Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Recovered, Challenges to Delisting Remain

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Defenders of Wildlife today hailed the grizzly bear's dramatic comeback in the Yellowstone region, but noted that rollbacks in national forest protection by the Bush administration pose a threat to sustaining the bear's recovery. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will announce tomorrow that it will move to declare the grizzly bear recovered in and around Yellowstone.

"The Endangered Species Act has been a roaring success for the grizzly bear in Yellowstone. We can celebrate the fact that the bear has met and exceeded recovery goals," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president for Defenders of Wildlife and former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The Endangered Species Act has done its job, and the wildlife professionals have done their jobs. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has not done its job of ensuring the long-term protection of the bears. By weakening national forest management and eliminating roadless area protections, the White House has created doubt about the lasting recovery of Yellowstone's grizzlies."

In the Yellowstone ecosystem, numbers of grizzly bears have grown steadily since they were first listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. At a low of around 200 animals when listed, the grizzly may now number more than 600 in and around Yellowstone National Park, and the population is increasing between four and seven percent each year. With proper management of habitat and key food sources, scientists estimate a 96 percent likelihood of having a healthy grizzly bear population in the Yellowstone ecosystem for the next 500 years.

"While the grizzly bear has clearly met the recovery goals, by law delisting can only happen when there are legally binding protections in place for grizzly bear habitat on national forest lands," said Clark. "Due to the Bush administration's wrecking ball approach to national forest management, the necessary regulatory safeguards are not in place at this time to support delisting."

The Bush Administration has orchestrated dramatic rollbacks of forest protections that could result in extensive road building and drilling in forests that are now protected. Forest planning rules that once ensured healthy wildlife populations in forests owned by the American people have been changed to eliminate mandatory protections for wildlife and its habitat.

"Defenders of Wildlife will submit comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service that highlight the lack of regulatory safeguards, caused by the Bush administration's rollbacks in national forest protections, that are needed to ensure the long-term protection of grizzly bears," said Clark. "We will insist that, if the Yellowstone population is delisted, the Secretary of the Interior must make a clear commitment to relist the bears if the Forest Service or the states fail to live up to their promises to protect bear habitat and reduce bear mortality."

In 1997, Defenders of Wildlife created a companion to its highly successful wolf compensation program, establishing The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Grizzly Compensation Trust, which compensates livestock owners for the full value of animals confirmed killed by grizzly bears. Defenders then created The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Proactive Carnivore Conservation Fund to perform community education in wolf and bear country and to cost-share with livestock growers, state, tribal and federal agencies, backcountry outfitters and others on measures to keep predation from happening in the first place. These innovative programs have worked to improve the acceptance of large carnivores in local communities where they are recovering.

Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 490,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.