Grizzly group's funding loss 'insult on top of injury'

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

Good deeds seldom go unpunished.

When a Bozeman-based grizzly bear research center saved $11,000 by reducing the amount of office space it used, scientists planned to use the money on research instead of rent.

But when the U.S. Forest Service found out about the savings, it cut its contribution to the research center by $11,000.

"It's almost an insult on top of injury," said Chris Servheen, the Grizzly Bear Recovery Team leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Why are we messing with something that really works?"

Servheen, who works out of Missoula, lobbied this week to have the money reinstated for the research center, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.

He pitched his plea to the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.

Clearly, when it comes to grizzly bears, the Endangered Species Act and the government, things get complicated.

The study team is designed to provide factual data and does a lot of field research. It tries to determine things like how many bears are out there, how fast the population is growing and how human activities effect the bears.

One example of their work is a study that shows how snowmobiles affect hibernating bears. Information like that is critical in Forest Service efforts to spell out where snowmobiles can go.

Yet the Forest Service penalized the study team.

"The do a lot of good stuff and taking the money away is not a good way of rewarding them," Servheen told the committee, which held a two-day meeting in Bozeman this week.

That meeting cost at least $20,000 in tax money.

A further irony lies in the fact that the study team rents its offices from the Forest Service.

The $11,000 the Forest Service took away from the team was placed in a pot of money that various scientists and managers compete for.

However, there already is a backlog of $5 million in unfunded projects waiting for money.

The $11,000 "doesn't even make a dent in the unfunded needs list, but it does make a difference for the study team," Servheen said.

Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Becki Heath said taking the money resulted from complicated federal accounting rules.

"It's not an intent to slight that group," she said. "I'm confident we'll be able to get that money restored."

Grizzly bear management is expensive, and may get more so as efforts to remove federal protections for the bear continue to progress. Bigger problems could be on the way, one bear advocate warned.

"If there's no money out there, the best conservation strategy in the world is going nowhere," said Brian Peck, of the Great Bear Foundation. "It's going to be a mess."

Or things could get better.

Brad Powell, regional forester in Missoula, is forming a new committee to find better ways to fund grizzly conservation projects.

Scott McMillion is at scottm@dailychronicle.com

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