The Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee (YES) of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) will hold its spring meeting at the Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming on April 17 and 18, 2013, and invites the public to attend. The spring meeting has a full agenda with reports on the estimation of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear population and issues relating to future management.

Of special interest will be updates on projects underway in the ecosystem. Recovery Leader Chris Servheen of the USFWS will discuss new demographic measuring criteria and the current public comment process.  Frank van Manen, leader of the USGS Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team will provide updates on the ongoing GYE grizzly bear foods synthesis project and the mark-resight population size estimator work.  The meeting will also feature  the premiere of a film produced by the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. called Yellowstone Grizzly Bears: A Success Story.

The meeting will take place at the Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming.  The Wort Hotel is located in downtown Jackson, Wyoming at 50 N Glenwood Street. The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, and end at 5:00 p.m. Proceedings will resume at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 18, and conclude before noon. The public is welcome to attend all sessions and time for public comments will be included.

The Yellowstone ecosystem grizzly bear recovery area includes all of Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks, as well as portions of northwest Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and southwest Montana. Other federal lands include the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests (NF), The Bridger-Teton NF, Caribou-Targhee NF, and the Custer, Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests. Federally-managed lands make up 97.9 percent of the recovery area’s 9,209 square miles.

A multiagency organization charged with recovery of the grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem, YES is part of the IGBC, which is responsible for grizzly bear recovery in the contiguous United States and adjoining Canadian Provinces.  YES is made up of federal, state, county, and tribal agency partners.

Individuals requiring special assistance can contact Kate Wilmot at katharine_wilmot@nps.gov or (307) 739-3673. A copy of the meeting agenda is available at the YES portion of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee website at www.igbconline.org.

Image courtesy Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks