U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) renewed a $250,000 grant to help reduce grizzly bear and human conflicts in Montana.
“This funding is critical to help reduce grizzly-human conflicts in Montana as we continue working to delist the grizzly bear and return management to the state,” Daines said.
The USFWS grant to the Montana Wildlife Services will include:
- Additional support through the Wildlife Services contract to address bear and human conflict.
- Leveraging existing Federal programs, such as grants provided under the Pittman-Robertson Act, to restore, conserve, and manage animals and their habitat.
- Continually updating and reissuing guidance on actions to avoid bear contact.
Daines brought USFWS Director Aurelia Skipwith to Montana in October to meet directly with farmers and ranchers to discuss the importance of grizzly bear management.
In September, Daines testified in a U.S. Senate Committee in support of his bill, the “Grizzly Bear State Management Act”, which would delist the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, return management to the State of Montana and prevent further obstruction in the courts.
In March, Daines announced the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) responded to his requests for better management surrounding grizzly bears and human conflict in Montana. DOI agreed to support Montana with common sense, collaborative methods to help in the management of the grizzly bear.