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Work on grizzly recovery honored
By MARK PAGE for the Missoulian
After 27 years working to restore grizzly bear populations, Missoula bear expert Chris Servheen has been awarded the Ernest Thompson Seton Award for his part in the Yellowstone grizzly's removal from the endangered species list.
The award was presented in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., earlier this month by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. It is named for Seton, an early conservationist, wildlife painter and one of the founding members of the Boy Scouts of America.
Servheen teaches one class at the University of Montana and works as the national grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He is also the science and policy adviser at the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, which received an award for the work as well.
“It's pretty special because it's presented by the state fish and game agencies,” Servheen said, “and I'm a federal guy.”
Servheen said he first became interested in grizzlies after watching a National Geographic special in junior high. It was then he decided it was something he wanted to study.
So, as soon as he graduated high school, he came West and never looked back, leaving his home in Pennsylvania to get his undergraduate degree at UM. He eventually received his doctorate in wildlife biology at UM.
When Servheen started working on grizzly recovery 27 years ago, there were about 200 grizzlies in Yellowstone. Today there are more than 600.
“He's the one person most responsible for the delisting of the grizzly bear in Yellowstone,” said IGBC executive assistant Ellen Davis.
The recovery combined the efforts of several agencies to bring down mortality rates for the Yellowstone grizzly.
Servheen said he helped bring together federal services such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Park Service, along with various state agencies, to educate the public on how to help protect bears.
“Recovery is more than just the number of animals,” he said. “It's creating a safe habitat and it's about creating a commitment among the state and federal agencies.”
Now the Yellowstone grizzly population is growing at 4 percent to 7 percent per year. But Servheen said his work is not finished, nor will it ever be.
“Recovery is just a transition from one status to another,” he said. “We never walk away.”
The award was not limited to Servheen and the IGBC's work in Yellowstone. It was noted that the IGBC was responsible for identifying five grizzly ecosystems across the Northwest and providing clear management guidelines, and for their efforts in advancing grizzly research.
Missoulian intern Mark Page can be reached at 523-5259 or at mark.page@missoulian.com .
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