Expanding the grizzly bear recovery zone could make it harder to manage federal lands because environmentalists can make the animal a "surrogate" in battles to delay or block profitable land uses, a national forest supervisor says.
"As soon as you move the line, people beat you to death on everything you do there," said Barry Davis, Shoshone National Forest supervisor.Davis said his agency is against expanding the recovery zone, especially because the Yellowstone National Park grizzly population is on the upswing. Average number of females with newborn cubs and average litter sizes are increasing while human-caused bear deaths are declining.
Land and wildlife managers never intended for the recovery zone to encompass all areas where grizzlies are present, he said.
Some wildlife managers have discussed expanding the zone. Environmental groups support the move, saying recent improvements in grizzly numbers may only be short-term.
The zone was politically drawn in the first place and should now include all vital bear habitat, said Greater Yellowstone Coalition spokesman Bob Ekey.
Expansion would enlarge the zone south to draw in areas of the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton national forests. Inside the existing Yellowstone-area grizzly recovery zone, public land is managed with grizzly habitat protection a priority. Other uses, from logging to oil drilling, can sometimes be restricted as a result.
Some bears are living outside the recovery zone, which at its farthest point extends about 25 miles beyond the southeast edge of Yellowstone National Park. At least eight grizzlies are using national forest land outside the zone, says Wyoming Game and Fish bear biologist Colin Gillin.
And since grizzlies are considered a threatened species, a new area may be added to the recovery zone if is believed to be important habitat for the estimated 200 bears in the greater Yellowstone area, said Chris Servheen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly recovery coordinator.
But he said no decision will be made until research is completed this summer.
"We're waiting for the new information," Servheen said. "Whatever we do will be a biological decision based on the biological needs of the bear."