Montana Working To Bring Back Grizzly Bear Hunts
Montana wildlife managers are looking at ways that would allow them to once again authorize a grizzly bear hunt near Yellowstone National Park.
A proposed grizzly bear management plan views the bear as a game animal that would be subject to “regulated hunting when and where appropriate,” the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said.
But the plan could not be implemented until grizzlies in the greater Yellowstone area are removed from the list of federally protected species.
The Idaho Legislature approved its grizzly bear management plan last month, taking the same tact as Montana and Wyoming in calling for the bears to be managed as game animals. Wyoming finalized its management plan in February.
The state plans must be in place before federal officials will begin the process of taking the grizzly bear off the endangered species list.
Montana wildlife managers expect their plan to be finalized by this fall.
In addition to the limited hunting season, the plans are intended to ensure the long-term viability of bear populations so they do not have to be relisted. They all support extending bear habitat into areas that are “biologically suitable and socially acceptable.”
Montana wildlife managers are looking at ways that would allow them to once again authorize a grizzly bear hunt near Yellowstone National Park.
A proposed grizzly bear management plan views the bear as a game animal that would be subject to “regulated hunting when and where appropriate,” the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said.
But the plan could not be implemented until grizzlies in the greater Yellowstone area are removed from the list of federally protected species.
The Idaho Legislature approved its grizzly bear management plan last month, taking the same tact as Montana and Wyoming in calling for the bears to be managed as game animals. Wyoming finalized its management plan in February.
The state plans must be in place before federal officials will begin the process of taking the grizzly bear off the endangered species list.
Montana wildlife managers expect their plan to be finalized by this fall.
In addition to the limited hunting season, the plans are intended to ensure the long-term viability of bear populations so they do not have to be relisted. They all support extending bear habitat into areas that are “biologically suitable and socially acceptable.”
