Northern Divide grizzlies are long way from delisting

The federal government's announcement that the Greater Yellowstone population of grizzly bears will be taken off the Endangered Species list predictably raises questions about delisting the Northern Continental Divide population.

The grizzly bear population that inhabits lands in and around Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is larger than the isolated Yellowstone population, and it is connected to grizzly bears in Canada. But state and federal wildlife officials agree that population is years from being considered for delisting.

"We can understand why [the Yellowstone delisting] would create an expectation from the public here … but the situation is different," said John Fraley, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks public information officer for Northwest Montana.

Mainly, Yellowstone grizzly bears have been the focus of costly, comprehensive studies since they were listed as a threatened species in 1975. For more than 30 years, the effort has included continuous aerial monitoring of radio-collared bears, with Yellowstone National Park maintaining between 60 and 80 collars a year.

Research on the Northern Continental Divide population has paled in comparison until just the past few years.

A massive population study was launched in 2004. It involves DNA sampling from bear hair collected across the Northern Continental Divide's 8-million-acre study area. That study will provide valuable information, most importantly an unprecedented snapshot population estimate.

But that's not enough. Delisting also requires research to determine whether the population is growing or shrinking. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is entering a third full year of a population trend study that includes tracking radio-collared female grizzly bears, and monitoring birth rates and mortality rates.

Several more years of data is needed to produce statistically reliable population-trend information.

Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told the Inter Lake last year that the population estimate and the trend-study results will require complete revision of the current recovery plan for the Northern Continental Divide.

The Yellowstone delisting was preceded by the development of a detailed multi-agency conservation strategy. No such strategy has been developed for the Northern Continental Divide bears.

"There's a lot to be done," Servheen said. "We're a long way from recovery."

Jim Williams, regional wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said that recovery and delisting will require considerable work, time and money.

"The point is, it can be done. It has been done," Williams said. "They worked very hard in the Yellowstone system to arrive at where they are at today."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com