Two Mountain West states are working together in a new way to try to get the grizzly bear taken off the endangered species list.
They recently trucked two bears from Montana to Wyoming in an effort to connect the two states’ populations. Experts say this move has a lot to do with politics and less to do with science.
The two states — along with Idaho — say the species has rebounded and no longer needs federal protections.
But that was overturned by a 2017 court ruling that said the Yellowstone population still needs to be more genetically diverse. Conservationists also argue that since the different grizzly populations are still not connected in the region, they’re not actually recovered.
So, in an effort to pressure federal agencies to delist the species, the states are starting to capture bears in one ecosystem and release them in another.
“It really is kind of a very preemptive action, so to speak, that addresses a concern that would normally be way down the road,” said Frank van Manen, who leads the interagency team studying these grizzly populations.
He said the grizzlies aren’t in a “dire situation” and that they’re naturally becoming more genetically diverse.
Right now, the Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide populations are only about 60 miles apart and getting closer, according to van Manen. He added that some bears could have already made the crossover on their own, but it hasn’t been documented.
“Now, the challenge is there is a lot of transportation infrastructure, I-90 and other highways in between, a lot of human-occupied areas,” he said. “The permeability of that landscape is not the same as inside the ecosystem.”
Van Manen said his team will keep up with the bears that have been dropped off in Yellowstone National Park and near Dubois, Wyoming. They had no history of conflict and will be monitored with a GPS collar.
If they don’t reproduce, van Manan said the agencies may need to truck over more grizzlies.
A decision on the grizzly bears’ status on the endangered species list is slated to come in January.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
