US officials to lift Yellowstone grizzly bear protections

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Associated Press, via Helena Independent Record

US officials to lift Yellowstone grizzly bear protections

By MATT VOLZ Associated Press 1 hr ago

Protections that have been in place for more than 40 years for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone National Park area will be lifted this summer after U.S. government officials ruled Thursday that the population is no longer threatened.

Grizzlies in all continental U.S. states except Alaska have been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1975, when just 136 bears roamed in and around Yellowstone. There are now an estimated 700 grizzlies in the area that includes northwestern Wyoming, southwestern Montana and eastern Idaho, leading the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conclude that the population has recovered.

"This achievement stands as one of America's great conservation successes," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement.
....

The final ruling by the Fish and Wildlife Service to remove Yellowstone grizzlies from the list of endangered and threatened species will give jurisdiction over the bears to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming by late July.



Read more: http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/us-officials-to-lift-yellowstone-grizzly-bear-protections/article_edfa20f8-f3e7-5680-8249-d63ee9141816.html

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Hat tip, the Casper Star-Tribune:

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/us-officials-to-lift-yellowstone-grizzly-bear-protections/article_31434cfe-5d9b-5731-91fb-b201db0eb5fa.html

[matt819]

1. Maybe it's a good idea. Maybe not.

My guess is that it's not. After all, here's what Zinke says: "This achievement stands as one of America's great conservation successes."

The Republican response to achievements of any kind is to do everything in their power to undo those achievements. This particular program came into effect during the Gerald Ford administration. And as we all know, Gerald Ford was a famous liberal whose wife was a a famous alcoholic. Or something like that. So there.

[procon]

2. Everything Ryan Zinke says is suspect as being deceptive.

"All this is happening even though there are few bears to hunt: They number around 700 according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates—just 100 more than the 600 bears the agency wants to maintain in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem."

http://www.humanesociety.org/news/magazines/2016/07-08/grizzly-bears-under-the-gun.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

[sandensea]

3. Uday and Qusay must have begged daddy for that one.

[2naSalit]

4. And those 700 bears...

are derived from only four females left in the population after the "trash bears" were out of the population. A teeny, tiny gene pool, that's not a recovery in any way, shape or form. There is no connectivity to other near populations for genetic diversity so there you have it. The ecosystem is in dire trouble with this regime and is in danger of collapse in just a few short years given the over abundance of people in the YNP vicinity over too many months during the summer which now covers the span from mid April to early November, they aren't hibernating as long and some get up several times during winter.

But wait, there's more... there is yet another wave of attempts to kill the Endangered Species Act and all it entails, (people should read it, it's only 45 pages long and really not hard to understand); there is the probability that that f'ing gold mine on the northern border will now be approved; and some seaplane operation wants to start flying out of Hebgen Lake - on the western border with flights going out every 30 minutes... and on it goes. So get ready for the ecosystem collapse of the ages because when this one goes, it will be about as devastating for the whole continent as if the volcano blew and not much slower either.

Hope you've visited the YNP area already because it sucks to come here now and will only get worse as we continue to trash it.

2na

[Judi Lynn]

5. Idaho governor welcomes delisting of Yellowstone grizzlies

Updated 2:40 pm, Thursday, June 22, 2017


HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on removing Yellowstone region grizzly bears from federal protections (all times local):

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1:30 p.m.

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter is welcoming the delisting of grizzlies in Yellowstone and says the state is ready to start managing the bears.

Otter says Idaho has been on the forefront of Yellowstone grizzly bear recovery for many years and that the population has been recovered for more than decade.

He says officials in the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Office of Species Conservation will review the final delisting before making any decisions about specifics.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/US-officials-lift-Yellowstone-region-grizzly-bear-11239952.php

[byronius]

6. Sucky. They all just love the bear murdering.

Especially the sleeping baby bears in caves. Murdering those are the funnest!

Jesus Fucking Christ.

[Sunlei]

7. now private landowners who border yellowstone will use garbage/dead livestock to attract bears.

That will quickly turn the Yellowstone bears into garbage scavengers and they'll be after all the tourists food and tents again.

[forgotmylogin]

8. Really??

Is hunting *allowed* in national parks?

I understand having guns for protection against an unexpected wildlife encounter, but are people going in there hunting bear?