Transcript: To List or Not to List

But conflicts with bears are escalating all around the Yellowstone ecosystem. With bears in back yards threatening both people and livestock – do bears still need our protection?

Steve French: I look at having this many bear problems as success of recovery efforts. We’re not trying to save the bears – we’re trying to conserve the bear population in its habitat.

After thirty years, many think the Endangered Species Act has done its job and it’s time to de-list the grizzly.

Chris Servheen: The Endangered Species Act is a very dynamic law that tells us to fix what’s been broken with these species so they don’t need to be listed under the law anymore. And that’s how we operate. We work to get the problems fixed and to make sure the bears are going to be okay and then turn over the management to other agencies. So that’s a whole job for us is to get to recovery and delisting.

Louisa Wilcox: Delisting the grizzly bear means renewing a hunt which was stopped in 1975 when the animal was listed, and allowing development pressures to continue on lands outside the Park. We’re particularly concerned about … why take a chance with the future of an animal that has no where else to go?