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 Servheen honored for grizzly efforts
By KARL PUCKETT
Tribune Staff Writer
December 15, 2007
Montana's Chris Servheen recently was awarded the U.S. Department of the Interior's second-highest honor for his work coordinating the federal government's efforts to bring the grizzly bear back from near-extinction in the West.
Servheen, who is based in Missoula, has been the government's grizzly bear recovery coordinator for 26 years.
He received the Meritorious Service Citation during a meeting two weeks ago in Helena.
"The service is very proud of all of Chris' work with bears," said Sharon Rose, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is under the Department of the Interior.
Servheen, who works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the award validates the work scientists have been doing for three decades.
The Fish and Wildlife Service, which has roughly 7,000 employees, is responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act.
"People are starting to see a difference," he said. The grizzly bear was listed as a threatened species in 1975. The 57-year-old Servheen has been the government's only recovery coordinator since the job was created in 1981. When he took over, he had just finished his doctorate on grizzlies in the Mission Mountains at the University of Montana in Missoula.
The job involves coordinating efforts of private, state, federal and tribal partners in monitoring the status of the bear and its habitat, which includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington.
The honor for Servheen comes in the same year that grizzlies in the Yellowstone National Park area were removed from the threatened and endangered species list.
"Are the bears doing better after this work? I think so," Servheen said.
When he took over, there were 130 to 300 grizzlies in the Yellowstone area. Today, there are more than 575. At least 545 grizzlies live in northwestern Montana, which includes land along the Rocky Mountain Front and Glacier National Park.
The grizzlies in northwestern Montana remain a protected species.
Just as critical to the bear's recovery as the increase in numbers and range has been the efforts to increase public support for the grizzlies, Servheen said.
He cited recent lobbying efforts from Lincoln residents to have a full-sized mount of an 830-pound grizzly displayed in their town as an example that support. The bear was killed while crossing Highway 200 in October.
Building interest in creating linkage zones remains an important aspect of recovery efforts, he said. Linkage zones are unobstructed corridors that grizzlies and other animals can use to get to other areas.
"It's especially critical with the levels of land development we have today," Servheen said.
The citation, which was established in 1948, recognizes superior performance and devotion to duty as well as contributions to science or management.
The agency's highest recognition, the Distinguished Service Award, usually goes to employees who previously received the Meritorious Service Citation.
Reach Tribune Staff Writer Karl Puckett at 791-1471, 800-438-6600 or kpuckett@greatfallstribune.com.
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