Tribes join effort to keep Yellowstone grizzlies protected

[Judi Lynn]

Tribes join effort to keep Yellowstone grizzlies protected

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press | January 11, 2015 | Updated: January 11, 2015 2:31pm

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Leaders of American Indian tribes in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains have joined an effort to retain federal protections for grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to decide this year whether it will move to lift protections for the roughly 1,000 grizzlies that scientists say live in the Yellowstone region of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

The campaign to enlist tribal backing for continued protections is being coordinated in large part by wildlife advocates. Organizers say more than two dozen tribes have signed on with resolutions and other declarations of support.

Tribal leaders cited their ancestral connection to the Yellowstone area and the cultural importance of grizzly bears to their people.

"Any move to delist the sacred grizzly bear on this ancestral landscape must involve consultation with the affected Tribal Nations," wrote Ivan Posey, a member of the Eastern Shoshone and chairman of the Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, in a letter last month.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Tribes-join-effort-to-keep-Yellowstone-grizzlies-6007939.php

[2naSalit]

1. Good news.

I have had business with Mr. Posey and other NA groups in the region... they are very aware of all the wildlife issues going on in and around the region and the Park. I am glad to see there are more tribal groups assembling and being active in these debates.

Thanks for posting.

2na in the GYE.