Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Regarding the Draft Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) Conservation Strategy

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1 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Regarding the Draft Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) Conservation Chris Servheen, USFWS, 5/1/13 Q1. What is the NCDE Conservation? The describes the regulatory framework for management and monitoring of the NCDE grizzly bear population and its habitat upon recovery and removal from the Endangered Species Act s Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife (i.e., delisting). The Conservation demonstrates the adequacy of regulatory mechanisms that will remain in place post-delisting to assure the health of this population. The Conservation describes the management and monitoring direction to maintain a recovered grizzly bear population in the NCDE and documents the commitment of signatory agencies to the MOU implementing the to continue to manage the grizzly and its habitat as per the specifics in the strategy document. Recovery of the grizzly bear population in the NCDE has been possible because of the partnerships between Federal and State agencies, multiple Tribes, county and city governments, educational institutions, numerous organizations, private landowners, and the public who live, work, and recreate in the NCDE and surrounding lands. We developed this Conservation because maintenance of a healthy, recovered grizzly population depends on the effective continuation of these partnerships to manage and conserve the NCDE grizzly bear population and its habitat. Q2. Does the NCDE Conservation delist or propose to delist the NCDE grizzly bear population? No. The NCDE Conservation strategy is the post-delisting management plan and we are working to gather public comments and then finalize this management plan before we propose any change in status for the NCDE grizzly population. Any proposed delisting would occur through a proposed rule to do so. There would be a comment period on this delisting proposal and then a final decision would be made. Q3. Who will be responsible for managing the Northern Continental Divide grizzly bears after delisting? The population will be managed by the state of Montana, the NPS, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the Blackfeet Tribe and also protected through other regulatory mechanisms including the Conservation, NPS management plans, USDA-Forest Service management plans, BLM management plans, state grizzly bear management plans, and over 70 state and federal laws, statutes, and regulations already in place. Q4. Can people shoot grizzly bears that are threatening livestock after delisting? No. Because the state of Montana classifies grizzlies in the NCDE as game animals, state laws prohibit citizens from shooting or injuring grizzlies that are threatening livestock. Threatening is an undefined term and is different from actual attacking of livestock. Montana state law allows killing of wild animals in the act of actually attacking livestock. Such in the act killings must be reported and proof of actual ongoing attack is necessary for such kills to be legal. It is important to note there are few if any records in the past 25 years of anyone actually seeing a grizzly bear attacking any livestock, so the number of such in the act killings is likely to be very rare in the future. All such mortalities count against the mortality limits so these mortalities will be offset by adjusting hunting quotas accordingly in order to stay below the mortality limits. Outside of the National Parks grizzly bear/livestock conflicts will be addressed by 1

2 state and tribal wildlife managers as per the direction in the Conservation and associated state and tribal management documents. Q5. Will there be a hunting season for grizzly bears? It is possible that the state of Montana will create a limited hunting season for grizzly bears in the NCDE. Such a hunting season would occur only if the best available scientific data indicates that the NCDE grizzly bear population can sustain a predetermined level of take from hunting. Mortalities from hunting would be counted against the mortality limits. Hunting of females accompanied by offspring would not be allowed. Because any hunting mortalities will be limited and must be within the mortality limits of sustainable mortality, hunting will never threaten the NCDE grizzly population. Q6. Will poachers be prosecuted after delisting? Yes. Because Montana will classify the grizzly bear as a game species if delisting occurs, it will be illegal to kill a grizzly bear without first obtaining the proper license. This means that the States will prosecute anyone caught poaching a grizzly bear just as they would for any other game species (elk, black bear, cougar, etc.). Today, while grizzly bears are still listed, the majority of prosecutions for illegal grizzly killing are under state laws and regulations. Q7. Will mortalities increase if grizzly bears are no longer protected by the Endangered Species Act? Because of revised methods for establishing sustainable mortality limits, careful monitoring of all sources of mortality, and cooperation between federal, Tribal, and state agencies, there may be some increases in mortalities in certain areas but all mortalities must be within sustainable limits so that mortalities will not threaten the population. Classifying grizzly bears as a game animal provides them with a regulatory prohibition against unregulated killing. Q8. Will nuisance bear mortalities be counted and monitored? Yes. Monitoring of nuisance bear mortalities is a fundamental component of total mortality management. Mortalities from all sources, including management actions, will be reported annually. Q9. Who will be responsible for managing problem bears? Inside Glacier National Park, problem grizzly bears will be handled by NPS personnel. On the Flathead and Blackfeet Reservations, Tribal management authorities will manage problem bears. Outside of the National Parks and reservations problem bears will be managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear managers. Q10. How will decisions about problem bears be made? The Conservation and the state management plan describe protocols and guidelines for defining problem bears and making decisions about what management actions should be taken. These guidelines and standards are modeled after the existing protocol and therefore, are very similar to the way decisions are made currently while grizzlies are protected under the ESA. Removal of nuisance bears will be carefully considered and consistent with mortality limits except in cases where it is necessary for human safety. Management of all nuisance bear situations will emphasize removal of the human cause of the conflict, when possible, and management and education actions to prevent future conflicts. Q11. How will federal and state agencies work to minimize the number of grizzly bear/human conflicts? Through continued information and education (IE) programs, the IE working group, which consists of personnel from the affected National Forests, Glacier National Park, the BLM, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, will work to reduce the human causes of most grizzly bear/human conflicts. In 2

