Slight change of subject here, but this just got me thinking. For you guys that seem to be much in the legislative know, is there, or will there ever be anything on the horizon for delisting Grizzly in the lower 48? I have no idea what "objectives" there might be for them, or if there is much current opposition on the subject. Is there a possibilty or likely never?
Most recently, a USFWS decision to delist grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) was overturned by a Federal court for failure to address the affects Global Warming may have on GBs in the GYE area.
The USFWS had ruled the GBs were recovered in the GYE and that the state management plans were in place to turn over management. Without question, we all knew that would be litigated. And it was. And, it will be again. Just part of the process we must go through.
The plaintiffs have now used one bullet - their biggest bullet. The USFWS is accumulating the data to counter that issue. They will explain how the GB plans will provide for a safety net regarding such. Eventually, these plaintiffs run out of bullets, the same as happened in the wolf issue.
I spent three years on the Governors' Grizzly Bear Roundtable. The govs of MT/ID/WY each appointed five citizens to sit on that committee and work with the USFWS to integrate the Federal recovery plan with the state concerns and then for us to help with formation of the state mangement plans.
I learned more about GBs in those three years than I ever thought existed. I gained a ton of respect for the biologist of the USFWS who are studying GBs. They know their stuff. Same with the state GB coordinators.
I quickly learned of the weaknesses the enviros saw in the GB plans. They would lobby all of us on issues in the plan they thought were their best points of vulnerability.
Good news is that the plan required unanimous consent from the GB roundtable members. We all were able to provide one "drop dead" issue that if missing from the plan, would cause us to vote against the final recommendation in the plan. That drop dead issue varied by which constituency the panel member was expected to represent. And, it was a very difficult job to get fifteen people from different backgrounds to agree on the drop dead issue of the other fourteen.
I was told by the MT Governor that I was appointed to that panel to represent hunters. None of the other states sent anyone to soley represent hunters, so I was the token hunter on the panel.
Given that, my drop dead issue was that the plan must not prohibit grizzly hunting as part of state management, and must explicity state that hunting is an expected management tool when management is handed over to the states. We were fortunate that most on the panel were ranchers, outfitters, county commissioners, etc. Not too much turmoil came from the hunting demand. I think some not too keen on the idea had the fallback position that they will litigate hunting into submission, so long as they got their drop dead topic.
The idea that states will hunt GBs is now in the Federal recovery plan. You can bet it is going to be litigated like crazy once we start hunting them, or even propose to hunt them. But, the roadmap that is laid out now expects that hunting will be part of the equation.
Given the tactics that these normal plaintiffs had on the GB issue, and then watching the wolf deal come together, we have staked out some fertile ground in our battle on wolves. The wolf issue has weakened their position on many topics. They over played their hands with both public opinion of wolves and on the legal strategy on wolves.
Thier cavalier approach to litigating everything related to wolves has helped us with GBs, and in my opinion is why they do not want to play many more cards on wolves. Most every card they have played on wolves has been an eventual loss to them and a loss of turf they thought they owned under the Endangered Species Act.
It was important that hunters follow the recovery plans and the way of the process to get wolves delisted, as that is the same way it will have to happen with GBs. We are now better prepared. We have sorted out some of the options previously considered off the table. And, hunters are more aware of what they are in for with a delisting issue on a species such as GBs.
Even with that, they are loaded for bear when it comes to GBs. The wolf issue will look like a small bump in the road compared to the resources they are marshalling for the GB fight.
And before they claim otherwise, SFW and BGF were not at any of those GB meetings either. I know, as I was at everyone of them. Three day meetings, every other month, for almost three years, at locations all over the states of MT/IDWY.
Anyone interested in the plan should go read Dunc's link or this link. All you ever wanted to know about Yellowstone Grizzly Bears.
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/grizzly/yellowstone.htm#Post-delist
Here are links to each of the state GB management plans.
Montana
Idaho
Wyoming
