Habitat Not Enough for Grizzlies after Delisting

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — For grizzly bears to thrive along Montana's Northern Continental Divide once they're delisted, federal biologists say habitat isn't enough. People must accept the big predators as a cohabitant on a limited landscape.

That's according to a draft conservation plan released this week by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hailed as a big step toward making sure the iconic species thrives in a roughly 110,000-square-mile area including Glacier National Park. The roughly 1,000 grizzlies here are listed as a threatened species.

This conservation plan wouldn't lift Endangered Species Act protections, rather provide the outlines for managing bears, once they're delisted. Among its other elements: Making sure in particular males grizzlies can move between the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and adjacent ecosystems. Fish and Wildlife is taking comment now, at http://tinyurl.com/chs4l76.