Idaho grizzly hunt gets green light

One grizzly bear hunt was approved for southeast Idaho by Fish and Game commissioners this week as part of a bear management plan for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

That ecosystem has met federal grizzly bear recovery criteria for almost 20 years, according to Idaho Fish and Game, and the bears in that area were dropped from the Endangered Species list last year.

Once the population increased to more than 600 bears in that area, according to a three-state strategy, hunting could be used to manage the animals, said Roger Phillips of Idaho Fish and Game.

“The conservation strategy for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly population includes hunting as a management tool when the population is more than 600 bears,” Phillips said.

The area has an estimated 718 bears, Phillips said.

But the hunt may not go off as planned.

Animal conservation groups issued statements Thursday decrying the move to offer grizzly bear hunts in the lower 48 states, and the groups could file for an injunction to stop Idaho’s hunt.

“We should not be killing grizzly bears we’re trying to save,” Suzanne Stone of the Defenders of Wildlife wrote in a press release. “This hunt will add needless mortality to a population already experiencing high human-related grizzly bear deaths.”

Stone said the recolonization of the Bitterroot ecosystem with grizzly bears rests largely on policy made in Idaho.

“Instead of focusing on hunting, Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Commission should focus on providing protections that support grizzly bear occupancy and movement … and drafting of a statewide management plan,” Stone said.

According to the three-state pact, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana agreed to manage the Yellowstone grizzly bear population in the monitoring area to between 600 and 748 bears, which was the average population between 2002 to 2014, according to Fish and Game. Hunting will stop if the population drops below 600 bears.

Each state was allotted a number of bears to be hunted according to how much land it had in the three-state area monitoring area.

Idaho has 8 percent of the land which represents one male bear, according to Fish and Game.

“Scientists have determined how much mortality on male and female bears can occur while managing for a sustainable population,” Phillips said.

After reviewing grizzly populations in the Greater Yellowstone area, representatives from the three states concluded that approximately 19 grizzlies, including two females could be hunted.

Citing pending lawsuits, however, Montana this year chose not to allow hunting, and environmental groups are calling on Wyoming to follow suit.

Grizzly bears in the Lower 48 have been under federal Endangered Species Act protection since 1975. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the Greater Yellowstone population last July.

Fish and Game will offer one tag for the opportunity to hunt a grizzly bear in a controlled hunt through a random drawing limited to Idaho residents. The application period will be June 15 through July 15. The hunt will run Sept. 1 through Nov. 15. No baiting or hound hunting will be allowed for the grizzly bear hunt, according to Fish and Game.

The hunt however comes with a caveat.

“Because actual implementation of the grizzly hunt may be subject to a pending lawsuit in federal court, hunters applying should beware that the hunt could be canceled, in which case the prepaid tag fees would be refunded, but the controlled hunt application fees would not,” according to Fish and Game.

Historically, an estimated 50,000 grizzly bears roamed North America, according to the Defenders of Wildlife. By 1975, populations remained in five isolated locations in the Lower 48 states, including the greater Yellowstone ecosystem where numbers fell to 136 bears at their lowest point.