rjzimmerman:

The State of Wyoming recently approved hunting grizzly bears, with quotas, relatively quickly after the grizzly bears in Wyoming (and three other states) were delisted from the Endangered Species Act. I’ve posted links to several articles about this action, so one more won’t hurt. I’m including this one, in particular, because of the quote from a member of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission as he voted to approve the hunt. That quote is highlighted in bold in the excerpt below.

Excerpt:

Yesterday I joined dozens of grizzly bear advocates in Lander, Wyoming, to speak out against the state’s plan that allows nearly two dozen grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region to be killed in a trophy hunt this fall. Tribal leaders testified eloquently about their long-standing cultural connections to the grizzly bear, considered a sacred relative since time immemorial. Many spoke about the continued threats that these bears face, and they questioned why Wyoming is rushing to initiate a hunt so soon after Endangered Species protections were removed last summer.

But after two hours of public testimony – the majority in opposition to the hunt – the Game and Fish Commission voted unanimously to approve it, once again displaying the state’s historic bias against large carnivores. The state admits it wants to drive down the grizzly bear population, currently estimated at only around 700 bears, and says that there’s no need for the “extra” bears outside of a monitoring area adjacent to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. In that area, known as “Zone 7,” the state will even allow baiting of grizzly bears.

Grizzly bears are the second-slowest mammal to reproduce in North America; it takes a female approximately ten years to replace herself in the population. That’s why it has taken more than four decades for the Yellowstone grizzly population to increase from a low of about 150 bears, when they were given Endangered Species Act protections, to about 700 today. That’s most of my life and, still, grizzlies in the Yellowstone region have not reached full recovery. Wyoming’s plan will allow 13 female grizzlies to be killed by trophy hunters. It’s unconscionable, and it will seriously threaten continued grizzly bear recovery.

The Sierra Club and our allies are challenging the removal of Endangered Species Act protections for Yellowstone’s grizzlies in court, and we expect a decision by the end of August, before Wyoming’s (and Idaho’s) trophy hunting begins. We will continue working with Tribal Nations and many others in opposition to a hunt. 

Our Reflections: Wyoming Approves Extreme Grizzly Bear Trophy Hunt