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June 19, 2000
Vol 4, # 37

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- In recent years, the focus on the slaughtering of Yellowstone's bison has led to less media attention in regards to the grizzlies of the Yellowstone ecosystem.  The grizzly population, however, is at a critical juncture, according to some experts.

Mike Bader, executive director of Missoula's Alliance for the Wild Rockies, noted last week that his extensive research indicates that a "genetically and demographically sound" population of grizzlies would need a minimum of just under 59,000 square miles of habitat in the northern Rockies, with an ideal habitat being one of some 76,000 square miles.  The problem is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is in charge of making certain that the grizzly population attains a healthily level, has not designated even the minimum amount of protected habitat for the grizzly.

The grizzly, protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1975, is slowly gaining more media attention.  Various interests, including the governors of some Western states, are eager to see the grizzly delisted from the Endangered Species Act.  Environmental groups are concerned that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is being overly influenced by anti-grizzly interests, and charge that the agency has not adequately investigated just how much habitat grizzlies need.

Bader's research paper, titled "Spatial Needs of Grizzly Bears in the U.S. Northern Rockies," in addition to advocating more habitat for the grizzly, reaches the following conclusions:

** A reasonable population recovery goal for grizzly bears is in the range of 2000 - 2500 animals.

** The current system of grizzly bear recovery areas provides for less than 50% of the minimum spatial requirements and are comprised of isolated reserves which are at low fractions of the minimum population requirements for availability.

** The current grizzly bear recovery program as proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not lead to the recovery of a viable grizzly population.

Grizzlies are an important and integral part of the larger Yellowstone ecosystem.  Although they may inconvenience humans at times, and even threaten humans on occasion, their continued presence is important to Yellowstone and to the American experience.

(Yellowstone Net provides you opportunity to voice your opinion regarding the various Yellowstone issues to your congresspersons and to editorial sections of magazines and newspapers by clicking here.)

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS

Ralph Maughan
Kim Steinbacher
Kevin Sanders
Steve Brashear
Clint Wilkes
Tim Gourley
Hon. Bob Gammage
Ruth Colter-Frick
Lee Whittlesey
Tom Mazzarisi
Russ Finley
David Monteith
Denise Elmer
Dr. Bob Bara
Matthew McLean

GRIZZLIES DEPENDENT UPON SPAWNING STREAMS
by National Park Service

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park's cutthroat trout population may be considerably more important to grizzly bears than was previously believed, according to preliminary findings of research conducted by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) and the National Park Service (NPS). Biologists used recent advances in DNA wildlife-research technology to determine that during the 3-year study, a minimum of 84 different grizzly bears visited streams around Yellowstone Lake during cutthroat trout spawning runs. This new estimate is almost twice as high as previous estimates.

Earlier estimates used bear-track measurements to determine that approximately 30 to 48 grizzly bears fished for cutthroat trout annually in these Yellowstone Lake tributaries.

"This is an important finding for several reasons," said Yellowstone Superintendent Michael Finley. "First, we now have a clearer understanding of how much this grizzly bear population depends upon the trout as a food source. Second, we have an additional reason to believe that protecting the trout population is an urgent priority. And third, we have a terrific example of how one Yellowstone research project can benefit others; this DNA research would not have been possible without the findings of seemingly unrelated research projects based on Yellowstone's geothermal micro-organisms."

In 1997, with funding provided by Canon U.S.A., the USGS Biological Resources Division, and the NPS, biologists prepared small barbed-wire "corrals" (simply strands of barbed wire stretched strategically among trees) to non-intrusively snag a small amount of the hair of passing bears (in some cases, a scented attractant was hung beyond the bear's reach to draw it into the area). Collected hair samples were subjected to DNA analysis, providing biologists with the unique "DNA fingerprint" of each bear, and allowing them to arrive at a total number of individual bears. "Anyone who hikes in Yellowstone will notice how often large animals rub against trees and other obstructions, leaving a tuft of hair behind," said Superintendent Finley. "This study procedure just arranged for those tufts to be left where we could put them to use." (Many black bear hair samples were also collected from the tributary streams during this study, but due to budget constraints these samples have not yet been analyzed.)

