Post by FWS on Jun 28, 2014 15:53:41 GMT -6
Group wants grizzly bears back in the Sierra
By Jeff Delong
Reno Gazette Journal
June 23, 2014
The grizzly bear, an iconic American animal with a sometimes nasty reputation, should be returned to the Sierra, an environmental group asserts.
The Center for Biological Diversity Wednesday petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to greatly expand its recovery efforts for grizzlies and return the bears to vast swathes of land across the West, including the Sierra.
The idea was greeted with surprise by some who questioned whether the mountain chain could realistically support the big bruins decades after they disappeared from the area and whether a return of the grizzly would be safe for the many people who now live and recreate there.
"I just can't imagine how it would work," said John Brissenden, owner of Sorensen's Resort, a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts at Hope Valley south of Lake Tahoe.
The petition claims the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has pursued a "fragmented" approach to recovering the grizzly, which once ranged throughout most of western North America and likely numbered up to 100,000 before European settlers arrived. Those settlers quickly decimated the bear population, reducing its numbers to several hundred.
In California, where the grizzly adorns the state flag, the bear was believed to have disappeared in the mid-1920s. The last report of a grizzly in Nevada occurred in 1930. They were listed as a threatened species in 1975.
Today, the center estimates there are about 1,500 to 1,800 grizzlies, mostly located in the area of Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park and in parts of Montana and Idaho, with some also in Washington state.
The center's petition asks U.S. Fish and Wildlife to update its 1993 grizzly recovery plan and expand recovery efforts to some 110,000 square miles of potential habitat in the Sierra, the Grand Canyon and other areas in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
"Grizzly bears are one of the true icons of the American West, yet today they live in a paltry 4 percent of the lands where they used to roam," said Noah Greenwald, the center's endangered species director. "We shouldn't be closing the book on grizzly recovery but beginning a new chapter, one where these amazing animals live wherever there's good habitat for them across the West."
Thus far, recovery efforts have been concentrated in only six areas of the Pacific Northwest and Yellowstone — an effort insufficient in scope or scale, Greenwald said.
"The science is clear that, if we're serious about recovering grizzly bears, we need more populations around the West and more connections between them so they don't fall prey to inbreeding and so they have a chance of adapting to a warming world," Greenwald said. "If we want these incredible bears around for centuries to come, we've still got a lot of work left to do."
Could grizzlies be successfully re-established in the Sierra? That is a "loaded question," said Roger Baldwin, a wildlife expert with the UC Davis Cooperative Extension.
"Is the environment there to sustain them? Certainly it's plausible," Baldwin said.
Issues surrounding livestock predation and human safety immediately jump to attention, Baldwin said.
"Certainly there are safety concerns with the reintroduction of an apex predator like this," Baldwin said.
Chris Healy, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, questioned whether it's realistic to believe grizzly bears could become successfully returned to the Sierra when so much has changed since they last made it their home.
"Grizzly bears demand a lot of habitat that doesn't have things like human development. That's why it works in Yellowstone," Healy said. "You've got people, you've got homes, you've got recreation and all that. I think you're borrowing trouble if you try to put the grizzly back in the Sierra Nevada after all that has happened since they left."
The Department of Wildlife already struggles with problems regarding interaction between people and native black bears. And while black bears have attacked people in some places – none locally – attacks on people by grizzlies are a well-known danger, Healy said. In 2011, two hikers were killed in two separate grizzly attacks in Yellowstone. Last year, four people were injured in two separate attacks by grizzlies in and near the park on the same day.
"Black bears can be dangerous but grizzlies are something different," Healy said. "They're an animal that can and will hurt and kill people."
Brissenden of Sorensen's Resort was surprised to learn of the center's proposal and said several questions quickly come to mind, among them how would reintroduction of the bear to the Sierra impact efforts to restore the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout, an obvious food source.
He also wonders how the many outdoor enthusiasts who stay at this resort might react to the idea of bumping into a grizzly.
"We do have a considerable population of hikers and backpackers and fishermen who might find it startling to have a grizzly come up behind them," Brissenden said. "It's a fairly aggressive bear. I certainly wouldn't want to lose a guest to one."
BY THE NUMBERS
50,000-100,000: Number of grizzlies once living across the West.
1,500-1,800: Current number of grizzlies.
6,000: Possible number of grizzlies with new habitat added.
110,000: Square miles of possible new grizzly habitat.
