He did add that if it were politically practical, however, he would support limited hunting of grizzlies because such pressure would make the bears more wary of humans and reduce bear-human conflicts. It also says human-caused bear deaths must represent no more than 6 percent of the total grizzly population in any given year. No more than 30 percent of the deaths can be female bears. The provisions are identical to those of the current grizzly bear recovery plan. If a recovered grizzly population begins to fail the criteria outlined in the conservation strategy, wildlife managers could take protective steps and begin the process of returning Yellowstone grizzlies to the threatened and endangered species list.
Copies are also available in local libraries throughout the Yellowstone region.
Shoshone National Forest Supervisor Rebecca Aus, chairman of the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, said the conservation strategy represents a consensus of the various land management and wildlife agencies in the Yellowstone region. Environmental groups argued that the conservation strategy is premature. Although grizzly numbers appear to be expanding, bear numbers are still too low to sustain the population for the long term, they said. Sean Sheehan of the Northwest Wyoming Resource Council said protection for the grizzly bear helps safeguard the entire ecosystem because environmentalists can use the grizzly's protected status as leverage to block harmful development such as oil wells now proposed in the Brent Creek and Grass Creek areas of the Shoshone National Forest. The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises .