CODY (AP) - A draft proposal to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list could be released early in 2005, federal officials said.

"We want to have all our bricks in the wall" before offering a delisting proposal, said Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

His comments came during this week's summer meeting of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, which discussed several steps needed before delisting can occur.

Even if a proposal comes in 2005, it could be years before federal protections for Yellowstone-area grizzlies are removed. Reviews, lawsuits and funding concerns are among potential delays.

An estimate released Wednesday indicated $3.5 million is needed for additional monitoring, better bearproof trash containers, more public education and other items.

Servheen said key areas that still need to be studied are potential grizzly habitat, genetics in the Yellowstone population and potential links to grizzlies elsewhere in the northern Rocky Mountains.

Chuck Schwartz, leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, said new computer modeling is giving managers a clearer picture of the grizzly population.

By examining information from radio-collared bears from 1983 to 2001, researchers have been able to determine that the so-called "carrying capacity" for bears in Yellowstone National Park has probably reached its limit.

At a certain point, Schwartz said, reproductivity rates begin to decrease as the number of bears increases in a certain area.

"Bear numbers in Yellowstone are probably at capacity," he said. "The bucket is full in the park."

Meanwhile, the rate of survival for bears outside the park but still within the designated recovery area continues to go up.

A key to survival is limiting interaction between grizzlies and people, Schwartz said, adding that human-caused mortalities are the leading cause of death for grizzlies in and around Yellowstone.

Overall, Schwartz said he has been able to estimate the annual growth rate of bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem around 4 percent. That includes about 2 percent inside Yellowstone and about 9 percent in the recovery zone.

Outside the recovery zone, bears tend to run into more trouble with people, so that area is considered a "sink" - an area in which the death rate exceeds additions to the population.

Schwartz cautioned, though, that the models are only crude estimates of the bear population.

"This isn't a crystal ball," he said. "We can give you short-term projects, guesses about what might happen."

The work, though, does validate an early emphasis by the committee that protecting female grizzlies and their habitat is crucial to a sustainable grizzly population, he said.