Credit National Park Service

Grizzly Video Clip 1 Credit Ryan Hagerty/USFWS
 

Recent Actions | Maps | Post-Delisting Management Documents | Revised Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits | Recovery Plan and Supplements | Summaries and Responses to Public Comments Received | Background Information | Federal Register Notices

Yellowstone Ecosystem

Recent Actions:   On March 22, 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced that the Yellowstone Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of grizzly bears is a recovered population no longer meeting the ESA’s definition of threatened or endangered. This DPS has increased from estimates as low as 136 individuals when listed in 1975 to more than 500 animals as of 2006. This population has been increasing between 4 and 7 percent annually. The range of this population also has increased dramatically as evidenced by the 48 percent increase in occupied habitat since the 1970s.  Yellowstone grizzly bears continue to increase their range and distribution annually and grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area now occupy habitats they have been absent from for decades. Currently, roughly 84-90 percent of females with cubs occupy the Primary Conservation Area (PCA) and about 10 percent of females with cubs have expanded out beyond the PCA within the DPS boundaries. Grizzly bears now occupy 68 percent of suitable habitat within the DPS boundaries and may soon occupy the remainder of the suitable habitat.

Intensive monitoring of the population and its habitat will continue so that managers can continue to base management decisions on the best available scientific information.  The Yellowstone DPS represents a viable population which has sufficient numbers and distribution of reproductive individuals so as to provide a high likelihood that the species will continue to exist and be well distributed throughout its range for the foreseeable future. The State and Federal agencies are committed to implementing the extensive Conservation Strategy and State management plans.  They have formally incorporated the habitat and population standards described in the Conservation Strategy into the six affected National Forests' Land Management Plans and Yellowstone and Grand Teton's National Park Compendiums.  This commitment coupled with State wildlife agencies' approved grizzly bear management plans ensure that adequate regulatory mechanisms are in place and that the Yellowstone grizzly bear population will not become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.  Therefore, based on the best scientific and commercial information available, we are finalizing the delisting of the Yellowstone grizzly bear DPS.  More information on this action and other post-delisting management documents are available below.

• Federal Register Notice (3/29/2007) Grizzly Bears; Yellowstone Distinct Population; Notice of Petition Finding; Final Rule (72 FR 14865)
• Press Release
• Questions and Answers
• Grizzly bear fact sheet
• Literature cited

Maps

• Yellowstone Distinct Population Segment (DPS) area
• Primary Conservation Area for Grizzly Bears in the Greater Yellowstone Area
• Bear Management Units and Subunits
• Areas Where Food Storage Orders Apply on the GYA National Parks

Post-Delisting Management Documents

• Final Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly Bear in the Yellowstone Area (March 2007)
• Appendices A-J - Conservation Strategy Appendices (March 2007)
• Appendix K - Montana Grizzly Bear Management Plan
• Appendix L - Wyoming Grizzly Bear Management Plan
• Appendix M - Idaho Grizzly Bear Management Plan
• Appendix N - Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear
• Appendix O - Supplement to Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear (6/2006)
• Forest Plan Amendments for Grizzly Bear Conservation for the Greater Yellowstone Area National Forests Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)  (July 2004)
• Forest Plan Amendment for Grizzly Bear Habitat Conservation for the Greater Yellowstone Area National Forests Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) (April 2006)
• Final Biological Assessment for the Forest Plan Amendments for Grizzly Bear Conservation for the Greater Yellowstone Area National Forests (September 2005)

Revised Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits

• Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear
• Supplement to Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear (June 2006)
• Non-technical Summary of Revised Methods (January 2007)

Recovery Plan and Supplements

• 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan
• Demographic recovery criteria
• Habitat-based criteria for the Yellowstone grizzly bear population
• Supplemental information on specific issues relating to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan (including information on genetic monitoring)
• Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan Supplement:  North Cascades Ecosystem Recovery Plan Chapter (June 1997)
• Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan Supplement: Bitterroot Ecosystem Recovery Plan Chapter (October 1996)

Summaries and Responses to Public Comments Received

Habitat-based Recovery Criteria

• Summary of Public Comments Received on the Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria

• FWS Responses to Public Comments Received on the Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria

Conservation Strategy

• Summary of Public Comments Received on the Draft Conservation Strategy

• FWS Responses to Public Comments Received on the Draft Conservation Strategy

Proposed Rule

• Summary of Public Comments Received on the Proposed Rule

• Responses to Public Comments Received on the Proposed Rule may be found in the Final Rule

Revised Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality

• FWS Summary and Responses to Public Comments Received on Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear

Supplemental Information

• FWS Summary and Response to Public Comments and Final Decision Regarding the Supplemental Information

Background Information

• Wildlife Monograph:  "Temporal, spatial, and environmental influences on the demographics of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem"

Federal Register Notices

Habitat-based Recovery Criteria

• Federal Register Notice of public workshop to obtain input for the development of habitat-based recovery criteria for the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis).  (62 FR 19777) (4/23/1997)

• Federal Register Notice of document availability.  Availability of draft habitat-based criteria for the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) for review and comment (64 FR 38464) (7/16/1999)

• Federal Register Notice of document availability.  Availability of Habitat-based and Demographic recovery criteria to be appended to the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan (72 FR 11376) (3/13/2007)

Supplemental Information

• Federal Register Notice of document availability.  Availability of draft supplemental information regarding the Recovery Plan for the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) for review and comment (62 FR 47677) (9/10/1997)

• Federal Register Notice of document availability. Availability for supplemental information regarding the Recovery Plan for the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis).  (64 FR 38465) (7/16/1999)

Conservation Strategy

• Federal Register Notice of document availability. Availability of draft Conservation Strategy for the grizzly bear in the Yellowstone ecosystem. (65 FR 11340) (3/2/2000)

• Federal Register Notice of document availability.  Availability of Final Conservation Strategy for the grizzly bear in the Yellowstone Area. (72 FR 11376) (3/13/2007)

Revised Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality

• Federal Register Notice of document availability.  Availability of Draft Document Reassessing Methods to Estimate Population Size and Sustainable Mortality Limits for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Population (70 FR 70632)

• Federal Register Notice of document availability. Availability of Habitat-based and Demographic recovery criteria to be appended to the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.  (72 FR 11376) (03/13/2007)

Proposed Rule

• Federal Register Proposed Action.  Proposed Rule Designating the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Population of Grizzly Bears as a Distinct Population Segment; Removing the Yellowstone Distinct Population Segment of Grizzly Bears from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (70 FR 69854) (11/17/2005)

• Notice of additional public hearing on Proposed Rule (71 FR 4097) (1/25/2006)

• Notice of extension of comment period on Proposed Rule (71 FR 8251) (2/16/2006)

• Notice seeking to recover public comments (71 FR 37525) (6/30/2006)

Tips for Living and Recreating in Grizzly Bear Country