Commissioners asking feds to delist grizzly

The Lincoln County commissioners are preparing a petition requesting the removal of the Cabinet-Yaak Grizzly Bear from threatened and endangered status. The move comes as a response to a similar petition filed with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service by The Alliance for the Wild Rockies in December 2014, requesting the service upgrade the bears’ status from threatened to endangered.

In order for U.S. Fish and Wildlife to change the status of the bears in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem, the bears must first be set apart as a distinct population segment. Once segmented in such a fashion, the service can then issue a status ruling for the distinct population that wouldn’t apply to grizzly bears in other parts of the state or nation.

The first part of the petition is predicated upon U.S. Fish and Wildlife agreeing to the Alliance for the Wild Rockies’ petition and declaring the bears a separate segment. Instead of up-listing the bears from threatened to endangered, however, the petition asks the service to de-list the bears.

“On Dec. 11, 2014, Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed a petition with the service asking it to list the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population as an endangered species,” the petition reads. “In making that request the Alliance for the Wild Rockies is necessarily asking the FWS to declare the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear population is a distinct ‘population segment’ under the Endangered Species Act, which is entitled to different treatment from the rest of the species. If, based on the Alliance for the Wild Rockies petition, the service finds the population qualifies as a distinct population segment, the county petitions the service to issue a ruling stating that based on the best available science the population segment is not endangered or threatened and must be delisted.”

The commissioners met with other interested local parties, Reps. Jerry Bennett and Mike Cuffe, Sen. Chas Vincent and Bruce Vincent, along with Allan Payne, about the petition. The discussion focused on the best ways to craft the petition and ways to manage the grizzly population.

“We need to manage the bears using the best available science, in the best interests of the species,” Sen. Vincent said.

Bruce Vincent agreed with the assessment.

“We need to be doing the right thing for the bears, which is also what’s best for us,” he said.

The discussion about what’s best for the grizzly population turned into what has often been a topic of dispute between the two federal agencies responsible for implementing the Endangered Species Act. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is tasked with ensuring the security of the species, while the United States Forest Service is tasked with ensuring the species’ habitat. Often times, Sen. Vincent said, the services find themselves at odds on the best way to accomplish what should be a shared goal.

The participants all agreed that active forest management creates a stronger habitat for grizzly bears. Unchecked forest growth, in addition to increasing the potential for habitat-destroying forest fire, also chokes off the area available for roaming and foraging for the bears.

 “Timber harvesting done in the right place, in the right way, is beneficial to grizzly bear habitat,” Commissioner Mark Peck said.

The second prong of the petition is aimed at reopening the old grizzly bear recovery plan and updating it to reflect the increase in data from the past 30 years of research and study.

“The real potential benefit here, what will most likely happen, is to reopen the recovery criteria,” Payne said.

The recovery plan, the group agreed, is outdated and focused upon security of bears and their potential interaction with human populations. There is little, if anything, specific to the development and protection of grizzly habitat in the plan.

Commissioner Peck pointed to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation as an example of protecting and managing wildlife species through active management of habitat. The foundation, he said, is very active in promoting healthy habitat for elk, which in turn has lead to an increasing and sustainable population.

“If we are truly committed to protecting the bears, instead of just using them as a tool, we need to address the habitat,” Sen. Vincent said.

One of the key questions arising from a reopening of the grizzly bear recovery plan is the carrying capacity of the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem. 

“What is the capacity of the habitat?” Asked Bruce Vincent.

As active forest management decreases, forest growth continues unchecked and unabated. As the forest canopy closes, the fruits and berries upon which grizzlies feed, begin to wither and die. 

“Bears don’t eat trees,” Peck said.

“We need to act here in the best interest of the county, the forest and the bears,” Sen. Vincent said.

The petition is intended to lay the groundwork for future efforts to delist the grizzly bear and help to increase the natural resource production from the Kootenai National Forest, and could very well be the basis for future litigation on the part of the county. For the time being, though, it’s a gentle reminder to the federal agencies that the people of Lincoln County want things to change in regard to how the grizzly bear population is managed in the forest.

“It’s a gentle shot across the bow,” Peck said.