A pair of grizzly bears forage in Glacier National Park – Chris Servheen
This sounds like a really good idea. If they can make it stick . . .
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Wednesday rejected petitions by state governments in Montana and Wyoming to delist grizzly bears in their respective recovery zones, moving instead to establish a single distinct population segment encompassing grizzly habitat in both states, as well as in Idaho and Washington.
“This reclassification will facilitate recovery of grizzly bears and provide a stronger foundation for eventual delisting,” FWS Director Martha Williams said in a prepared statement. “And the proposed changes to our … rule will provide management agencies and landowners more tools and flexibility to deal with human/bear conflicts, an essential part of grizzly bear recovery.”
The agency announced it is publishing an independently peer-reviewed updated species status assessment that compiles the best available scientific information, which helps to inform decision-making.
Absolutely excellent write-up by the Flathead Beacon on the rebooted and long-awaited process of developing the Comprehensive River Management Plan . . .
Resource managers tasked with managing the Flathead River’s three forks under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act announced Monday they’re rebooting a public-engagement process despite falling short of a goal to have completed the draft plan and environmental assessment months ago.
The Flathead National Forest published its “proposed action” document for public review on the agency’s project website while project leaders laid plans to host a pair of open houses on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Flathead Valley Community College’s Arts and Technology Building. The public comment period will be open for 30 days, concluding on Feb. 7. Comments may be submitted electronically here.
The “proposed action” document is different than the draft river management plan, which was due out last fall but is still being developed. The document released Monday will be modified throughout the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis process, according to Kira Powell, public affairs officer for the Flathead National Forest. Another round of public input will also be considered during the environmental analysis (EA), which Powell identified as the most likely level of analysis under NEPA.
This significant “Viewpoint” article recently appeared in the Montana Current and will probably show up at other Montana newspapers . . .
We are 40 retired state, Federal and Tribal Montana biologists with a combined 1280 years of professional experience. We are extremely concerned about the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s conflicts of interest, lack of due process to involve the public in decisions, and rejection of science and facts in favor of personal opinions when developing wildlife management regulations. Fifteen of us worked at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP).
At their last meeting, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission made a last-minute amendment to eliminate the 37% cap for females killed during black bear seasons in Montana. They made this change with no prior notice and therefore little opportunity for public comment.
This female cap was based on earlier research by Dr. Richard Mace of FWP showing that black bear populations would decline if the female proportion in a legal harvest reached 40%. The cap was instituted in spring 2024 in response to the Commission lengthening the spring black bear hunting season by 2 weeks. The female harvest cap would balance the Commission’s desire to extend season length while minimizing the risk of population declines in black bears.
Montanans expect the Commission to provide for public comment on wildlife management decisions. But this policy to reduce Montana black bear numbers by eliminating the female harvest limit was not proposed prior to this meeting or subject to public input. Instead, it originated with some Commissioners who’d heard anecdotal reports from hunters about black bears, as well as unsupported assertions that black bears were depressing Montana elk and deer populations.
This is management based on the whimsy of Commissioners rather than on data, analysis, and consultation with biologists on the ground. A particular irony in this case is that FWP recently initiated research to update our understanding of both black bear abundance and elk population dynamics in northwestern Montana. Rather than awaiting the results from FWP staff tasked with providing objective information, the Commission moved forward based on some anecdotes they heard and their obvious personal bias against predators.
In addition, one of the Commissioners, Pat Tabor has a family that runs an outfitting business. Commissioner Tabor has a direct conflict of interest in extending black bear season lengths and removing the female harvest cap because his family outfitting business will benefit from these changes. He should recuse himself from all Commission issues that directly affecthis family outfitting business, but he refuses to do so.
Montana needs a responsive Fish and Wildlife Commission that listens to and considers all public input, not just those who dislike predators or those who can profit by commercializing wildlife. Montana needs a Commission that always bases their wildlife management decisions on science and facts and who listens to the recommendations of the wildlife professionals at FWP. Sadly, we do not have such a Commission today.
Chris Servheen, Rick Mace, Tim Manley, Chuck Schwartz, Kate Kendall and 35 other Montana wildlife and resource management professionals
North Fork Flathead River at Ford Landing, May 16, 2018 – by William K. Walker
OK, let’s try this again . . .
A second attempt at a proposed action for the long awaited Comprehensive Management Plan is expected to be released in early January Flathead National Forest spokeswoman Kira Powell confirmed last week.
The plan is a blueprint for the management of the 219 miles of Wild and Scenic waterways of the North, Middle and South forks of the Flathead. The plan is being crafted by the Flathead National Forest in cooperation with the National Park Service.
