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Montana Outlines Initial Details of Potential Grizzly Hunt State wildlife agency proposes limited season for grizzlies near Yellowstone
TBY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
HROUGH A LIMITED DRAWING, hunters could have the once-in- a-lifetime opportunity to kill a
grizzly bear in Montana during a spring and fall season, according to prelimi- nary regulations drafted by state wild- life managers.
The rst details of a potential hunting season for grizzly bears have emerged in the midst of a heated debate over whether the population in and around Yellow- stone National Park should be removed from the federal government’s threat- ened species list.
O cials from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will present the framework of the possible future hunting season at the May 12 meeting with the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission in Helena. Hunting would still be prohibited in the national park. State wildlife managers anticipate fewer than 10 grizzlies would be killed annually during the season. Public comment will be accepted at the meeting and through June 17.
The potential hunting season in a 19,279-square-mile area that includes southwestern Montana hinges on several factors, primarily the animal’s so-called delisting, which the federal government proposed in March. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the Yellowstone region’s bear population — estimated at 717 grizzlies last year — has recovered and no longer meets the de nition of an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
As of May 9, one day before the com- ment deadline, the controversial pro- posal has attracted national attention and over 3,380 comments. Joining the debate is famed biologist Jane Goodall, who was among 58 scientists to submit a letter last week objecting to the move, saying it is premature and that the over- all grizzly population has not recovered throughout its historic range. Also, crit- ics such as David Mattson, a retired wild- life biologist, dispute the population esti- mates and “junk science” used to support delisting.
The potential hunting season across three states — Montana, Wyoming and Idaho — lies at the center of contention.
Tribal governments have also expressed opposition, citing cultural objections to trophy hunts. The Confed- erated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are in the process of drafting a letter to submit to the federal government, according to
Tom McDonald, sh, wildlife, recreation and conservation director for the CSKT. “Due to our Tribes’ strong relation-
ship and respect for grizzly bears, it is very safe to say that CSKT has a very high concern about the proposal,” McDonald told the Beacon in an email.
Sportsmen groups have come out in support of the delisting and subsequent season, saying a limited hunt would not have detrimental impacts on the overall population.
“If there are bears that are surplus to our population needs and recovery goals, the public should be able to have an opportunity to hunt some of them,” said Mac Minard, executive director of the Montana Out tters and Guides Association, which supports the delist- ing proposal. “Hunting would be a rea- sonable and responsible use of a sustain- able surplus.”
Grizzlies can already be hunted on a limited basis in Alaska, as well as in Brit- ish Columbia.
Following the comment period, the federal government will most likely decide whether to remove ESA protec- tions by the end of 2016, according to Chris Servheen, who wrote the delist- ing rule before retiring recently as the USFWS grizzly bear recovery coordi- nator. As in the past, Servheen expects there to be a lengthy litigation process as the contentious rule moves through the court system. Depending on the court’s decision in the coming years, the popu- lation of grizzlies in the Northern Conti- nental Divide Ecosystem spanning much
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of Northwest Montana would follow Yel- lowstone’s path in the coming years.
As part of the federal government’s delisting process, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are required to outline the structure of a potential hunting season. The season would be based on mortality limits, including road kills, management removals and hunting, in the designated monitoring area in the three-state region known as the Yellowstone ecosystem. The limits would maintain a population of at least 600-747 bears. Any dip below 600 would halt any “discretionary mor- talities,” such as hunting.
Quotas for any hunting season would be based on the previous year’s mortal- ity limits and how many bears had died that year, according to John Vore, FWP’s game management bureau chief.
“We brainstormed as to what type of hunting season would best t. We wanted to be conservative and we wanted to min- imize the take of female bears,” Vore said. “Montana’s proposed grizzly bear season structure and framework is conservative and designed to minimize take of female bears.”
A general grizzly license would cost $150 for residents and $1,000 for non- residents, plus a $50 “trophy license” that would allow for the possession and transport of the trophy. There would also be an $8 conservation fee and $10 base license fee. An individual would be limited to killing one grizzly in their life- time. Licenses would be issued through a random drawing system. Anyone who drew a grizzly license but did not ll
the tag would have to wait seven years before drawing another license. Before being issued a license, a hunter would be required to pass a bear identi cation test. Hunters would only be allowed to kill adult male and females grizzlies, but it would be illegal to shoot a bear traveling with another bear or bears to avoid kill- ing a female with cubs or a bear two years old or younger. It would also be illegal to use bait or dogs to hunt grizzlies and it would be illegal to take a grizzly while it is in its den.
The proposed spring season would run March 15-April 20 and the fall sea- son would run Nov. 10 through Dec. 15.
According to Vore, the season dates were designed to protect females.
The potential hunting season would be the rst in the lower 48 states since the early 1990s.
The federal government designated the grizzly bear as a threatened species in 1975, but allowed a hunting season to continue in Northwest Montana until 1991, when a federal district judge issued an injunction halting the season. The Fund for Animals and Swan View Coali- tion sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice seeking to end the biannual season.
Twenty- ve years later, Keith Ham- mer, chair of the locally based Swan View Coalition, remains rmly opposed to the delisting and subsequent hunting of griz- zlies once again.
“If the agencies were really serious about grizzly bear conservation, they wouldn’t be wanting to take them o the list in the face of increasing human pop- ulations and impacts on the ecosystem, whether Yellowstone or up here in the Northern Continental Divide,” he said. “Secondly, they would hold o on even thinking about proposing hunting until they see how the species does under state management if it were delisted.”
Hammer says persistent popula- tion growth and development is putting “unrelenting pressure” on grizzlies and their habitat.
Others disagree, saying the popu- lation — estimated at 1,800 across the lower 48 — is robust and ready for state management.
“The proposal to delist grizzlies in the Yellowstone ecosystem is a very import- ant step in an amazing success story,” Vore with FWP said. “We should all be proud of that. The whole idea of the Endangered Species Act is to recover spe- cies and get them delisted.”
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
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MAY 11, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM