Bears Out of Woods?

Will Yellowstone Grizzly Habitat Still Be Strictly Protected In National Forests?

By Todd Wilkinson, 1-12-06

As the federal government moves forward with plans to remove the greater Yellowstone grizzly bear population from the threatened species list, a new question has arisen about the bears' gauntlet of protection.

A key provision justifying delisting is a document called the Conservation Strategy that serves as a framework for protecting critical bear habitat on federal lands in the future once the safeguards afforded by the Endangered Species Act are removed. The strategy requires federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service to restrictly hold the line and, in some instances, decrease the miles of road that currently circuit grizzly range. Studies after studies have shown a direct correlation between high road densities (built for timber sales, mining, recreation and other activities) which provide easy access to the backcountry and increased bear mortality.

Now Doug Honnold, a respected attorney for the environmental law firm Earth Justice, says that a vital premise of the Conservation Strategy may, in fact, have already been undermined by the Forest Service during recent years of the Bush Administration. According to the legal procedure that guides stewardship of national forests, individual forests are managed by prescriptions layed out in Forest Plans that are drafted to guide management for 10 years.

However, Honnold points out in an interview with reporter Rebecca Huntington of the Jackson Hole News & Guide Jackson Hole News & Guide that the Forest Service may be able to skirt habitat protection requirements for grizzlies because national forests are no longer required to adhere strictly to their plans. "New Forest Service rules, adopted in 2004, treat forest plans as visionary, strategic documents without legally binding standards, according to Honnold. Earthjustice is suing the federal government over the new rule-making procedures," Huntington writes.

She quotes Honnold as saying, "The Bush administration has changed the rules of the game, and the rules of the game are there will be no standards in forest plans. The forests can do whatever they want to. That's a major problem."

Chris Servheen, the Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, says the Forest Service is being asked to address the issue by drafting self-imposed regulations that will be legally binding. But Honnold says it should have been resolved before the process of delisting began.
In the coming days and weeks, a series of public hearings are scheduled around the northern Rockies to gauge the opinons of citizens about delisting.

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