Ida Michelle Bean – MONDAY-WEDNESDAY:
MONTANA DEADLINE: JUNE 18! Wyoming Deadline: June 29.
If you have already commented, please do so again. There is no restriction on the number of comments you can submit. If you are from Montana or Wyoming, specifically note it. #DontDelistGrizzlies
The theme for this round of comments is: THE PROPOSED PLAN DOES NOT SUFFICIENTLY PROTECT SOWS WITH CUBS FROM BEING KILLED. We will do another round of talking points Thursday through Saturday.
Please pick 1-3 talking points and REWORD them in your own words. The commission will only consider unique comments. Compose your comments where they can be saved so that you can copy/paste them into BOTH Montana and Wyoming’s comment forms.
Montana: http://fwp.mt.gov/…/publicC…/2016/GYEGrizzlyBearHunting.html
Wyoming: https://docs.google.com/…/1P_CBk6Ep2nDcSjWaOxrxST…/viewform…
1) IT IS LIKELY MOTHER GRIZZLIES WILL BE KILLED. Hunters are only supposed to shoot bears who are alone to eliminate sows from being shot. When a sow with cubs is grazing, however, she will hide her cubs and they are not visible to us humans. To allow hunting of them during the spring is wrong as a hunter will see a lone sow thinking she has no cubs, when she actuallly does. A shoot first and ask questions later attitude will no doubt prevail.
2) IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL A MALE FROM A FEMALE IN THE FIELD – This is evidenced by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Park’s own Hunting Season/Quota Change Supporting Information which states: “Season will close within 24 hours of reaching either the female quota or the male quota because sex identification of individual bears is nearly impossible in the field.”
3) THERE IS NOT A REHABILITATION CENTER IN THE LOWER 48 THAT CAN TAKE A GRIZZLY CUB AND RELEASE IT BACK INTO THE WILD. There are rehabs that will take black bear cubs in the lower 48 and rehabs that will take grizzly cubs in Canada but none in the lower 48. The only current alternative is to euthanize cubs or send them to a zoo. How does the state plan to deal with the possibility of orphaned cubs?
4) AREAS THAT HAVE SOWS WITH CUBS SHOULD BE DESIGNATED NO HUNTING AREAS FOR FIRST TWO YEARS THAT SHE IS SEEN. The cubs cannot survive on their own. The grizzly is not like other large mammals that produce offspring every year. In fact, a female grizzly does not reproduce while she is raising her young and then it might take up to another three years after the youngsters disperse, before she conceives any offspring. States must respect the reproduction time frame to ensure continued longevity of Yellowstone area grizzlies.
