About

The IGBC consists of representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey and representatives of the state wildlife agencies of Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming. In the interest of international coordination and cooperation, the Canadian Wildlife Service is also represented. At the ecosystem level Native American tribes possessing grizzly habitat within the recovery areas have also been involved.

When the grizzly bear was granted protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1975, biologists estimated that as few as 600 – 800 grizzlies survived in the lower 48 states and that the population was declining. Today, biologists estimate that number may have doubled and grizzly bears are believed to be increasing their numbers in most recovery ecosystems.

One population, in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, has already exceeded recovery goals and was delisted in 2007. Legal challenges placed the Yellowstone population back on the Endangered Species list in 2009. Since then the IGBC has been working with the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team to address the legal issues raised and has recommended to the United States Fish & Wildlife Service that the Yellowstone Population once again be delisted. Grizzly bears in some ecosystems have returned to portions of their historic range that have not seen a living grizzly in generations, creating new challenges for wildlife managers.