Fine for illegally killing grizzlies hiked to $8,000
Hungry Horse News
Illegally killing a grizzly bear in Montana will cost poachers a lot more than it used to, but still not as much as a trophy bighorn sheep.
House Bill 514 increased the fine for illegally killing a bear from $2,000 to $8,000. The bill went into effect immediately upon passage earlier this spring, so it would cover grizzly bear poachings this year.
But that's still not as much as illegally killing a trophy bighorn. The fine for illegally killing bighorn sheep ram with a three-quarter curl in its horns is a $30,000 fine.
Bighorn sheep are a protected game animal under Montana law, though some limited hunting of the animals happens every year in the state.
The grizzly bear is also protected from hunting under both state and federal law. Under federal law, it is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. But most cases of illegally killed bears in the state are prosecuted under state statute.
The earlier fine was seen by some bear conservationists as too lenient, considering the fines for killing game animals that aren't threatened.
The increase in the bear fine brings it in line with other game species fines. Illegally killing a six-point elk, or a four-point buck, for example, carries an $8,000 fine as well.
Illegally shooting a mountain goat or a bull moose with a 30-inch antler spread or greater calls for a fine of $6,000.
Illegally shooting an antelope with one horn greater than 14 inches is a $2,000 fine.
The fines for grizzly bear poaching were increased in April in anticipation of the Yellowstone population of bears being de-listed soon, according to the bill text.
A proposal to de-list the bears could come as early as next month, Chris Servheen, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the Associated Press last week.
The bear population in that region has been steadily growing. About 600 bears are thought to live in that region.
De-listing in the greater Glacier National Park area hinges, at least in part, on a bear DNA study designed to give an accurate count of grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem.
That study is expected to be completed in 2006.