Request for emergency relisting of Yellowstone grizzlies
- par: Doug Peacock
- destinataire: U.S. Department of Interior
The undersigned request that President Obama instruct the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to immediately restore endangered species protections to the Yellowstone grizzly bear population for the following reasons:
1.) The Yellowstone grizzly's key food, whitebark pine seeds, has suddenly collapsed due to global warming. The trees are dying from mountain pine beetles that have moved higher up into the whitebark forests because of the warmer winter temperatures of the last decade. The irreversible loss of whitebark pine nuts will result in lower reproductive rates of grizzlies and much higher human-caused mortality.
2.) The highest death rate ever recorded for Yellowstone grizzlies occurred in 2008, the first year since the bear was delisted by the USFWS in 2007. The government estimates 79 grizzlies died in the Yellowstone ecosystem. A minimum of 37 of these deaths came directly from humans.
3.) The Department of Interior, represented by the USFWS, refused to consider restoring federal protection to Yellowstone's grizzlies at a court mandated settlement meeting in Missoula Montana on July 17, 2009. Advocacy for grizzly bear protection by federal agencies has been appalling; fresh leadership is sorely needed in these USFWS positions. For this reason, we are requesting the President to instruct the Secretary of Interior to order relisting.
4.) 12 grizzly bears have already died this year in the Yellowstone region. The majority of bear deaths take place in the fall, during hunting season when grizzlies--deprived of their most important fall food, whitebark pine nuts are expected to wander into lower elevations where they die as a result of encounters with humans. To avoid repeating last year's slaughter of Yellowstone's grizzlies, we are requesting an immediate relisting.
5.) Current management practices cannot save the grizzly in Yellowstone from present day unsustainable mortality; adequate regulatory mechanisms are not in place. Only immediate restoration of ESA protections will insure the Yellowstone grizzly has a chance of surviving the staggering global changes that threaten both bears and humans. The Yellowstone grizzly is a barometer of the health of the ecosystem and a symbol of the park's wildness. The bears continued presence in the Yellowstone area is a metaphor for survival that lends us all courage.
For additional Information can go to:
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2152
The undersigned request that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service restore endangered species protections to the Yellowstone grizzly bear population immediately because:
1.) Its key food source, whitebark pine seeds, is collapsing due to combined effects of global warming, mountain pine beetle, and non-native disease, blister rust: the loss of whitebark pine will result in lower reproductive rates of grizzlies and higher human-caused mortalities.
2.) Human-caused mortality rates have already climbed to unsustainable levels since grizzlies were delisted with 37 grizzlies killed in 2008.
3.) The Yellowstone grizzly bear is a barometer of the health of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a symbol of its wildness, and the essence of what makes Yellowstone, Yellowstone.
4.) Adequate regulatory mechanisms are not in place to maintain a healthy grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
5.) The current grizzly bear population of 400-600 grizzly bears in Yellowstone is too low: to achieve recovery we must reach 2,000 grizzly bears in connected ecosystems between Yellowstone and Canada. This will necessitate grizzly bear recovery in the Salmon Selway Ecosystem.
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