Grizzly managers to mark 40 years of bear recovery

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) is celebrating four decades of collaborative efforts in grizzly bear recovery. 

The event will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 12 at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, from 7-9 p.m. inside the Hager Auditorium.

There is a Facebook Live option on the Custer Gallatin Facebook page. Join to learn more about the IGBC's efforts to protect these keystone species. Watch the Facebook live here: https://fb.me/e/7tuY16eTV [fb.me].

The evening will include a panel discussion with past and present grizzly bear experts from across the region who will share stories and reflect on the progress of the last 40 years. 

The event will also highlight the importance of partnerships such as the IGBC’s Bear-Resistant Products Testing Program, which promotes effective food storage in Bear Country by evaluating products designed to reduce human-bear conflicts and increase public safety.

“The recovery of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states is a conservation success story and it underscores what can be achieved through effective collaboration,” said Jim Fredericks, IGBC Chair, and Director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “We are proud to reach this 40th anniversary, and we want the public to get a chance to hear from some of our dedicated scientists and managers who have devoted their careers to this effort.”

The IGBC has proven to be a successful model for agencies working cooperatively and coordinating recovery efforts over multiple jurisdictions, and substantial progress has been made toward recovering the species. 

Today, biologists estimate there are more than 2,200 grizzly bears across four populations. The populations centered on Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks are stable and increasing, and every year we see bears in places that they have not been in a hundred years.

The IGBC consists of representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, and representatives of the state wildlife agencies of Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming. 

Native American tribes that manage grizzly bear habitat and county governments are also represented, along with other partners. The IGBC was formed in 1983 to focus on the recovery of grizzly bear populations and their habitat through interagency coordination of policy, planning, management, research and education.

For more information about the IGBC, its 40th-anniversary celebrations and the IGBC Executives winter business meeting to be held December 13 and 14 in Bozeman, please visit https://igbconline.org/news [igbconline.org].