Griz council can’t agree on whether we should hunt bears, or not

After a 5-1/2 hour long meeting recently, the Montana Grizzly Bear Advisory Council still has some work to do to reach its final recommendations and when it comes to hunting bears, members have simply decided to agree to disagree.

The council was charged by Gov. Steve Bullock to craft a document that would help guide the state with grizzly bear issues in the future through its citizen recommendations.

While members of the diverse 18-member panel have said they’ve made lifelong friends through the effort, they couldn’t come up with a consensus on the subject of hunting.

In fact, a draft document simply lists the pros and cons of hunting and the list, members conceded after an hour-long discussion, was getting to be a tit-for-tat.

For example, on the pro side the document states, “Nearly every species of wildlife valued by hunters has thrived in our country, in large part due to the strong support and conservation efforts of hunters.”

On the con side, a draft notes, “Hunting iconic carnivores is an emotionally charged issue. Allowing a grizzly hunt in Montana could create backlash to the state’s tourism economy.”

And so on.

All told, the draft document had 10 bulleted points in favor of hunting, while it had 13 points against it.

Some members charged that the hunting issue was not always backed by peer reviewed studies, but by newspaper stories, some of which were opinion pieces. Some members wanted to do away with the subject altogether.

“I don’t want to put my name on the bottom of a document that’s not necessarily accurate,” said Bret Barney, a wildlife manager at the Sunlight Ranch Company in the Beartooth Mountains.

But others argued that by leaving hunting out, it ignored the charge by Gov. Bullock, who wanted the group to tackle the tough issues.

In the end, the decision was made to pare down the pros and cons of hunting to six bulleted points, and concede that a consensus could not be reached.

But there were other issues that popped up as well, as the group, meeting via Zoom videoconference, went through the draft document line-by-line.

Other sticking points included language that spoke to private property and grizzlies, and private property rights.

Other discussions centered on connectivity of populations.

Members expressed frustration.

“We basically lost a whole afternoon arguing,” said Trina Jo Bradley, a rancher near Valier.

Bradley in her biography, calls for more active management of bears.

“Grizzlies are limiting our daily activities, stressing our cattle and horses, and causing damage. I believe we need tools to manage bears in a way that is best for both grizzlies and the people that live here. I am excited to get to work with this Council so we can put our heads together and come up with a solution that works for all Montanans,” Bradley notes in her biography.

But others felt differently, noting the process was working, it was just difficult.

The conversations, by all accounts, have been civil, even in disagreement.

“I’m proud of the work we’ve done,” said Carolyn Byrd, Executive Director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and a Bozeman resident.

The 18-member board is a diverse group, including ranchers who have to deal with bears on their property and the threats they can pose to livestock, to tribal members to conservationists.

Columbia Falls is also represented on the board — F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber manager Chuck Roady sits on the council.

A meeting is planned in the future to further work on the document.

The draft is available at: http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/grizzlyBear/gbac.html