State, federal and tribal agencies working to recover threatened grizzly bear populations in the northwestern U.S. recently achieved a major milestone with release of a draft Conservation Strategy for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The strategy, which took more than 4 years to develop, prescribes how grizzly bears, habitat and human activities would be managed in 42,716 MI² (110,635 KM²) in northwestern Montana if this population were delisted, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

The NCDE population was estimated at 765 bears in 2004, using a DNA mark-recapture approach. Known-fate monitoring of a sample of bears indicates the population has increased at a rate of 3.06 percent per year since 2004, yielding a current population estimate of 942 bears. In addition to expanding in numbers, the NCDE population is extending its range, with some bears now spending much of the active season in prairie, grain farming and riparian habitat well to the east of the Rocky Mountain Front.

Similar to the conservation strategy for the Yellowstone ecosystem that was finalized in 2007, the NCDE strategy identifies a Primary Conservation Area (PCA) that corresponds to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Recovery Zone for this population. The PCA includes Glacier National Park, several Wilderness units in the National Forest system, and portions of the Blackfeet and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Indian Reservations.

In the PCA, management will emphasize protection of habitat and minimizing human-caused mortality of bears to maintain the conditions experienced from 2004 to 2011, which allowed the bear population to achieve demographic recovery goals. In three surrounding zones, management will be progressively less restrictive, but grizzly bears are expected to occupy suitable habitat throughout the area. The strategy calls for maintaining a minimum of 800 bears so the NCDE can serve as a demographic and genetic source population for the nearby Cabinet-Yaak, Bitterroot and Yellowstone ecosystems. The strategy also includes measures to support emigration of bears from the NCDE to these ecosystems.

FWS Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, Dr. Chris Servheen, said the Conservation Strategy is a critical part of the overall recovery and delisting process. The FWS required the state of Montana, federal land managers and tribes in the NCDE to develop a strategy that documents that "adequate regulatory mechanisms" would be in place if the protection of the Endangered Species Act were removed from bears in this area.

Because the Conservation Strategy is central to any delisting decision, the FWS has initiated a peer-review of the document by several renowned grizzly bear experts. The FWS also published the draft strategy in the federal register and opened a public comment period that runs through August 1, 2013. The Conservation Strategy and information on how to submit comments is available online. The FWS will work with the state, federal and tribal agencies that will be responsible for management after delisting to address any substantial issues raised through peer review or public input.

In order to finalize the Conservation Strategy, the U.S. Forest Service will need to revise or amend several forest plans, Glacier National Park will need to revise the Superintendent's Compendium, the Bureau of Land Management will need to adjust their resource management plans, and the Tribal governments will need to adopt the habitat and demographic standards in the Strategy. All of these changes will be made simultaneous with the development of the proposed rule to delist the NCDE population, which could be published sometime in 2015.

Meanwhile, in the Yellowstone Ecosystem (YE) where grizzly bears were briefly removed from the list of threatened species in 2009, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) is completing a synthesis of information on food resources to address the basis of a successful legal challenge to delisting. The federal court ruled in 2009 that the FWS had failed to adequately consider the impact of the potential loss of white bark pine seeds as a food source on the future status of grizzly bears in the YE. When the IGBST completes the assessment of the importance of white bark pine this fall, the FWS will use that information to make a decision on whether or not to proceed with a new proposed delisting rule. If a new rule were deemed appropriate, that would likely be published by mid-2014, with a final delisting of grizzlies in the YE in 2015. (cs)