Thursday, July 9th, 12:00pm, Register On Zoom

In July, 1975 grizzly bears were officially designated as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Now, 45 years later, these majestic animals are still struggling to recover, and continue to remain absent from nearly 98 percent of their historic range.

WildEarth Guardians and the Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force will host a roundtable discussion about efforts underway to protect grizzly bears, and the scientific basis of actions necessary for their long term survival. Come learn about court challenges to protect grizzly bears, the importance of connectivity for genetic interchange, and impediments keeping bears from reaching new habitat.

Joining us are -

● Dr. Fred Allendorf is a leading conservation geneticist and is currently Regents Professor of Biology Emeritus at the University of Montana and a board member of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been a Fulbright Scholar and was awarded the 2015 Molecular Ecology Award for lifetime achievements in the fields of molecular ecology and conservation genetics. He is featured in the video presentation titled, “The Status of the Grizzly Bear: Has It Really Recovered.”

● Pete Frost is an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center and has more than two decades of experience litigating in federal and state courts to preserve the West’s forests, rivers, wildlife, and wilderness. He is a recipient of the David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award for environmental litigation, and represents WildEarth Guardians, with other clients, in a lawsuit to end bear-baiting inside grizzly bear habitat.

● Mike Bader is an independent consultant in Missoula involved in grizzly bear management and recovery issues since the 1980s. He is co-author of the report titled, "Road Density and Grizzly Bears in the Ninemile Demographic Connectivity Area, Montana."

Background

Grizzlies face continuing threats from climate change, dwindling key food resources, illegal poaching, lack of connectivity among populations, and the negative impacts from roads and railroad tracks fragmenting their habitat. Yet, efforts are underway to remove Endangered Species Act protections, promote trophy-hunting and further degrade crucial habitat.

As part of our special presentation, WildEarth Guardians and the Task Force urges that you to act now and send a letter to the Montana Grizzly Bear Advisory Council, which is finalizing its recommendations that will influence the threatened bear’s future for years to come. Several

council members support trophy hunts and oppose strong protections for bears. Tell the Council to recommend increasing habitat security by removing old forest roads, support rules to safeguard connectivity between recovery areas, require non-lethal conflict prevention measures, and reject calls for trophy hunts. Click here to submit comments on the Council’s website.