Grizzly bear recovery plan near completion, FWS says

GREEN RIVER, Wyo. (AP) - A draft proposal to manage grizzly bears after they are removed from the Endangered Species list is one to two months away from completion, officials said.

The proposal is a major hurdle in removing the bear from federal protection, where it has been since 1975.

Chris Servheen, grizzly bear recovery program coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the proposal will suggest how to manage the bears, who will manage them and how they will be monitored in and around Yellowstone National Park.

It will include standards for protecting habitat, goals for achieving a certain level of habitat and information on the stability and amount of habitat available to bears, he said.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the number of bears in and around the park has least doubled to 400 to 600.

The Fish and Wildlife Service currently manages bears under a plan aimed at restoring the bear populations in a recovery area that includes the park.

The proposal is expected to serve as a model for development of other recovery areas.

The recovery area reaches north to Ennis, Mont. and Gallatin and Custer national forests, east to Dubois, south to Grand Teton National Park, and west into Targhee National Forest and the town of West Yellowstone, Mont.