COUNTRY: USA

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REGION: Greater Yellowstone 

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PROJECT DURATION: Ongoing 

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OVERVIEW

"In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, some 35,000 square miles spanning Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, bears have recovered from crisis levels reached in the 1970’s to a healthy population of over seven hundred. The federal protections of the Endangered Species Act have worked. The Grizzly is ready to be “delisted”—managed once again by states. The recovery of the Grizzly has been a long journey, necessitating the cooperation of Federal, State and private organizations, gathering data, reviewing and commenting recovery plans and financial resources provision. 

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Last year, Wyoming proposed a 23-tag public hunt and the ensuing litigation from anti-hunt interest groups has arrested the entire delisting process. No court has ruled on the legitimacy of Grizzly hunting directly, though. The public debate on it seems more intense, intractable and vitriolic than ever—but does raise essential questions.

 

Can predator hunting be accepted by an evolving American society? And whose human opinion should reign over the management of wildernesses?

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But the heated question now is whether or not the states will allow them to be hunted.

In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, some 35,000 square miles spanning Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, bears have recovered from crisis levels reached in the 1970’s to a healthy population of over seven hundred. The federal protections of the Endangered Species Act have worked. The Grizzly is ready to be “delisted”—managed once again by states. The recovery of the Grizzly has been a long journey, necessitating the cooperation of Federal, State and private organizations on the gathering of data and reviewing of recovery plans."

-Jack Evans, "The New Value of the Grizzly"

Modern Huntsman Volume Three

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OUR EFFORTS

1- Restoring an endangered or threatened animal  to the point where it is again a secure, self-sustaining member of its ecosystem is a primary goal of the Service's endangered species program of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In order to help the service prepare the recovery plans for the Grizzly Bear, Bear Trust reviewed and commented on the Federal Register Notice documents. 

Bear Trust fully supports the delisting of this grizzly bear population, based on the scientific data.

 

2- Bear Trust is now investigating the pros and cons of Grizzly Bear Hunting and our Editor has published, in the current issue of Modern Huntsman, a summary of the main perspectives on the debate, opening new avenues for conservation and ethical considerations. 

 

PROJECT LEADERS

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