Committee considers arranging grizzly study

The question of the number of

endangered grizzly bears in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem is a

controversial one.

The grizzly population in Kootenai

National Forest drives how the U.S. Forest Service land is managed

– whether roads can be built or closed, forests can be logged or

mines can be established – so many entities have a vested

interest.

The Lincoln County Resource Advisory

Committee agreed to move forward with a grizzly population study.

Members have discussed securing a highly-regarded research

biologist to perform one similar to the study she carried out for

the Northern Continental Divide grizzly bear ecosystem a few years

ago.

Katherine Kendall of the U.S.

Geological Survey’s Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center is

scheduled to speak to RAC members and other interested parties in

Libby on Wednesday, Jan. 26 about the possibility of performing a

bear study of the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem.

“She’s got some real good

scientific-based methods that could stand up in court,” RAC member

Lee Disney said.

RAC members and Lincoln County

commissioners, who are hosting her visit, expect that Kendall will

discuss the cost of such a study, how she envisions it would be

performed and how long it would take. The public is welcome to hear

her speak at 6 p.m. in the Ponderosa Room.

The RAC recently learned that there are

regulations against the group using its funds toward the study, but

have already found parties who may be willing to pool their money

together for the project. Commissioners from Lincoln, Sanders and

Boundary counties expressed interest, as well as Revett Minerals,

owner of Troy Mine and the Rock Creek project, and Mines

Management, owner of the Montanore project.

Kendall’s research team collected DNA

samples in the form of hair snags from 545 individual grizzly bears

in the 7.75 million acres of land that extends south from the

Canadian border to Missoula, and encompasses five wilderness areas

and portions of five national forests. Through statistical

analysis, they estimated that the ecosystem contained 765 bears,

which was, according to county commissioner Tony Berget, 2.25

percent more than the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’s

estimation.

Montana FWP estimates that the

Cabinet-Yaak has a minimum of 40-45 bears, based on reported

sightings, bears fitted with radio collars and DNA samples taken

from hair snags.

A recent bear scat study financed by

Mines Management, reported that there is “very likely significantly

more grizzly bears in the Cabinet Mountains than has been

previously reported.”

Some RAC members say that Kendall could

be more of a neutral third-party to the discussion of bear

population, which can get political.

Most of all, RAC member John Konzen

said, having the most accurate number will help government agencies

better manage bears and forest land.

“I think the majority of people want

bears to be recovered,” he said. “I think they also don’t want it

to be used as a weapon against them if they’re not in peril.”