WYOMING – It’s official: Wyoming now controls its grizzly bears. Ditto, Idaho and Montana.
Delisting of some 700 grizzlies that roam the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s was signaled by wildlife officials on June 22. Now, after a 30-day filing period has passed, management of the bruin has been handed over from feds to the individual states and tribes. It marks the end of four decades the griz spent under Endangered Species Act protection.
“The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has taken an active role and invested significant money into recovering grizzly bears for decades. We are ready and excited to lead grizzly bear management now and into the future,” said Brian Nesvik, chief of Game and Fish’s wildlife division. “Our goal is to effectively maintain a recovered population and manage grizzly bears for our public and for future generations.”
During the time the grizzly was under federal control, Wyoming wildlife management officials continued to spend money on recovery, management, and monitoring with federal approval and oversight. The department says it spent about $45 million in these efforts.
A Wyoming Grizzly Bear Management Plan will now guide the state’s approach to dealing with its griz population. Nesvik says day-to-day operations won’t change much moving forward.
“On the ground management will change very little with the exception being that federal oversight will no longer occur on decisions regarding management actions such as capture, relocation and removal, and hunting of grizzly bears in those areas where Wyoming has jurisdiction,” Nesvik assured.
The population estimate inside the Demographic Monitoring Area is estimated conservatively at 690 bears at this time. Wyoming has the largest share of the bear population.
