Kiersten Iwai
Sierra Club volunteers and staff in Montana have been speaking out at public hearings in the state, protesting the proposed delisting of grizzly bears from their status as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Widely seen as both a symbol of the rugged American West and a man-eating monster, the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribillis) is a pivotal species in the ecosystems it inhabits. Once ranging throughout the West and even into the Great Plains, they have been hunted to extinction throughout the majority of that range due to fear of personal attack, for trophy hunting by outdoorsmen, and due to accusations of livestock predation and competition with cattle for grazing. While rare attacks on people certainly do occur, they are often due to failure to heed warnings issued by rangers or wildlife officials to not hike alone or to leave food unattended while camping.
On April 12, the city of Bozeman, Montana, held the second of two hearings on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent proposal to delist grizzlies from their status as ”threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. About a hundred people from across Montana and Wyoming attended the hearing, including representatives of environmental groups and residents of the cities and towns that surround Yellowstone National Park.
Some feel the bears are abundant enough and have received the protection they needed for their numbers to rebound, so now it’s time to delist them and allow for an open hunting season.
The vast majority of those who attended opposed the delisting and argued for the bears’ protection. Their concerns over the future of the grizzly’s survival stemmed primarily from two of its chief food resources that are declining due to climate change in the West. Although grizzly bears commonly get a bad rap for being more aggressive and carnivorous than black bears, they still consume far more plant matter in the continental US due to lack of salmon, which are loaded with essential proteins and fats that are vital for the bear’s growth. This, in turn, explains why grizzlies generally grow much larger in the Canadian and Alaskan parts of their range.
Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, along with a small but potentially growing population in the North Cascades region of Washington, represent the bear’s current range in the lower 48 states. Studies conducted there have revealed a major decline in two of their major food sources--cutthroat trout and whitebark pine, the seeds of which are a major pre-hibernation food source for both grizzly and black bears.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is concerned that grizzly bears will become less omnivorous and consume more meat if the current trends in climate change continue, which may cause them to increasingly see humans as prey.
“Turning towards meat puts grizzly bears into more conflict with humans, and when that happens the grizzly bears are going to win,” said Kiersten Iwai, a Bozeman resident and Montana Sierra Club organizer who is protesting the delisting. “So last year there were 59 known grizzly bear deaths, which is significant for a population in the mid- 700s -- and that is with federal protection, so imagine if we take away this protection.”
Mark Hufstetler, a Bozeman resident and treasurer of the Montana chapter of Sierra Club, feels the delisting of the bears would be a major step backward in their recovery.
If this measure to delist is passed, then the fate of the bears and their survival would rest in the hands of the game management and state agencies of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. In those three states, grizzly bear deaths have increased, with a record number of 61 confirmed deaths in 2015.
Last month, the USFWS proposed delisting the grizzly bears that live in the greater Yellowstone area; the second time the agency has done so in the last decade.
Grizzlies were first listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. Estimates dating from that year show the bears’ overall numbers in the continental US were an astonishingly low 136. Since the early 2000s they have skyrocketed in population, with more recent estimates placing their numbers between 717 and 1,000.
According to an official report from the Montana Department of Fish and Wildlife, it is generally agreed there are more than 500 bears in the northwest Montana Rockies, about 600 in and around Yellowstone National Park, about 50 in the Selkirk Mountains of northern Idaho and northeastern Washington, and 30 to 40 in the Cabinet-Yaak area of northern Idaho and western Montana. Probably fewer than a dozen grizzlies survive in the North Cascades.
Community members also pointed out that Yellowstone's population has yet to connect with Glacier National Park’s grizzlies.
“The Yellowstone population has a different genetic makeup than the population in Glacier, called the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, and some people say they need to connect,” said Kiersten Iwai, another Bozeman resident who also works with the Montana Sierra Club chapter. “It's also for the genetic integrity and long term viability of the population and people would like that to happen naturally.”
It’s been nearly a decade since the federal government attempted to take action of any type toward delisting, which resulted in a number of environmental groups suing the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
They blamed the government for not adequately scrutinizing the climate-change effects of whitebark pine and what that would mean for the bears. The government agreed and re-listed them in 2009.
Some even argued the USFWS was pushing delisting due to political pressure and not because of science.
“We feel like the service is choosing to derail a recovery story on the brink of success in order to appease politically powerful special interests,” said a protester, who declined to give his name.
Opponents also raised questions about the democratic aspects of the delisting process, saying the comment period was too short for the many that care about grizzly bears but don’t live in Idaho, Montana, Washington, or Wyoming.
The proposal is now nearing the end of a public comment period that lasts until May 10. Matt Hogan, the deputy regional director for the USFWS, said the agency may reopen comment periods later in the year, but he didn’t have further details. He said the agency hopes to make a final decision by the end of the year.