Montana OKs grizzly agreement with Idaho, Wyoming
BILLINGS – A unanimous Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a tristate agreement outlining cooperative management of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem if, or when, they are removed from the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
The Tri-State Memorandum of Agreement commits Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to maintaining the Yellowstone region’s grizzly bear population at 800 to 950 animals once they are delisted, Ken McDonald, Fish, Wildlife & Parks administrator, told the commission at its Thursday meeting. Wyoming and Idaho have already signed the pact.
Hunters told the commission the growth of Yellowstone’s grizzly population is a success to be celebrated, praised the MOA and said the bruins should be delisted. Conservationists argued grizzlies still face numerous challenges due to habitat fragmentation, loss of traditional food sources and lack of genetic connectivity to other grizzly populations.
Still to come
In February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would conduct a 12-month status review of Yellowstone and northern Montana grizzly populations to determine whether they have recovered sufficiently to warrant delisting.
“This will include an assessment of recently enacted regulatory mechanisms in Montana and Idaho,” the agency noted.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has adopted a grizzly bear management plan. In the last legislature, lawmakers also passed a bill requiring FWP to adopt mortality thresholds for grizzlies and to set an annual mortality quota.
If management of bears is returned to the three states, Montana has committed to no hunting season for the first five years.
Mortality calculations
Under the tristate agreement the commission approved, the number of grizzlies available to hunters in each state is outlined by a formula.
Depending on whether the states agree to manage for a growing population, or a reduction, different calculations would be used, McDonald explained.
As an example, he used the 2022 population estimate of 965 bears in the Yellowstone region, which is specifically defined as a demographic monitoring area. In 2022, there were 328 independent females, 332 independent males and 305 independent young. Independent refers to the bears no longer being with their mother.
To manage for a stable population under this scenario, the deaths of up to 41 males and 31 females from all sources of mortality would meet the objective of maintaining a stable population. Bears killed outside of the monitoring area, however, would not be factored into this equation.
The total mortality from the previous year is then used to adjust the figures.
For McDonald’s example, he used the 10-year average of 20 male and 17 female deaths. These figures are then subtracted from the objectives to reach the amount of bears available to hunters. In this case that would be 21 males and 14 female bears that hunters could kill to maintain a stable population.
These figures are then divided amongst the three states based on the amount of grizzly habitat they have in the monitoring area. Wyoming has the lion’s share at 58%, Montana has 34% and Idaho 8%. Under this scenario then, Montana hunters would be allowed seven male grizzly tags and five female tags.
Translocation
“Another component of the MOA is a commitment for genetic augmentation,” McDonald added. “One of the things the federal courts determined was that we needed to have genetic augmentations. So the three states in this MOA are agreeing to move some bears from the north Continental Divide to the GYE, and that process is hopefully underway right now.”
McDonald’s announcement regarding translocation of northern Montana grizzlies to the Yellowstone region comes only days after an environmental group notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that it intended to sue if action is not taken to halt the grizzly transfers.
The Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force notified the agency in a letter that the translocation plan violates the Endangered Species Act’s prohibitions on “taking,” which includes capture and trapping.
Grizzlies were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1975 when an estimated 136 bears occupied the Yellowstone region. Twice since then the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has moved to return management to states. Both times the agency lost court cases filed by environmental groups challenging the decision.