Ignatz

The PETA people belive that we are the ones to be controled. I get the feeling that they would like it if people were locked up in cities so not to bother the animals. I also get the feeling they think that people were some evil force dropped from outer space.

Flairball

I saw that 60 Minutes, and found it quite frustrating. Clearly the grizzly numbers are up, and they need to be managed. I found it amazing that the cattle rancher wasn't taking matters into his own hands. If he shot and buried a griz or two no one would know. Anyway, land mines and poison could probably help manage them. .....The liberals that is, not the bears.

tocs

I had recorded the show and finally had the opportunity to watch it last night.My take is the program was definitely slanted to a non hunting bias.Peoples safety shouldn't be compromised in favor of an animal's existence in an area.
Unfortunately habitat for wildlife is not protected sufficiently to ensure that development doesn't take place in areas that would be considered games natural habitat.If you build your home next to a dump you are going to smell the garbage!
So while I definitely in favor of delisting them and controlling their population with hunting and hopefully having them associate fear with proximity to humans.The better solution would be not to have built in their back yard in the first place!
The need for dollars always seems to win out over leaving things unspoiled!

muley69

"The USFWS official plan to propose as early as next month that Grizzly bears around Yellowstone National Park be removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act." -Missoulian, Missoula Mt, 11 Jun 05.
Well perhaps progress is being made. The article goes on to say that environmentalist are agaist it. Est population is at 600 bears in the YNP ecosystem. The problem as I see it, is that the ESA is a tool for the environmentlist to obstruct any kind of natural resource consumption. The logging here in Montana has been virtually destroyed by obstructionist environmentalist. Mills shut down due to lack of product, while hundreds of thousands of acres of dead timber rots where it stands within miles of the mill, it is insane. Logging used to be one of the primary industries in Montana and one of the few ways average Joes could make a decent living. Loggers have been replaced with Kalifornia liberals who have driven up land prices so bad, none of the local can afford property anymore. Then the liberals shut down these vast tracks of land to hunting by restricting access. Ranchers, who are often land rich and money poor, end up selling pieces of their property to pay inflated property taxes until the ranch is gone, and with it the hunting opportunities. Environmentalist are destroying this place.

RandyA

muley69, my sentiments exactly! Change isn't always good. Here is the news article!

Some hunting would maybe turn the tide with bear/human conflicts and maybe help declining moose numbers. Maybe some day, the wolf delisting will follow. I won't hold my breath! LOL!




Yellowstone grizzlies may be delisted
By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press

Federal wildlife officials plan to propose as early as next month that grizzly bears around Yellowstone National Park be removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said officials believe there are adequate protections in place for both the bears and their habitat.

"We're on the verge of doing what we set out to do," he said. "If I wasn't comfortable, I wouldn't be doing this."


But some conservationists say oil and gas development and housing in more rural areas are among the threats to the bears' habitat. They argue that Fish and Wildlife is moving too fast to ensure the grizzlies' long-term future in the region.

"We shouldn't be taking chances with this icon species," said Janet Barwick, Wild Bears Project associate with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

More than 600 grizzlies are estimated to live in the Yellowstone ecosystem, a vast swath of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho that also contains six national forests. Servheen said the population has been growing at a rate of 4 percent to 6 percent a year and that, eventually, it's going to stabilize. He said there are places where bear numbers could rise and others, particularly near communities, where growth needs to slow.

He said the absolute floor level for the population, though, would be 500.

Servheen doesn't see much changing for Yellowstone-area bears once they're removed from the list of animals protected by the federal law. The grizzlies, which he says are the most studied bear population in the world, will continue to be watched closely, as will their habitat and food sources. Plans call for officials to spend about $1 million more a year for such activities as management and monitoring after they are delisted, he said.

Grizzlies have been listed as a threatened species in the region for 30 years, and their removal from federal protection could not come soon enough for some, particularly in Wyoming. That state is home to many of the bears.

Wyoming wildlife officials are working on occupancy guidelines, identifying areas that would be considered biologically suitable and socially acceptable for the bears. The state Game and Fish Commission is expected to consider the plan in mid-July, said John Emmerich, of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Bucky Hall, a county commissioner in Park County, Wyo., near Yellowstone, said there are concerns about growing conflicts between grizzlies and people. Bears, he said, are "just pouring out of the park, literally."

"You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone on the ground who doesn't think there are enough bears," he said.

Douglas L. Thompson, a county commissioner in Wyoming's Fremont County, which he said passed a resolution declaring grizzlies socially and economically unacceptable and therefore unwanted, said delisting is a "noble goal." But, he said, details of any such proposal will be important. If there isn't greater management control at a more localized level, "we won't have gained anything," he said.

Heidi Godwin, associate regional representative for the Sierra Club, said there are still plenty of questions surrounding bears, including the availability of money for management and monitoring after delisting.

"How are they going to do this?" Godwin said. "That's one of the most concerning aspects for us."

Barwick said her group would fight a delisting proposal now.

Servheen said he expects a 90-day comment period to follow release of the agency's proposal. A final decision wouldn't be expected until sometime next year, he said.