Wildlife biologists say that reports of grizzly bears are increasing in Montana’s Beartooth Front, but it’s difficult to tell if there are more bears or just more bear sightings.

Barb Pitman, wildlife biologist with the Beartooth Ranger District in Red Lodge, told The Billings Gazette it’s not clear if there are simply more people exploring bear country.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen says bears are pushing out in all directions from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem…

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A rash of grizzly bear incidents in Northwest Montana has led to one of the busiest years ever involving captures and relocations, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

FWP has made 43 grizzly bear captures in Region 1 because of problem incidents this year, one of the highest numbers ever, according to FWP.

“This valley is a real grizzly hot spot,” FWP spokesperson John Fraley said.

Six grizzlies have had to be euthanized in recent months and one has been transferred to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone following problems, Fraley said.

Fraley attributes the increase in numbers to the fact that the grizzly population has recovered in the Northern Rockies in recent years, with an estimated 1,000 bears living in the region.

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An increasing grizzly bear population is expanding east from the Rocky Mountain Front in western Montana as individual bears discover that the plains contain abundant food, a grizzly bear expert says.

Mike Madel of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said some bears appear to have discovered that food sources are better on the plains than in the mountains. He noted that in the past young bears trying to make it on their own were showing up on the plains, but now there are adult females that are passing their knowledge to their cubs.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a plan Tuesday to remove wolves in Wyoming from federal protection and allow them to be shot on sight in most of the state.

The draft plan posted online and set for publication in the Federal Register on Wednesday opens the way for Wyoming’s wolves to be removed from the endangered list perhaps next summer and no later than a year from now.

The proposal follows a delisting framework that Fish and Wildlife and Wyoming officials agreed to last summer after months of negotiations.

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Wolves and bears don’t behave well in courtrooms.

But the two big predators are likely to spend the next 18 months there as their advocates and enemies try to untangle them from the federal Endangered Species Act.

Last week, Montana wildlife managers decided to appeal U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy’s Aug. 5 decision placing the gray wolf back under federal protection. Meanwhile, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials in Missoula appealed another Molloy ruling that prevented state management of Yellowstone ecosystem grizzly bears.

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Montanans living along the winding Teton River, well east of the Rocky Mountain Front were quick to notice their new neighbor this summer. As early as the beginning of July, ranchers and other landowners along the prairie began intermittently spotting a solitary grizzly bear journeying east, away from the mountains.

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It’s been a fairly good year for grizzly bears in the greater Glacier Park area. This year 11 bears were killed due to human circumstances, according to figures provided by Chris Servheen, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.

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