The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be forced to study the impact of ORVs on grizzly habitat if conservation groups get their way. The lawsuit requests that the Fish and Wildlife Service analyze the extent and effect of motorized travel in grizzly habitat. The conservation groups also asked the court to limit all motor vehicles to designated roads and trails within occupied grizzly bear habitat in Gallatin until the review is finished. No one has looked at what ORVs mean in grizzly habitat. They haven't taken the time or effort to evaluate how many vehicles there are, where the vehicles are going and their impact on grizzlies.
Grizzly bears require areas where they can forage and breed without encountering people.
That habitat is already threatened by logging and oil drilling, conservationists say. Historically, the Gallatin has managed grizzly habitat by limiting the number and density of roads and motorized trails. But improvements to ORVs allow them to travel well into the backcountry over more rugged terrain. Motorized recreation vehicles are now designed to traverse difficult, mountainous territory. Like automobiles, ORVs are likely to displace bears from suitable habitat, said Chuck Schwartz of the U.S. Geological Survey.