JACKSON - Wyoming residents will not see any substantial changes on the ground regarding grizzly bear management right away, according to John Emmerich, Wyoming Game and Fish Department assistant wildlife division chief.

Licenses to hunt bears will be issued on a "fairly conservative, very limited" basis, he said, if grizzlies are removed from federal protection next year.

"If we have a bad conflict year, there may not be any opportunity to hunt," Emmerich said.

That's because there is a mortality threshold implemented for the Yellowstone grizzly population. Nine percent of the total estimated female population and 15 percent of the male population are the thresholds, and if management actions or human-caused mortality (meaning hunting conflicts, motor vehicle accidents or others) meet the threshold, no hunting will be allowed.

That mortality threshold also takes into account an estimate of unreported deaths.

Emmerich said the state needs to go through the delisting process first before even thinking about how to allow for hunting opportunities.

"The emphasis on this whole thing, this is a success story," Emmerich said. "Hunting shouldn't be the focus at this point."

Emmerich also said the department hopes to get some supplemental funding from the federal government to manage bears. The department now spends about $500,000 in direct costs and another $500,000 in indirect costs.

Licenses will cost $500 for residents and $5,000 for nonresidents.

He said bears will be given "second chances" after livestock and human conflicts as they do now - on a case-by-case basis, as they are now.

"If we are approaching the mortality limit, there may be more effort on moving bears," he said.

Ranchers will be able to kill grizzlies in the act of killing livestock, but that is rare, Emmerich said.

Most management won't change dramatically, he said, and ranchers will still work with bear managers if they are experiencing conflicts.

Overall, he said the goal is to stabilize Wyoming's grizzly population, which is estimated at 300 outside Yellowstone National Park.

Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.