Chris Servheen Quotations

Much of the NCDE is heavily forested so it's hard to see those bears. The bottom line here is we are going to have to revise the recovery plan for the NCDE, because we know we can't make a credible minimum-population estimate based on sightings of females or cubs.

There are so many species that need help,

We haven't built such a thing for the NCDE yet.

We're not saying things will always be stable. We're saying we'll be able to respond to changes to make sure the bear's OK.

We need to show that with cooperation, this law can work.

These natural movement patterns have existed in the Rocky Mountains for thousands of years.

We have more bears having more cubs and we have bears that are in places where they haven't been in 50 years.

We have developed a detailed management and monitoring plan ... and it will continue for the long term. It contains strict limits on mortality, strict habitat standards, and a comprehensive monitoring system for the bears, bear habitat, and bear foods. The future of the Yellowstone grizzly bears is bright, and I say that as a grizzly bear biologist.

As long as (bear) mortality percentages are within the (federal conservation strategy) limits ... the state will have the ability to direct mortality in areas where it wants to manage for lower densities of grizzly bears.

As bear numbers increase they are getting into places they haven't been seen in 50 or 100 years.

Highways are huge. Not only for the amount of land covered by highways but also with the associated human development and the mortality risks for animals. All those things together can have significant risks on animal populations.

It's the biggest success story under the Endangered Species Act because grizzly bears are one of the toughest species to manage,

The Yellowstone grizzly is the Endangered Species Act's best recovery story.

This is urgent, considering the number of illegal kills right now.