Montana: Feds mull repeal of grizzly protections

Montana: Feds mull repeal of grizzly protections
By LISA BAUMANN, Associated Press | May 15, 2014 | Updated: May 15, 2014 6:37pm

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The head of Montana's wildlife agency said Thursday federal officials will seek to lift federal protections from some threatened grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies in the next two years.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks director Jeff Hagener told lawmakers he expects the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to propose rules that could remove two populations of grizzlies from the Endangered Species list.

One rule could lift protections for bears in and around Yellowstone Park in 2015, Hagener said. The other rule ending protections would be for grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide region by 2016, he said.

Estimates show about 740 grizzly bears live in and around Yellowstone, while about 1,000 live in the Northern Continental Divide region, Hagener said.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire would not confirm in a statement to the Associated Press that there is a timeline for the proposed rules, just that the agency is evaluating the status of grizzly bears. But Hagener said the timeline has been mentioned in several discussions with Fish and Wildlife Service officials in meetings over the last year.

Hagener said his agency is pressing for the delisting.

http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Montana-Feds-mull-repeal-of-grizzly-protections-5481447.php

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