Management and Recovery of Grizzlies will be Focus of Upcoming IGBC Meeting in Missoula
OutdoorHub 11.30.12
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC), the multi-agency committee responsible for grizzly bear recovery in the contiguous United States and adjacent Canadian Provinces will be holding their annual winter meeting in Missoula, Montana from December 11, 2012 – December 13, 2012. The meeting will take place at the Doubletree Hotel on 100 Madison Street. Each day the sessions will begin at 8:00 AM and end at 5:00 PM. On Thursday, December 13, the session will end at noon. The public is invited to attend and time has been reserved for public comment at the end of each day.
As the umbrella organization responsible for coordination of not only grizzly bear recovery, but also management, the IGBC will discuss a number of issues key to continued success of recovered grizzly populations. Updates will address efforts made to create a Grizzly Bear Conservation Fund, and there will be discussion of an IGBC policy statement in support of regulated hunting as a method of management for grizzly bears in delisted ecosystems. Each recovery ecosystem chair will report on their accomplishments and discuss future projects, such as the grizzly bear augmentation and DNA study work, being done in the Selkirk Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem.
This meeting will be the final official IGBC act for Chairman Harv Forsgren of the United States Forest Service; he will also be retiring as Intermountain Regional Forester at the beginning of January. Forsgren will turn the gavel over to Scott Talbott, Director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Chairmanship of the IGBC is a two-year commitment that alternates between state and federal committee partners. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee was created in 1983 to lead the effort to recover the grizzly bear in the lower 48 states.
Individuals with disabilities may request meeting accommodations by contacting Gregg Losinski at 208 -390-0635 or through the Idaho Relay Service at 1-800-377-3529 (TDD). The Winter IGBC Meeting agenda may be viewed by visiting the IGBC Website at:
http://www.igbconline.org/images/pdf/Winter_Agenda_2012.pdf
