spectr17
05-05-2002, 08:33 PM
May 5, 2002
Wyoming county adverse to bears
Associated Press
BOZEMAN (AP) - In Wyoming's Fremont County, grizzly bears are not wanted. In fact, they're banned, a bear-management group was told during a meeting Friday.
A plan allowing grizzly bears to expand their range in Wyoming so angered Fremont County officials that the County Commission adopted a resolution banning the bears.
"We don't want the bears in our county," commission chairman Scott Luther told the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.
The situation came to a head early this year when Wyoming wildlife officials released a grizzly management plan, the first step toward getting grizzlies removed from the Endangered Species Act and switching management from federal to state hands.
The plan identified "all the public lands in northwest Wyoming as places grizzlies could expand if the habitat was biologically suitable and the bears were socially acceptable," said Kim Barber, Shoshone National Forest bear biologist.
In response, Fremont County issued a resolution March 12 that prohibits "the presence, introduction or reintroduction of grizzly bears within the boundaries" of the county. Grizzlies are a "threat to public health, safety and livelihood," the resolution says. The commission also approved a similar resolution involving wolves.
The resolutions - supported by county officials, including the sheriff and the county attorney - have the weight of law.
Terry Ruck of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Cody, Wyo., said the county sheriff knows there is "no way" the resolution can be enforced.
Grizzly bears in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have been listed as a threatened species under the ESA since 1975, giving them special protections.
Federal law supersedes state law, said Chris Servheen of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Missoula, federal grizzly bear coordinator, and the agency would intervene if Fremont County officials tried to harm the bears.
However, Luther told the group there is no enforcement language in the resolutions.
Nevertheless, the Fremont County scenario reflects the growing frustration of many Wyoming county officials. "You're regulating us to death," Lincoln County Commissioner Stan Cooper told the bear managers.
"We're not a bunch of renegades and rednecks. We're just trying to get your attention."
Lincoln County is about 70 percent public land.
"Any rule will affect us," Cooper said. "We don't want the recovery zone expanded. We are worried about the social and economic impacts."
Teton County Commissioner Jay Calderwood said, "We want the bears delisted. We don't want the bears pushed on us in great numbers. We don't want interactions with grizzlies in our county and surrounding forests."
Environmentalists have been outraged by Fremont County's efforts to undermine the ESA.
"I think the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should stand up (to) this," said Steven Thomas of Sheridan, regional director of the Sierra Club. "I don't see how you can contemplate delisting."
Fremont County's decision does raise the question whether Wyoming's proposed management plan would be adequate to protect the bears. "If not, they can't be delisted," Servheen said.
The ESA requires that grizzly bears be protected, and if there would be a threat to their well being, they will remain on the list.
The Fremont County resolution is "an inadvertent stumbling block to delisting, a potential hurdle," said U.S. Forest Service official Reg Rothwell.
Wyoming county adverse to bears
Associated Press
BOZEMAN (AP) - In Wyoming's Fremont County, grizzly bears are not wanted. In fact, they're banned, a bear-management group was told during a meeting Friday.
A plan allowing grizzly bears to expand their range in Wyoming so angered Fremont County officials that the County Commission adopted a resolution banning the bears.
"We don't want the bears in our county," commission chairman Scott Luther told the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.
The situation came to a head early this year when Wyoming wildlife officials released a grizzly management plan, the first step toward getting grizzlies removed from the Endangered Species Act and switching management from federal to state hands.
The plan identified "all the public lands in northwest Wyoming as places grizzlies could expand if the habitat was biologically suitable and the bears were socially acceptable," said Kim Barber, Shoshone National Forest bear biologist.
In response, Fremont County issued a resolution March 12 that prohibits "the presence, introduction or reintroduction of grizzly bears within the boundaries" of the county. Grizzlies are a "threat to public health, safety and livelihood," the resolution says. The commission also approved a similar resolution involving wolves.
The resolutions - supported by county officials, including the sheriff and the county attorney - have the weight of law.
Terry Ruck of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Cody, Wyo., said the county sheriff knows there is "no way" the resolution can be enforced.
Grizzly bears in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have been listed as a threatened species under the ESA since 1975, giving them special protections.
Federal law supersedes state law, said Chris Servheen of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Missoula, federal grizzly bear coordinator, and the agency would intervene if Fremont County officials tried to harm the bears.
However, Luther told the group there is no enforcement language in the resolutions.
Nevertheless, the Fremont County scenario reflects the growing frustration of many Wyoming county officials. "You're regulating us to death," Lincoln County Commissioner Stan Cooper told the bear managers.
"We're not a bunch of renegades and rednecks. We're just trying to get your attention."
Lincoln County is about 70 percent public land.
"Any rule will affect us," Cooper said. "We don't want the recovery zone expanded. We are worried about the social and economic impacts."
Teton County Commissioner Jay Calderwood said, "We want the bears delisted. We don't want the bears pushed on us in great numbers. We don't want interactions with grizzlies in our county and surrounding forests."
Environmentalists have been outraged by Fremont County's efforts to undermine the ESA.
"I think the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should stand up (to) this," said Steven Thomas of Sheridan, regional director of the Sierra Club. "I don't see how you can contemplate delisting."
Fremont County's decision does raise the question whether Wyoming's proposed management plan would be adequate to protect the bears. "If not, they can't be delisted," Servheen said.
The ESA requires that grizzly bears be protected, and if there would be a threat to their well being, they will remain on the list.
The Fremont County resolution is "an inadvertent stumbling block to delisting, a potential hurdle," said U.S. Forest Service official Reg Rothwell.