Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) recently released the final Statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan, which provides guidelines on how Montana officials will manage grizzlies under current federal protections and if management is turned over to the state, according to a news release. 

The new plan combines two previously separate plans – one for western Montana and one for southwest Montana – into one statewide plan. The new plan calls for a focus on conflict management, research and monitoring and education and outreach.

“The recovery of grizzly bears in Montana is an amazing conservation success story for Montanans, particularly those who have learned to live with bears as numbers have expanded over the last two decades,” said FWP Director Dustin Temple. “This success story also proves again that FWP is committed to managing healthy wildlife populations across our diverse landscape.”  

With the current estimated population of over 2,000 bears, the plan outlines management strategies within the four recovery zones: the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE), the Greater Yellow Ecosystem (GYE), the Bitterroot Ecosystem and the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem. Specifically, the plan focuses on limiting bear-human conflicts and “connectivity between the ecosystems.”

While grizzly bears still maintain protections under the Endangered Species Act, Montana has petitioned to remove protections in the NCDE and supports Wyoming’s similar petition to remove protections in the GYE.

“This management plan, and the regulatory framework already in place, proves our commitment to keeping grizzly bear numbers healthy and sustainable while helping people and communities manage for prevention of and effective response to conflicts,” said Temple.