Estimates now suggest that 15-20 percent of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Area use the cutthroat trout, which are one of the highest sources of digestible energy available to bears in this ecosystem. The trout are rich in fat and protein and are available to bears during the spring and early summer, which makes them valuable in overcoming the bears' nutritional losses incurred during hibernation. Of the 124 tributary streams to Yellowstone Lake, at least 60 are known to have cutthroat trout spawning runs. Over the course of the study, more than 45 percent of the known streams used by grizzly bears were surveyed.

It is important to understand grizzly bear use of the native cutthroat trout because the trout are threatened by the illegal introduction of non-native lake trout, first discovered in 1994. Lake trout are efficient predators on cutthroat trout and, in the absence of aggressive management, could eventually reduce the native cutthroat trout population by as much as 90 percent. "Dozens of species, from grizzly bears and eagles to small birds and mammals, will be affected if the cutthroat population declines and these annual spawning runs disappear," Superintendent Finley said. "We don't yet know as much as we must to understand how a decline in the cutthroat trout population would affect the bear population, so this study is an important step in that understanding." Lake trout spawn in deep water, and will not serve as a replacement food for bears if they further reduce the cutthroat trout population.

Data from recent research suggest that lake trout are a probable cause for the observed declines in numbers of spawning cutthroat trout in the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake. Biologists are concerned about the potential for similar declines in the rest of Yellowstone Lake, where lake trout have also been discovered. The NPS has been developing and refining a lake-trout netting program that, in concert with angler catches, may suppress the lake trout population and control its impact on the cutthroat trout.

The development of DNA fingerprinting technology (a.k.a. polymerase chain reaction process) was made possible due to an enzyme named Taq polymerase, initially isolated from the microorganism Thermus aquaticus, which was first discovered in one of Yellowstone's thermal pools in the 1960s. The use of the Taq enzyme in the polymerase chain reaction process gives biologists the ability to make multiple copies of genes from DNA within living cells, facilitating the process known as DNA fingerprinting. "Thanks to a long-obscure Yellowstone micro-organism," Superintendent Finley said, "DNA fingerprinting has revolutionized the worlds of medicine, law enforcement, and many fields of research. It is both ironic and fortuitous that we can use this same technology here in Yellowstone, where it originated, to help us better manage and understand the park's wild resources.

Canon U.S.A. provided funding for the grizzly bear project through their Expedition Into the Parks program. Expedition Into the Parks, a unique collaboration among the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation and Canon, was established in 1995 to help address critical conservation and restoration challenges across the National Park System. Since 1995, Canon U.S.A. has provided more than $5 million in funding and equipment to 80 different research projects throughout the National Park System. "Our friends at Canon have been active, enthusiastic partners in important research programs throughout the national park system," Superintendent Finley said. "We're very grateful for their help with this crucial work."

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WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. --  The winter season is over, the snow has melted, the balsam is flowering and the buffalo have returned to Yellowstone National Park.

This summer we have so much to be thankful for.  For the first winter in 16 years, the state of Montana didn't slaughter a single buffalo!   Three years ago, when Montana's Department of Livestock (DOL) killed nearly 1100 buffalo, our group formed to bring public pressure  against the state and end this senseless tragedy.  This winter, three years of hard work have finally paid off.

The Buffalo Field Campaign has shifted our focus to our summer tabling efforts inside the park.  This is our chance to help Yellowstone's visitors become aware of the plight of the buffalo and our work to protect them.   Many tourists travel to Yellowstone to see the buffalo, totally unaware of the treatment these animals receive during the winter months.  We are there every day throughout the summer, answering questions, handing out newsletters, and keeping
people up to date on matters affecting the buffalo.

It is with respectful heartfelt thanks that we can know that all of our efforts, great and small, helped to keep the buffalo safe this winter.

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Wolves are becoming bolder near humans, according to one wolf biologist.  Diane Boyd, speaking at the annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, noted that increasing human tolerance for wolves is resulting in bolder behavior on the part of wolves.  Boyd, who monitors wolf populations for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, related how wolves throughout the United States are becoming less intimidated by humans.   Wolf biologists as a whole, however, are fairly evenly split in regards to whether or not wolves in America are exhibiting an increasingly uninhibited behavior in the presence of humans.

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