3 addition, the 5 affected National Forests will continue to maintain practices that minimize grizzly bear/human and grizzly bear/livestock conflicts. Montana FWP will annually compile, review, and spatially analyze grizzly bear/human conflicts and mortalities to look for trends and patterns so that Information and Education programs can be more effective. Q12. Will linkage zone management continue once NCDE grizzly bears are delisted? Yes. Intense cooperative efforts by federal, tribal, and state agencies and NGOs to maintain movement opportunities between the NCDE and grizzly populations to the west in the Cabinet/Yaak ecosystem and to the south toward the Yellowstone ecosystem will continue. This Conservation includes specially designated connectivity areas and reduces the risk of grizzly bear/human conflicts through food storage rules on the vast majority of public lands. These efforts to maintain movement opportunities for bears and other wildlife will continue whether the NCDE grizzlies are delisted or not. Q13. How will private land development be limited after delisting? Since there are no federal statutory limits to private land development under listed or delisted status, there will be no difference in private land development regulation if the grizzly is delisted or not. Private land development is regulated by counties and state regulations. There are no specific private land development regulations associated with grizzly bears. All mortalities and conflicts on private lands will be reported and addressed annually by the committee of agencies implementing the conservation strategy. The impacts of private land development on grizzly bears will be mitigated through effective conflict response and prevention approaches. Montana FWP, the Blackfeet Nation, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are all committed to providing private residents with appropriate information and education about avoiding conflicts, the tools and infrastructure needed to prevent conflicts (e.g., bear resistant trash containers, electric fencing, etc.), and assistance in responding to and managing conflicts when they do occur. Q14. Who will be in charge of monitoring the NCDE grizzly population and will this continue under the Conservation after delisting? Will this information be available in annual reports and be made available to the public? Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks will lead the monitoring of the NCDE grizzly population under the Conservation. There will be an interagency team of biologists from Montana FWP, Glacier NP, the Tribes, and the USFS, and FWS who will continue to work together to collect and report annually the vital rate data from the NCDE grizzly population. Monitoring will include grizzly bear mortalities from all sources, including human-caused deaths, natural deaths, and undetermined causes to confirm that sustainable mortality limits are not exceeded. This team will be responsible for preparing scientific reports on any deviations from the population and habitat standards in the conservation strategy and presenting these reports and recommendations to the managers to fix the problem. Their reports will be made available to the public annually through the MT FWP website. Q15. What steps are taken in the Conservation to assure the protection of grizzly bear habitat? The Conservation for the Grizzly Bear in the NCDE describes a habitat management plan to ensure protection of sufficient habitat to maintain a viable grizzly bear population in the foreseeable future. Habitat standards will be implemented by GNP, the Tribes, the BLM, and the 5 affected National Forests. The overall goal for habitat management within the primary conservation area (currently known as the recovery zone) is to maintain or improve upon 2011 habitat values. There will be no net increase in open or total road densities, no net decrease in the amount of secure habitat, no net increase in livestock allotments, and developed sites will be held at levels known to support a stable to increasing grizzly bear population. 3

4 Q16. How will the National Forests implement the habitat standards in the Conservation? The intent is to have signatories of this Conservation representing the land management agencies incorporate the habitat standards and guidelines into their respective management plans. For the Forest Service and the BLM, this means amending or revising their Resource Management Plans. For Glacier NP, this means incorporating habitat protection measures into its Superintendent s Compendium. These amendments or revisions would be effective if and when the Final Rule delisting the NCDE grizzly bear population is published in the Federal Register. Q17. Why/how was 2011 chosen as the habitat baseline? The relationship between bears and habitat is extremely complex and difficult to quantify. Recognizing that grizzly bears are opportunistic omnivores and that a landscape s ability to support grizzly bears is a function of overall habitat productivity, the distribution and abundance of major food sources, the availability of habitat components (e.g., denning areas, vegetative cover, etc.), the levels and type of human activities, grizzly bear social systems, learned behavior of individual grizzly bears, bear densities, and stochastic events such as annual variations in rainfall or frost days, there is no known way to deductively calculate minimum habitat values. The year 2011 was selected because it was known that levels of road densities, secure habitat, developed sites, and livestock allotments on federal lands at this time had been compatible with an increasing (3% per year) NCDE grizzly bear population since Q18. What habitat issues will be monitored after delisting? Several key habitat parameters will be monitored intensively after delisting. These include 1) the amount of secure habitat in each bear management subunit; 2) road densities; 3) the number, type, and capacity of developed sites; 4) the number and capacity of livestock allotments. Additionally, all bears captured for any reason will have their body condition (i.e., fat levels) measured and hair and blood samples taken to assess diet composition to assess the overall adequacy of habitat quality. The Forest Service and BLM may consider additional monitoring in their Forest Plan Amendments for Grizzly Bear Conservation. Q19. Will the NCDE Conservation affect current public land uses such as timber harvest? Inside the PCA timber harvest could continue at similar levels to what has occurred in the last decade as long as the activities are consistent with the secure habitat and road density standards. Outside of the PCA, restrictions on human activities are more flexible but still the USFS, BLM, Tribes, and State wildlife agencies will carefully manage these lands, monitor bear/human conflicts in these areas, and respond with management as necessary to reduce conflicts to account for the complex needs of both grizzly bears and humans. Timber harvest activity outside the PCA is likely to be the same whether the grizzly bear remains a listed species or is delisted and managed as per the Conservation. Even with consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the grizzly bear as listed species, proposals for timber harvest would likely proceed, as a jeopardy opinion 1 is highly unlikely due to the current status of the grizzly bear population where all demographic recovery criteria have been met. Q20. How will off-road vehicle use be managed inside the PCA? All trails or areas that allow motorized use are included in calculations for secure habitat and road densities. So, these areas are not considered secure habitat. There will be no net increase in ORV trails anywhere inside the PCA after 1 A jeopardy opinion is issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when an activity or project is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a species. 4

