![]() All rights reserved.“ The selection and appointment of members shall be made solely upon consideration of the welfare and best interests of fish and game in the state of Idaho, and no person shall be appointed a member of said commission unless he shall be well informed upon, and interested in, the subject of wildlife conservation and restoration. The grizzlies' Alaska cousin, the brown bear, is not considered a threatened or endangered species and is hunted regularly. Outside the Yellowstone area, other grizzly populations in Montana, Idaho and Washington state will remain protected. Montana officials estimated their number would be less than 10 bears in most years. The three states have apportioned the bears that could be hunted according to their share of the Yellowstone area: Wyoming with 58 percent, Montana with 34 percent and Idaho with 8 percent. Congress lifted those protections in Idaho and Montana in 2011, and wolf hunts have since been held annually in those states.įor grizzlies, the actual quota available for each state's hunt would vary from year to year, depending on the previous year's bear deaths. The last major debate over hunting an animal that had been previously protected was the gray wolf. Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Gary Wolfe warned wildlife officials to carefully align the state's plans with the federal government to protect themselves against inevitable lawsuits. The Montana hunting regulations will be up for a final vote in July. "This doesn't mean that automatically we're going to start hunting grizzly bears as soon as they're de-listed," he said. The regulations are being created now because federal wildlife officials require it, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Jeff Hagener said Wednesday. "All the work of bringing back the grizzly bear from the brink of extinction should not go up in smoke because the game plan is substandard," she said. The scrutiny is intense, with wildlife advocates insisting the bear population is still too fragile for hunting and that federal officials reverse course before it's too late. Idaho officials plan to discuss the matter next week. Wyoming's Fish and Game Commission approved a grizzly management plan Wednesday and still must come up with its own hunting rules. Montana's Fish and Wildlife Commission gave its initial approval Thursday to the three-state plan and the state's proposed hunting season regulations, which would charge $150 to residents and $1,000 to non-residents for what is expected to be fewer than 10 licenses per year. "This is a historic undertaking because we don't manage any other species like this," Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Gregg Losinski said. The states came up with a coordinated plan late last year to guide their individual proposals, including reviewing the bear population each year, stopping hunting if the grizzlies' overall numbers drop below 600 and banning hunting of female bears with their young. Fish and Wildlife Service makes a final decision on grizzly protections by March 2017, it is requiring the three states to outline what their grizzly hunting seasons would look like. Charging hunters and trappers for licenses also provides a revenue source for state wildlife agencies.īefore the U.S. ![]() Those states and others use hunting and trapping to manage wildlife populations from elk to wolves, setting quotas with the aim of preventing overpopulation that could harm habitat and lead to conflicts with people and livestock. The bears have been considered a threatened species since 1975, but federal wildlife officials say that population has sufficiently recovered to turn over management to Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The Obama administration in March proposed lifting protections for the more than 700 grizzlies around Yellowstone National Park. ![]()
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