Yellowstone Grizzly Bears to Stay on Endangered List
12/26/99
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Title: Yellowstone grizzly bears to extend their stay on list
Source: The Associated Press
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 26, 1999
JACKSON, Wyo. - Grizzly bears in the Yellowstone National Park region
will remain on the endangered species list at least four more years,
according to a new federal grizzly recovery plan.
While many who helped design the plan believe the area's grizzly
population has met goals established earlier this decade, they said
another four to five years will be needed to meet all the criteria
for de-listing.
A report released by a subgroup of the Interagency Grizzly Bear
Committee last week outlined the requirements, which include changing
national forest plans to protect grizzly habitat and changing a
Montana law that allows people to shoot grizzlies that kill cattle or
damage property.
Meanwhile, federal grizzly managers are being pressured by
politicians who want federal protection for grizzlies removed now,
and from environmentalists who say the bear still faces too many
threats.
Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., said he was disappointed by the plan.
"It's pretty hard to keep confidence in agencies who say they're
going to de-list and then stretch it out for another five years," he
said.
Chris Servheen, grizzly recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, said he has never promised that de-listing would
occur on any particular timetable.
In addition to the changes in the forest plans and Montana law, de-
listing hinges upon a final report on classification and protection
of grizzly habitat, a strategy for protecting bears after they are
de-listed and a new state management policy.