KALISPELL - British Columbia's grizzly bear hunt is too aggressive, and could hurt efforts to recover the species in Montana unless tighter controls are enacted.
That's the word from a group of senior scientists on both sides of the border, who on Thursday sent a letter of warning to provincial leadership. In the absence of stricter hunting regulations, they wrote, British Columbia's bear population "continues to erode."
Research biologists from both the United States and Canada signed the letter, including Lance Craighead from Montana State University. Their concerns came on the heels of an analysis showing that the number of bears killed in British Columbia consistently exceeds the allowable limit.
The review looked at five years - 2004 through 2008 - and found that the number of grizzlies killed by people repeatedly surpassed the government's quota.
The Canadian Flathead - located north of Glacier National Park - is home to the highest density of inland grizzlies on the continent. In that area, grizzly deaths exceeded the number allowed in four of five years, sometimes by as much as 130 percent.
Provincial records show that between 1977 and 1988, 188 grizzlies were killed in the Flathead, with 157 of those shot by trophy and sport hunters. During that same time, about 11,000 grizzlies were killed throughout the province - 87 percent by hunters.
"What happens on one side of the border certainly affects what happens on the other side," said Chris Servheen, who heads bear recovery for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We're dependent on our Canadian neighbors for recovery in our populations down here."
Servheen, who did not sign Thursday's letter, said that although "we do have lots of transboundary bears," hunting was only one population pressure, and perhaps not the most important one.
More troubling, he said, is continued fragmentation of habitat on both sides of the border. He called the Canadian Flathead hunt "conservative," and said his office is "in constant contact with the province" on these issues.
***
Current estimates peg British Columbia's total grizzly population at about 16,000 (perhaps half of Canada's total), although some scientists say that estimate is too high, and a DNA census suggests far fewer bears. Regardless, the population is a fraction of its historic size.
Wildlife managers in the adjacent province of Alberta - where grizzly bear numbers have collapsed to perhaps 600 animals - have enacted a moratorium on grizzly hunting, which has been in place for several years.
In 2001, British Columbia initiated a similar moratorium, but it was lifted later that same year when a new provincial government took office. Since then, hunters in the province have averaged about 250 bears per year.
Provincial leaders have cut off the hunt in some areas, where the bears are most at risk, and say they now manage a system that "allows wildlife biologists to carefully regulate harvest levels in each area where grizzly bear hunting is allowed."
In addition, the province's own bear management plan notes that "we owe it to ourselves, to our descendants and to the grizzly bears to implement a strategy for the survival of this majestic creature."
***
But the reality, according to Louisa Wilcox, is falling short of the plan. She works for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which joined the bi-national panel of scientists in calling for tighter hunting controls.
She has documented several cases of Montana bears migrating north for a season, only to be killed there by hunters.
"British Columbia's hunt," she said, "is undermining the efforts to protect bears on this side of the border."
South of the border, grizzlies have enjoyed decades of protection, and populations are finally starting to rebound. Recovery, however, is complicated by hunting in northern habitats, Wilcox said.
She supports efforts to end hunting in Canadian parks, saying U.S. research has confirmed the importance of protected parks to the species' survival. She also supports efforts to make "core habitat" areas off-limits to hunting in British Columbia.
"The bears need secure places of sanctuary," she said. "They need refugia where they're not constantly pressured by people."
Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com.
