Grizzly De-listing Still In The Future

Laramie, WY – The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service is still over a year away from starting the formal process to take the grizzly bear off the endangered species list. Fish and Wildlife Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator Chris Servheen says national forests still need to amend their forest plans to accommodate grizzly habitat and then Fish and Wildlife will analyze the status of the population and whether it's distinctive from other grizzly populations. Funding questions also need to be answered. Servheen believes states will have to fund some of the management, but he agrees federal help is needed. He says the Yellowstone grizzly bear is a nationally recognized resource and maintaining those bears is going to take a national commitment. There could be other stumbling blocks to de-listing. Servheen is sure there will be lawsuits from groups that oppose de-listing the bear.