Tribes object to grizzly hunting proposal
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are re-asserting objections to a proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that would delist the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear from the Endangered Species Act. Government agencies currently estimate there are 718 bears in the region.
The tribes also object to a trophy grizzly bear hunt being proposed by the Idaho Fish and Game Department. The department outlined its proposals for a grizzly bear hunt next fall during public meetings this week
“No grizzly bears will ever be hunted on Shoshone-Bannock lands and my Tribe will oppose any attempts to hunt grizzlies in our recognized ancestral homelands,” said Shoshone-Bannock Chairman Nathan Small.
A declaration, signed by the Fort Hall Business Council, renounces the government’s desire to delist the grizzly and rejects Idaho’s proposed trophy hunts.
“The Tribes consider the Grizzly Bear to be a brother/uncle to our people and there are ceremonies and songs for this animal,” said Fort Hall Business Councilmember Lee Juan Tyler. “We hold the Grizzly Bear in high regard and harvesting of this animal will affect our Tribe and all other Tribes as well.”
The tribes have participated in the Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee (YGCC). The YGCC is a joint federal, state, and tribal committee that represents cross-jurisdictions within the Yellowstone ecosystem in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.
Based on information he received at the last YGCC meeting, Tribal member and big game biologist Leander “Little Bear” Watson, “Of the three states only Idaho and Wyoming will be pursing harvesting grizzly bear for the 2018-2019 hunting season.”
In October of 2016, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes signed an inter-tribal treaty opposing the grizzly delisting. Tribal leaders from North America and Canada signed the treaty during meetings in Jackson, Wyoming. It is one of three treaties that have united tribes in the United States and Canada. The other two deal with bison and the Dakota Access Pipeline.