The North and Middle Forks make up a large portion of the boundary of Glacier National Park. An initial proposed action and public scoping was released in 2019, but it never became a final plan. Since then the plan has progressed in fits and starts, marked by delays, which included a pandemic and an historic surge in summer river usage.
Roger Sullivan questions witnesses at the Held v. State of Montana trial in June 2023. Photo via Roger Sullivan.
Well, now, here’s some upbeat holiday season news! . . .
The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a district court ruling in Held v. Montana, affirming the young plaintiffs have a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.”
In a 6 to 1 ruling, Montana’s high court ruled the public’s right to a clean and healthful environment under Montana’s constitution was violated when the state legislature passed a law removing the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from environmental reviews under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). Chief Justice Mike McGrath authored the opinion.
“Plaintiffs have standing to challenge the injury to their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment,” wrote McGrath. “Montanans’ right to a clean and healthful environment was violated by the MEPA Limitation, which precluded an analysis of [greenhouse gas] emissions in environmental assessments and environmental impact statements during MEPA review.”
This is pretty interesting. This past summer, Montana FWP translocated a couple of adult grizzlies from the Middle Fork Flathead to the Yellowstone area. Here’s what happened . . .
The lines on the map look like the doodling of a toddler. The pink line makes big loops that sometimes overlap. The green line is wound so tightly, it just looks like a big blob. Though they sometimes get close to each other, they seldom intersect.
The lines show the movements of the female grizzly bear (pink) and male grizzly bear (green) that were relocated from the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) this past summer. Both ecosystems have populations of grizzly bears that have surpassed recovery goals. However, the translocation effort was designed to help increase the genetic diversity of the GYE population, which has been isolated from nearby populations for many years. It’s an effort that may be repeated in the future, depending on how close the two populations eventually grow.
“This just jump starts what very likely will also happen naturally,” said Ken McDonald, head of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Wildlife Division.
A petition has been submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by 15 environmental groups, urging a revision of the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan based on a new report by former grizzly recovery manager Chris Servheen. The report argues against delisting grizzlies from the Endangered Species Act and suggests managing them as a single metapopulation in the Northern Rockies. Servheen highlights significant population growth since the species was listed in 1975, but notes ongoing threats, including human-caused deaths and habitat loss. The petition emphasizes the need for stronger regulations and education to promote coexistence between humans and grizzlies. It critiques current state policies that may harm grizzly populations and calls for a collaborative recovery framework involving Tribal, State, and Federal agencies. The report stresses that successful recovery requires connectivity between isolated populations to enhance genetic diversity and resilience against climate change. The petition aims to influence decisions on grizzly protections expected by the end of January.
Grizzly bear near Trail Creek in North Fork Flathead region, Montana. April 11, 2017 – by Diane Boyd
Local grizzly specialist Justine Vallieres is featured in this excellent article on human-bear conflict management efforts this year. A couple of North Forkers and the Bear Smart program get a mention, too . . .
Even though grizzly specialist Justine Vallieres responded to fewer human-bear conflict calls in northwest Montana this year compared to last, she filled what little downtime that afforded her by ramping up her education and outreach curriculum.
“We’re pushing preventative measures and trying to set as few traps as possible,” Vallieres, a wildlife conflict management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), told members of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC), who gathered for their annual winter meeting on Dec. 3 and 4 in Choteau. “I can set trap after trap after trap, but if the unsecured attractants are still there, the problem will keep recurring.”
For Vallieres, pushing preventative measues meant installing more electric fences, observing that residents seem more willing to entertain the idea of non-lethal conflict prevention as a means to secure their livestock and grain. She also delivered 18 talks and attended six educational events, all the while keeping up with a steady stream of conflict calls related to grizzly and black bears.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week released a final recovery plan for Canada lynx, a threatened, snow-adapted species partial to northern forests.
Recovery plans are sometimes called “roadmaps to recovery.” Federal wildlife managers use them to outline risks to a threatened or endangered species’ survival and identify objective criteria for measuring recovery efforts.
Threats to Canada lynx that USFWS identified in its recovery plan include a reduction of habitat in the western U.S. that’s capable of sustaining populations of resident lynx and a warming climate that’s reducing the wintertime conditions lynx rely on to hunt snowshoe hare, a rabbit that accounts for most of the lynx’s winter diet.
Gray wolf – John and Karen Hollingsworth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission is looking at a number of adjustments to trapping regulations, including some that would affect wolves . . .
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission on Nov. 12 is set to consider a crowded agenda of proposed fishing and hunting regulations for the upcoming year, including approving a shortened wolf-trapping season and enacting rules surrounding the trapping of predators like coyotes, which are designed to avoid incidental captures of grizzly bears.
