Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Managers Say That All Systems Are Still Go For Delisting

Jackson - At the recent meeting in Jackson, Wyoming of the various state and federal wildlife managers responsible for recovering the Yellowstone grizzly bear, the message was loud and clear, "The delisting process is still on-track." said United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator Chris Servheen. In a public presentation to the other members of the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee (YES) by Chuck Schwartz, leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, more information was provided to really flesh out what Servheen had said about the recovery. According to Schwartz, "The number of sightings of females with cubs increased from 31 in 2005 to 47 in 2006. These sightings normally vary from year to year so the increase in 2006 doesn't mean a huge increase in the numbers of bears in one year. Because looking at only a single year's data can be misleading, the recovery plan puts things into running averages to give a better picture of how things are going. In the case of the six-year average for 2001-2006, Schwartz once again provided some important information, "Over the last 6 years, we have averaged 43 unduplicated females accompanied by 84 cubs for an average litter size of 1.94 in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. These are all indicators that the bear numbers have remained stable or slightly increased. A major underpinning of both the recovery plan to bring back the grizzlies, and the Conservation Strategy to manage the bears once they are delisted is that biologists will use the best possible science to study and manage the bears. In the case of tracking females with cubs, Schwartz also explained how a new statistical tool called the Chao2 estimator will be employed to give a more accurate estimate of how the Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear population is doing. Another significant factor in the recovery of the bear revolves around human caused mortality. Schwartz reported that, as of the meeting, only nine known grizzly bear mortalities had been recorded for 2006. Of those, one was of natural causes and eight were human-related. Six of the human caused mortalities were within the recovery zone and the 10-mile perimeter around it. One of these bears was a management removal, the others involved incidents relating to motor vehicles, mistaken identity and causes still under investigation. The number of bears killed due to mistaken identity and conflicts with hunters was reduced greatly this year, hopefully the fruit of efforts by all the YES member agencies to help educate the public about bear identification and proper behavior when in grizzly bear country. As part of his presentation, Schwartz also covered information regarding the various important food sources for the grizzly bears within the Yellowstone Ecosystem, such as whitebark pine nuts, spawning Yellowstone cutthroat, army cutworm moths, and winter-killed carcasses. While food sources like ungulate carcasses were at their highest recorded levels in six years, some other foods such as the whitebark pine nuts were being reduced by native mountain pine beetles attacking white bark pine trees. Schwartz reported that during the last four years that the annual tree mortality due to mountain pine beetle was 10.2% on the study transects and that 68.4% of the transects contained trees that were beetle-killed. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study team in cooperation with the National Park Service and other federal agencies has established a monitoring program that focuses on the health of whitebark pine. Schwartz stressed the importance of this food to Yellowstone grizzlies and the importance of monitoring the long term health of pine stands in the ecosystem. Scientists and managers will continue to monitor food sources in order to be able to respond with management action should there be changes in food supplies that might impact grizzly bears. In summing up the recovery efforts to date, Servheen of the USFWS noted the last remaining hurdle to overcome is related to public trust of the agencies that will be responsible for managing the grizzly bear once it is delisted. "Many people just do not trust that the agencies will do what they have agreed to do once the bear is delisted," said Servheen. "Our job is to assure the public and to build public trust in the agencies after the grizzly is delisted. All the state and federal agencies involved are committed to fully implement the management, monitoring, and science necessary to maintain a recovered grizzly population!" said Servheen to the other members of the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee. To learn more about grizzly bear recovery and view other related links, visit the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee website at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/wildlife/igbc.