FWP Commission: No grizzly hunt near Yellowstone this year
A collective database of grizzly bear DNA now numbers about 5,000 individual bears, indentified over the past 25 years from Banff National park to Yellowstone.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission last week voted to not have a grizzly bear hunt near Yellowstone National Park this upcoming hunting season.
The state could have allowed a hunt, as the grizzly in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is no longer listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Montana will retain the state’s discretionary mortality allotment. The Commission also directed the department to notify the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission of the decision to retain the discretionary mortality.
If the state hadn’t retained the mortality, it could have given Wyoming its allotment for Wyoming’s grizzly season.
The state’s “discretionary mortality” — bears that could have been harvested in a hunt — amounted to .9 independent females and 5.9 independent males. Independent animals are those without cubs or part of a family group.
It’s estimated that about 718 grizzlies roam the Yellowstone ecosystem. Wyoming is moving toward a fall hunt, while Idaho Fish and Game is expected take up the issue at its March meeting.
“Because the available mortality, especially independent females, is very limited, and because of ongoing litigation challenging the delisting, FWP recommends the Fish and Wildlife Commission not implement a hunting season in 2018, and reserve available grizzly bear mortality based on the default allocation based on proportion of the Demographic Monitoring Area,” FWP staff recommended to the commission in its report.
Grizzly bear hunting, even after delisting, has been a controversial subject.
Most Native American tribes in the state oppose hunting grizzly bears.
“Our focus, now they are delisted, is managing these iconic species for long term recovery and at the same time having the ability to respond to conflicts in the Yellowstone ecosystem,” FWP director, Martha Williams said.
“Holding off on hunting for now, I believe, will help demonstrate our commitment to long term recovery and at the same time allow us the science-based management flexibility we need,” Williams added. “We also are continuing to work hard at responding proactively to bear conflicts and educating people and communities in grizzly country how to be bear aware.”
A coalition of environmental groups and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe filed suit last summer challenging the delisting of the bears in the Greater Yellowstone. That coalition included the National Parks Conservation Association, the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice.