FWP plans to release grizzlies into the Cabinets

THOMPSON FALLS – Members of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks met with county commissioners on Wednesday to discuss the transportation of grizzly bears into the Cabinets in Lincoln County, just north of the Sanders County border.

FWP Wildlife Program Manager Jim Williams said FWP participated and went through a public process earlier in the year and hosted meetings, and gained feedback on adding to the grizzly bear population.

Accelerated recovery was preferred in the grizzly plan however FWP decided to take a conservative approach and have moved 0, 1, or 2 bears in any given year.

Williams stated the goal is to try to repopulate the main Cabinet portion where concern was greatest for that particular recovery area.

Currently they are looking for a non-food conditioned, clean bear, the right age and the right sex.

“If we get a young female that’s clean and that’s never been involved in garbage, attractants or any kind of issue and it’s the right age and it’s a female…then it’s a go,” said Williams, explaining that a male bear that fit the qualifications would also work.

June 15 would be the earliest they would be able to accept a bear into the cabinets. The plan is to release two bears, a young male and a young female.

“Both releases I believe would occur in the West Cabinets,” said Williams.

The process to find the right bear has not been an easy one and much patience has been needed.

Williams explained when you have a recovered population as Montana does, big males are often the ones who end up getting caught in the traps. In order for a female grizzly to come through, the big males have to move away. A female with cubs can also intimidate a young single female so getting a young female to come into the area of trapping is a long process.

“We’ve been going really slow and that would be the plan this summer. If we get a bear, we start the process,” said Williams.

This issue will affect Sanders County partly because bears have a wide range of habitat. Williams explained the “country from a movement perspective is still very permeable,” allowing the bears to move back and forth between areas.

Senator Jennifer Fielder from District 7 attended the meetings and said the issue with grizzly bears seems to be a “catch 22.”

“There’s an awful lot of concern from people on whether or not they are going to have to deal with a grizzly bear in their yard the next time they go outside. Yet if they are not up to the number that is targeted at delisting them, (grizzly bears) will not get delisted,” said Senator Fielder addressing the fact that the bear is still listed under the Endangered Species Act and therefore monitored on a state and federal level.

Senator Fielder also said “the biggest bone of contention” she has heard about is people do not want their forest roads closed and they want to continue to have access to the forest. However, many roads are closed in grizzly bear territory to help keep the bears and people separated, bringing up the question of whether more roads would need to be closed off after the introduction of the bears.

Williams explained people kill bears and that is one reason the road closures occur. An intensive, landmark grizzly bear study cited by Williams showed that many mortalities of bears are human related.

“(The grizzly mortalities were) an issue of behavior as well as direct bullets,” said Williams explaining that some bears have the behavioral avoidance of roads, especially females of the breeding age.

Several different reasons of mortality were discussed, the most popular one being “vandal killing” that takes place when someone is upset and decides to take out a grizzly bear because it may stand for something that they do not like. Another common mortality was for the protection of human health and safety, which would be in self-defense if a bear was charging a person. The third is mistaken identity for black bear during hunting season and the fourth is when the FWP has to eliminate a bear because it is a problem bear.

“There is an element of vandal killing. Every situation is different but grizzly bears evoke strong emotions whether you hunt them, like them or don’t like them more than any other animal,” said Williams later mentioning the wolf is right along side the grizzly bear when it comes to human emotions.

Williams will alert the county commissioners of when a bear is ready to be transported into the Cabinet area.