Conservation groups echo benefits of translocation, state management

HELENA, MT – Joining Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) Director Dustin Temple and conservation partners, Governor Greg Gianforte on Aug 5th, emphasized the state’s preparedness to manage the grizzly bear.

During a press conference outside of the State Capitol, the governor and partners celebrated reaching the next milestone of grizzly management.

“Working with FWP, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many Montanans over decades, we’ve been successful in recovering grizzly populations in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Montana has made genetic connectivity between ecosystems a priority and I’m proud to report today that now we’ve acted on it.”

Last week, Gov. Gianforte joined Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon in announcing the successful translocation of two grizzly bears from the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) in Montana to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) in Wyoming.

The translocations were the result of a commitment between Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho under a Tri-State Memorandum of Agreement. The agreement was established to ensure the long-term genetic diversity of the GYE’s grizzly bear population and secure a genetic connection between the two areas and the recovered populations of bears.

“This translocation ensures robust genetic health for the previously isolated Yellowstone population. We’ve added certainty to the recovered status of this population and identified that yet another piece is in place to ensure that Montana is ready and able to manage grizzly bears,” Dir. Temple said.

Joining the governor and director for the press conference was FWP Wildlife Biologist Dr. Cecily Costello who added, “Both populations of NCDE and GYE grizzlies have met or exceeded their recovery goals with over 1,000 bears in each. This translocation gave a head start to what we hope is a natural movement between the two populations to fulfill our long-term goal of genetic connectivity.”

Several conservation groups joined in the governor’s call to delist the grizzly bear and praised the next phase of management through genetic connectivity.

Hearing from the Montana Conservation Society at the press conference, Executive Director Rob Arnaud shared, “The use of translocation for wildlife is a common and well-accepted practice to enhance genetic diversity, augment populations when needed, and ensure that our efforts to get grizzly bears returned to state management continue to be fruitful. Governor Gianforte and Fish, Wildlife and Parks leadership continue to strengthen our ability to manage these iconic animals and help those of us who live with them, deal with their close proximity.”

And, Blake Henning, the chief conservation officer for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation added, “This recent action is again further proof that our state wildlife agencies are responsible wildlife stewards, responsive to science, and committed to sustaining populations. We commend them for their actions and look forward to a delisting soon.”

Members of the Boone and Crockett Club and Montana Wild Sheep Foundation echoed the message of their nonprofit partners.

In December 2021, Gov. Gianforte petitioned the federal government to delist the grizzly bear in the NCDE. In February 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) accepted the state of Montana’s petition to delist grizzly bears in the NCDE in northwest Montana.

Recently, FWS announced their plan to revisit the listing by January 2025.