Taking Bearings

By Quinn Harper, November 9 2016

On the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park is a bear, a grizzly bear. She walks the
soft rain beaten ground with her head down and sweeping to and fro, using her nose to
follow the enticing scent of a nearby gut pile. The sow wanders at her own pleasure, her
only stress involving when she and her cub will eat again. She is at the apex of her
ecosystem, however she and the cub could not be more vulnerable. Vulnerable to change
that is.
At the start of the 19th century, grizzlies roamed without fret from the Pacific coast
all the way to the Missouri river, their population was around 50,000. Soon the
thunderous storm of manifest destiny would flood the West. The new human threat
forced bears into concentrated piles and population plunged fiercely. Less than 200 years
later grizzly bears apart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (which includes
Yellowstone and Teton national park) were estimated to be at a population of only 136.
In 1975, this crisis was identified and GYE grizzly bears were put on the endangered
species act. Recently this paramount species has achieved scrutiny for the second time in
forty one years. Once in 2007, the bears were delisted, however the decision was
overturned by a federal court and a consensus was made that further analyzation was
needed.
This past Spring, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced a possible removal of
GYE grizzly bears from the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The proposal
would not only remove protection which is critical for the well being of all grizzly bears
within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, but also allow states to permit hunting of
bears which have wandered outside of the safety of the national park boundary. Though
the population has grown to around seven hundred, it still faces a major threat through
Whitebark pine extinction, which is possibly the most important food source to bears in
the GYE and other environmental factors.
This recent controversy has evoked a quarrel between hunters and environmentalist.
If hunting is permitted and the bears are delisted, it could shock the bear population with
another threat and send them into a downward spiral which is not only negative for the
bears but for the ecosystem as a whole. On the other hand, hunting of bears would create
new economy boosts, however that could only be short term. It is imperative that we are
wise and consider long term effects. Bears are a keystone species; they disperse seeds,
fertilize the forest, and till land. Bears tell us if our ecosystem is balanced. For example,
if bear populations are not healthy then that can indicate an unhealthy fish population.
Our future depends on the Earths wild places and Grizzly bears keep the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem wild.