What does removal of Endangered Species Act protection mean for grizzly bears?

It means that instead of being protected by federal law from human activity, they will be managed by individual states according to state law - except in national parks, where the National Park Service has control. Management by the states will, however, be based on grizzly death limits agreed to with the federal government.

Can people shoot grizzly bears that are threatening livestock after delisting?

No. Because Wyoming, Montana and Idaho all classify grizzlies in the greater Yellowstone area as game animals, state laws limit the ability of citizens to shoot or injure grizzlies. All violations of state law will be subject to state enforcement, just as they would for any other game species (elk, black bear, cougar).

Will there be a hunting season for grizzly bears?

Wyoming and Montana plan to conduct limited hunting of grizzly bears. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department anticipates offering fewer than 10 licenses each year based on current bear populations. A resident grizzly licenses costs $500; it's $5,000 for a nonresident. Hunting of females with cubs will not be allowed. These hunting seasons would constitute the first legal hunting of grizzlies in the region since 1974.

Will poachers be prosecuted after delisting?

Yes. Because all three affected all three states will classify the grizzly bear as a game species, it will be illegal to kill a grizzly bear without first obtaining a proper license. The states will prosecute anyone caught poaching a grizzly bear just as they would for any other game species.

How many grizzlies are in the greater Yellowstone area?

The federal government estimates there are more than 500, compared with as few as 136 animals when they were listed 32 years ago. Some estimates peg the current number at 680 - most of them in Wyoming. Since the early 1990s, the Yellowstone grizzly population has grown at a rate of 4 percent to 7 percent a year.

Where will grizzlies be allowed to live in Wyoming?

There "strong discouragement" of grizzlies south of the Snake River Canyon and Hoback River, according to Game and Fish policy, and in the southern Wind River Range. North of those areas and through the Absaroka Mountains, bears will be managed to maintain recovery levels and offer hunting opportunities. Bears in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks will remain protected from hunting.

Is a population of 500 bears a genetically viable population?

The federal government says recent scientific studies indicate that the population is not threatened by genetic inbreeding problems and that viability of the Yellowstone population will not be affected by genetic factors in the foreseeable future. Genetic material from bears trapped for research will be collected and analyzed to determine if any bears from other ecosystems have entered the Yellowstone population. If no movement of bears from other areas is documented over the next 20 years, Montana's Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks plans to transplant one or two bears into the Yellowstone area every 10 years to assure there will be no threat from a decline in genetic diversity.

Are there threats to major natural foods that could affect Yellowstone grizzly bears?

Both whitebark pine, which produces nuts consumed by grizzlies, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout are facing threats that could affect their abundance and distribution. The most severe threats to whitebark pine include mountain pine beetles and whitepine blister rust. Climate change is producing conditions that favor increased attacks by pine beetles on whitebark pine and other tree species, the federal government says. A general decline in the Yellowstone cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone Lake has been evident in recent decades, probably due to the combined effects of lake trout predation, whirling disease and drought. There has been an accompanying decrease in grizzly bear fishing on streams that flow into the lake. But the federal government says the decline in cutthroat trout does not have a significant effect on the grizzly bear population because less than 10 percent of the Yellowstone grizzly bears eat cutthroat trout, and those that do only eat them a few weeks each year.

The federal government says grizzly bears are opportunistic omnivores that will make behavioral adaptations regarding food acquisition.

How much money has been spent on recovering the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears?

State and federal agencies have spent about $24 million over the last 26 years on Yellowstone grizzly bear recovery.