DUBOIS - A deeply suspicious, rancorous crowd of 150 filled the Headwaters Art and Conference Center here Monday night to learn about the grizzly bear occupancy plan proposed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

During a question and answer session with Game and Fish representatives, the Dubois audience seemed suspicious of the motives of state and federal agencies alike when it comes to managing the tri-state population of grizzly bears after it is removed from Endangered Species Act protection.

"When are we going to get our lifestyle back?" was one question shouted from the rear of the hall, voicing widespread resentment toward an expanding grizzly bear population that has made hunters and hikers wary of venturing into grizzly country.

Plainly, members of the audience blamed declining numbers of hunters and hunting permits in the Dubois area on fear of grizzlies.

It took Tom Ryder, former Dubois game warden and now wildlife coordinator in Lander, to remind the audience that the region's elk population exploded after the 1988 Yellowstone fires, which produced huge gains in forage for wildlife. Ryder called upon old-timers in the audience to remember how an overpopulated local elk herd was damaging livestock range and raiding winter hay supplies. That's why Game and Fish dramatically increased the number of hunting permits issued for the area, he said.

"You helped us get the population back where it should be," Ryder said to hunters in the audience. The elk herd numbers are now back in line with Game and Fish targets and habitat resources, so that hunting permits are now fewer and back where they should be, Ryder said.

Asked whether Wyomingites really supported the idea of an expanding grizzly bear population in the state, John Emmerich, assistant division chief for wildlife, cited survey results that show a majority of residents support a management plan that would allow grizzly bears to expand into the Wyoming Range (73 percent), the Wind River Mountains (67 percent) and the Big Horn Mountains (66 percent). Yet when the public was asked the more basic question of allowing grizzly bears to expand, Wyoming was more divided - 42 percent said yes while 39 percent said no, he said.

Game and Fish officials were asked why the tri-state plan calls for a minimum number of 500 grizzlies. Trophy Game Coordinator Dave Moody explained that a professional geneticist figured that the minimum population for genetic viability - avoiding the dangers of inbreeding - was 400.

"We came up with 500 as a buffer" among Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, Moody said. The current population is pegged at 680.

One member of the audience voiced the fear that with 340 sows, the region would soon be overrun with grizzlies. Wildlife officials explained that females can't breed until they are 6 years old and then breed every three years thereafter. For that reason, breeding females in any given year are 27 percent of the population, they explained.

The plan

Moody said the grizzly occupancy management plan was a recommended strategy for managing occupancy goals in northwest Wyoming outside Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation. The proposal refines the occupancy management direction from an original plan published in 2002.

Wyoming's management plan, once the bears are delisted, creates three zones where bear management differs. The core area for grizzly bears, centered on Yellowstone National Park, is where population densities will be highest and management will be in favor of the bears, he said.

The second zone, essentially bordering the core area but extending down into the Wind River Range, would emphasize multiple use, but allow the bears to expand their territory so that if anything bad happens in the core area, managers will have greater flexibility in keeping the bear population above that 500 bear threshold, Moody explained.

The secondary zone would have a lower population density than the core area, but would allow the bears to expand into both "biologically and socially acceptable" territory.

Beyond the secondary zone, management could use hunting to keep bear numbers down so as to minimize bear-human conflicts, or the potential for conflicts. The plan specifies that Game and Fish will not relocate grizzly bears to areas where they are not found already. Any expansion will occur naturally.

The only room for expansion, Moody explained, is to the south and southeast of Yellowstone, into the Upper Green region and the northern half of the Wind River Range.

The Wyoming and Salt River Ranges were not considered for grizzly bear expansion, Moody said, because of numerous active sheep allotments, high road densities, high levels of potential oil and gas development, and potential for future timber harvest. Additionally, the southern end of the Wind River Range was also not included because of the prevalence of active sheep allotments, high levels of dispersed recreation, especially summer backpacker use, and the periphery and southern portions have many roads.

Emmerich explained that once the grizzly is fully delisted, hunting could be used to reduce population density around Cody and Dubois.

"We simply don't have the resources to keep the grizzly bears out of this third zone," Emmerich gestured toward the map. "But we can manage the bears to minimize conflicts."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the three states will closely look at population trends, Emmerich said. Should the population start declining, management plans would change to prevent sliding below the 500 threshold.

"If the grizzly gets listed again, we'll never see it delisted after that," he warned.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal is closely following the issue, Emmerich said, and has warned that should the federal government unreasonably delay delisting beyond 2005, it can expect to be sued by the state of Wyoming.