U.S. to lift safety net for Yellowstone grizzlies

[Squatch]

Link

WASHINGTON - Noting that the grizzly bear population in the Yellowstone area has thrived in recent years, the Bush administration on Tuesday announced that it plans to remove federal protections for the animals in the areas around the national park.

“A population that was once plummeting towards extinction is now recovered,” Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in making the announcement. “These bears are now no longer endangered” and should be removed from the Endangered Species Act listing.

[Ian David]

1. Bears are evil and they want our honey. n/t

[RevolutionStartsNow]

2. And our picnic baskets (nt)

[pushycat]

3. The bears are now endangering extractive interests and must

be delisted now. Clears the political pathway for the drillers, loggers, etc. to move in. When the bears get in the way, they can legally 'control' them. Viola, every man wins. (those not human don't count).

[KansDem]

4. Does this mean we can now run them over with our ATVs?

Just asking...

[Squatch]

5. That's pretty close to what I was thinking...

Here's how a rancher can justify that grizzly rug in his den:

Go out and kill a lame or dying cow.
Run over it with a lawn mower a few times.
Go kill a grizzly.
Blame the cow death on the griz.
Visit your local taxidermist.

[goju]

14. And hed wind up in jail

Delisted doesnt mean open season. Try that with a moose in the area and youd end up in jail, no matter what the excuse. Moose, at least in Idaho, is a once a lifetime hunt, no exceptions. Grizzlies wont be hunted at all (montana state law does allow grizzly hunting now, but its in violation of the esa).

Delisting has been on the agenda for a while. If they cant delist species that are on it, the program isnt working.

[Bacchus39]

6. the goal of the endangered species act is delisting

this should be viewed as a success. it took at least 3 decades but nonetheless, a success.

[Squatch]

7. No, the goal of *Gale Norton* is delisting species

for the economic benefit of her and her boss' special interests.

The goal of the Endangered Species Act is conservation:

"The purposes of this Act are to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species, and...(more)"

Link

[Bacchus39]

8. here is a link from the FWS

"conservation" simply isn't good enough. Recovery is what is important. Having species listed as endangered in perpetuity is not "good". the recovery and stability of endangered species is what is important.

I am glad the grizzly is being delisted. It shows the population has expanded and is stable.

am I happy they will hunt grizzlies? no. but I am happy that there are enough that they can actually even talk about that.

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/pubs/esa_basics.pdf

[Squatch]

10. Wrong, again...

"It shows the population has expanded and is stable."

That should read..."The Secretary of the Interior under Bush, a president who wants to open wilderness areas to development, has shown that the population has expanded and is stable."

[Bacchus39]

11. I do not care about the politics, the ESA has operated for 30 years

under both Democratic and Republican administrations. The bald eagle was delisted a few years back and now the grizzly. I think this is fantastic news.

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2005/07/17/news/local/news01.txt

lots of other links on it too.

now that the population is expanding, I would expect to hear about more grizzly/people encounters.

[Squatch]

12. The thing about those bald eagles...

is that there is not an industry in existence that will profit from their deaths.

Hunting services and ranchers, for example, both have a vested economic interest in the killing of bears.

[Bacchus39]

13. hunting is pretty big business

I am not sure how the states within the grizzlies' home range will respond. those states will be responsible for the bears' management including hunts if they so desire.

grizzlies/brown bears are hunted in Alaska already. again, I don't want to see grizzly hunts but am glad the population seems to be recovering.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

9. Mixed feelings....

I haven't seen this at Yellowstone, but camping in the Grand Tetons last summer we had grizzly bears roaming IN the campground. This was a mainstream and not a wilderness campground. Campers are told they are in the grizzlys' home and we should respect that. Not everyone has the safety of a hard-sided camper, and I feel that not only dangerous wild animals ought to be protected, but that there ought to be some protection for the people who come there...

On another note, it came to mind on my last trip to Yellowstone, that it seemed the park was the breeding ground for the NRA...just a joke...

[pinniped]

15. I don't trust these * assholes to delist any species.

These * assholes and that norton POS always have ulterior motives.

I recall there are other species these assholes tried to delist that were challenged.