7,747: Square miles of possible new habitat in Sierra.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity.
By Jeff Delong
Reno Gazette Journal
June 23, 2014
The grizzly bear, an iconic American animal with a sometimes nasty reputation, should be returned to the Sierra, an environmental group asserts.
The Center for Biological Diversity Wednesday petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to greatly expand its recovery efforts for grizzlies and return the bears to vast swathes of land across the West, including the Sierra.
The idea was greeted with surprise by some who questioned whether the mountain chain could realistically support the big bruins decades after they disappeared from the area and whether a return of the grizzly would be safe for the many people who now live and recreate there.
"I just can't imagine how it would work," said John Brissenden, owner of Sorensen's Resort, a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts at Hope Valley south of Lake Tahoe.
The petition claims the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has pursued a "fragmented" approach to recovering the grizzly, which once ranged throughout most of western North America and likely numbered up to 100,000 before European settlers arrived. Those settlers quickly decimated the bear population, reducing its numbers to several hundred.
In California, where the grizzly adorns the state flag, the bear was believed to have disappeared in the mid-1920s. The last report of a grizzly in Nevada occurred in 1930. They were listed as a threatened species in 1975.
Today, the center estimates there are about 1,500 to 1,800 grizzlies, mostly located in the area of Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park and in parts of Montana and Idaho, with some also in Washington state.
The center's petition asks U.S. Fish and Wildlife to update its 1993 grizzly recovery plan and expand recovery efforts to some 110,000 square miles of potential habitat in the Sierra, the Grand Canyon and other areas in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
"Grizzly bears are one of the true icons of the American West, yet today they live in a paltry 4 percent of the lands where they used to roam," said Noah Greenwald, the center's endangered species director. "We shouldn't be closing the book on grizzly recovery but beginning a new chapter, one where these amazing animals live wherever there's good habitat for them across the West."
Thus far, recovery efforts have been concentrated in only six areas of the Pacific Northwest and Yellowstone — an effort insufficient in scope or scale, Greenwald said.
"The science is clear that, if we're serious about recovering grizzly bears, we need more populations around the West and more connections between them so they don't fall prey to inbreeding and so they have a chance of adapting to a warming world," Greenwald said. "If we want these incredible bears around for centuries to come, we've still got a lot of work left to do."
Could grizzlies be successfully re-established in the Sierra? That is a "loaded question," said Roger Baldwin, a wildlife expert with the UC Davis Cooperative Extension.
"Is the environment there to sustain them? Certainly it's plausible," Baldwin said.
Issues surrounding livestock predation and human safety immediately jump to attention, Baldwin said.
"Certainly there are safety concerns with the reintroduction of an apex predator like this," Baldwin said.
Chris Healy, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, questioned whether it's realistic to believe grizzly bears could become successfully returned to the Sierra when so much has changed since they last made it their home.
"Grizzly bears demand a lot of habitat that doesn't have things like human development. That's why it works in Yellowstone," Healy said. "You've got people, you've got homes, you've got recreation and all that. I think you're borrowing trouble if you try to put the grizzly back in the Sierra Nevada after all that has happened since they left."
The Department of Wildlife already struggles with problems regarding interaction between people and native black bears. And while black bears have attacked people in some places – none locally – attacks on people by grizzlies are a well-known danger, Healy said. In 2011, two hikers were killed in two separate grizzly attacks in Yellowstone. Last year, four people were injured in two separate attacks by grizzlies in and near the park on the same day.
"Black bears can be dangerous but grizzlies are something different," Healy said. "They're an animal that can and will hurt and kill people."
Brissenden of Sorensen's Resort was surprised to learn of the center's proposal and said several questions quickly come to mind, among them how would reintroduction of the bear to the Sierra impact efforts to restore the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout, an obvious food source.
He also wonders how the many outdoor enthusiasts who stay at this resort might react to the idea of bumping into a grizzly.
"We do have a considerable population of hikers and backpackers and fishermen who might find it startling to have a grizzly come up behind them," Brissenden said. "It's a fairly aggressive bear. I certainly wouldn't want to lose a guest to one."
BY THE NUMBERS
50,000-100,000: Number of grizzlies once living across the West.
1,500-1,800: Current number of grizzlies.
6,000: Possible number of grizzlies with new habitat added.
110,000: Square miles of possible new grizzly habitat.
7,747: Square miles of possible new habitat in Sierra.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity.
