The grizzly bear is not only featured on Wilderness Watch’s logo, but the Great Bear is a quintessential symbol of Wilderness and wildness, especially in parts of the western United States and Alaska where the great bear still roams. Grizzly bears were once pushed to the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states, so in 1975 they were listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). While some progress has been made over the past 40-plus years to recover grizzly bear populations, today there are still only an estimated 1,500 grizzlies in the contiguous 48 states and they are found within less than 2 percent of their historic range. Grizzly bears have very low reproductive rates and continue to face excessive death rates caused by cars, trains, hunters claiming self-defense, poaching, livestock-related “control” actions, and other heavy-handed management. In fact, the last two years have seen record-breaking grizzly deaths in Montana.
Even though the grizzly bear is still protected by the ESA, the state of Montana is considering allowing trophy hunting of grizzlies once they are de-listed from the ESA. Trophy hunting of grizzly bears would be allowed on public lands, including wild lands within America’s National Wilderness Preservation System and wild public lands immediately adjacent to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.
If trophy hunting was allowed by the state of Montana, iconic Wilderness areas in Montana like the Bob Marshall, Great Bear, Scapegoat, Lee Metcalf, Absaroka-Beartooth, and Cabinet Mountains Wilderness would no longer be safe havens for the Great Bear. Grizzlies are keystone species that help shape the ecosystems in which they live. Their numbers should be allowed to fluctuate according to habitat conditions, not some human-conceived population limit. Where grizzlies thrive, so will the wild places in which they live.
Now is your chance to raise your voice for grizzly bears and tell the State of Montana’s Grizzly Bear Advisory Council that you are entirely opposed to the idea of allowing trophy hunting of grizzly bears. Allowing trophy hunters to shoot grizzly bears, including deep within Wilderness areas, runs contrary to increasing grizzly bear numbers and allowing the Great Bear to recover and reoccupy critical habitat essential for their survival. | |
