May 7, 1999 Ravalli Republic: By line: Choteau (AP) "Too Many Grizzlies on Rocky Mountain Front".
CAG Comments
It seems the Grizzly bear recovery program is beginning to position itself to get bears from the Northern core area buffer zone system to reintroduce into the Bitterroot Selway Frank Church Wilderness. Canada's sentiment is, after the wolf fiasco, NO BEARS!! Do you wonder if this is legal???
End CAG Comments
Grizzly bear numbers in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem are sufficiently high, some owners of property near Choteau and Augusta told a panel working on a grizzly recovery plan. Eventual removal of grizzlies from the threatened-species list is one goal of the plan, but officials say criteria must be met before removal can be proposed formally.
There must be evidence that bear habitat will be protected, and that accurate population counts are in place, said Chris Servheen, grizzly-bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The landowners Tuesday told a subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee to listen better to people with first-hand knowledge of bear numbers along the Rocky Mountain Front. Too much attention is given to claims by people residing outside of Montana, the speakers said.
There may be 300 to 400 grizzly bears in the ecosystem, but nobody knows for sure, Servheen said. He said an estimated 50,000 grizzly bears were in the western United States in the 1800's, but now there are fewer than 1000 and they cover less than 2 percent of their original range.
Ranchers along the Rocky Mountain Front may he seeing more bears, but their numbers are not strong throughout the ecosystem, Servheen said.
About 50 people attended the hearing, held to gather public comment for consideration as the recovery plan develops.
Also Tuesday, the subcommittee was briefed on a new plan for restricting motorized access in the Lewis & Clark, Flathead, Lolo and Helena national forests, plus access to some Bureau of Land Management property. Controlling access to bear habitat is a key element of the recovery plan.
The proposal given the subcommittee would initiate road and trail closures differently on the western and eastern sides of the Continental Divide, taking into account differences in habitat and the number of forest roads. Proposals for seasonal rather than permanent closure of some roads also are a key part of the access plan, which is set for action by the subcommittee in July.