This guy is excellent Montana writer guys
He even wrote 6/part western that you won’t be able to put down
Check his work on line and read some of his stuff…absolutely priceless

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
Chocolate Legs ( about man eating Griz in Glacier Park ) by Roland Cheek

I knew him thru our mutual memberships in the Outdoor Writers Association of America during the 1980s. First met him at an OWAA conference in Kalispell. If I recall, he got his start as a guide or outfitter.

Animals that eat your offspring are simply not popular and always loose in the end!! well imagine that!