5 delisting as per the habitat standards. National Forest Service direction requires that all motorized use be restricted to designated routes. Q21. What steps are being taken to assure the protection of grizzly bear habitat for bears living outside the PCA? The PCA has provided the vast majority of habitat for the increasing bear population and is considered to be more than adequate to maintain the recovered grizzly bear population. That being said, many grizzly bears in the NCDE live outside the PCA. In addition to the nearly 700,000 acres of protected areas with restrictions on motorized use that already exist outside of the PCA, this Conservation designates two connectivity areas outside of the PCA that will contain additional restrictions on motorized use. There will also be food storage orders on public lands outside of the PCA in Management Zones 1 and 2 to reduce the chance of grizzly bear/human conflicts. Q22. Are there threats to major natural foods that could affect NCDE grizzly bears? No threats to major bear foods are known in the NCDE area. Whitebark pine used to be a common food for grizzly bears in the NCDE, but it declined in the first half of the 20 th century due to the introduction of white pine blister rust fungus and it has not been a major grizzly food for decades in the NCDE. There are annual variations in berry production based on climate factors but these fluctuations are not new and have been occurring for thousands of years. In general, grizzly bears are opportunistic omnivores that will make behavioral adaptations regarding food acquisition. Diets of grizzly bears vary among individuals and years, reflecting their flexibility in finding adequate food resources as necessary. Q23. What is adaptive management and how will it be applied to NCDE grizzly bear Conservation? Adaptive management is an active flexible management strategy in which managers monitor the results of management practices and habitat and population data and respond as necessary with management changes. The NCDE Conservation can be updated and modified as necessary as long as these updates are based on the best available science and there is an opportunity for public review and comment. Q24. What is a management review and what triggers it? Failure to meet any habitat or population goal described in the Conservation will trigger a management review that examines habitat management, population management, or monitoring efforts of participating agencies with an objective of identifying the source or cause of failing to meet a habitat or demographic goal. A special team of interagency scientists and outside experts as necessary will conduct a management review and provide a report and management recommendations to the NCDE coordinating committee to address the deviation. The management review will be completed and made available to the coordinating committee and the public. Q25. What is a status review in the Conservation and what triggers it? A status review is triggered by a valid petition to relist. If the Service finds that the petition presents valid substantial data indicating that the NCDE grizzly bear population may be threatened by any of the 5 factors required for listing, as described in section 4(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act, then the FWS can initiate a formal status review. Petitions may be submitted by citizens, organizations, government agencies, or the NCDE Coordinating Committee (currently known as the NCDE Subcommittee), or can be initiated by the Fish and Wildlife Service unilaterally. The Service conducts the status review, which examines factors affecting the population and then determines if relisting is warranted, warranted but precluded by higher priority actions, or not warranted. 5

6 Q26. How long will the Conservation remain in effect? The conservation strategy is the ongoing management document for the NCDE once delisting takes place. It does not have a time limit and continues in place because coordinated management and specific standards for population and habitat need to continue to be in place. Q27. Will the Conservation and management under the Conservation be implemented if the NCDE grizzly bears are not delisted? No. The implementation of the conservation strategy and all the commitments of agencies to monitoring, population standards, and habitat standards as well as all other actions in the strategy are tiered to the publication of the final rule delisting the NCDE area grizzly population. The MOU that the agencies have signed to implement the Conservation states that it will come into effect upon the publication of the final rule delisting the NCDE grizzly population. If the grizzly is not delisted, the conservation strategy will not take effect and all agency commitments to implement details of the strategy, including the Forest Plan Amendments for Grizzly Bear Conservation, are null and void. 6