Stop Montana’s Efforts to Kill More Grizzly Bears: Oppose SB 295

The bill directs Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to adopt mortality thresholds for grizzly bears, including bears killed due to conflicts with livestock, and clarifies the circumstances and process by which private individuals and livestock owners may kill a grizzly bear they deem a threat to a person or livestock. The bill is in response to concerns expressed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that current Montana statute, passed during the 2021 Legislative Session, is too permissive in allowing private citizens to kill grizzly bear. Consequently, FWP would be unable to adequately regulate grizzly bear mortality. This bill seeks to mollify these concerns in order to improve the likelihood USFWS will recommend delisting grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a goal of Governor Greg Gianforte’s administration. However, the bill fails to define key criteria for when a person may kill a grizzly bear, including critically what constitutes a threat, nor do all bears killed count toward the mortality limits. In short, the same shortcomings with current law remain: the bill encourages lethal rather than non-lethal measures and will still limit FWP’s ability to regulate human-caused mortality of grizzly bears. This bill is a clear attempt to appease some ranchers and other rural residents by making it easier for private citizens to kill bears as an approach to managing conflicts or potential conflicts, rather than continued investment by FWP in effective non-lethal measures. For this and other reasons, Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance opposes this legislation.