Oil wells may threaten grizzly habitat

The Blackfeet Reservation could see as many as 70 new oil wells not far from Glacier National Park, grizzly bear managers learned last week.

Tribal wildlife biologist Dan Carney said there's plans for developing dozens of oil wells north of U.S. Highway 2 on the plains outside the Park.

Energy companies have already drilled wells close to the Park and the Rocky Mountain Front.

One exploration well is located in the north end of the reservation near the Canadian border and Glacier's Belly River country.

A second well is located south of U.S. Highway 2 near some prairie potholes. The sheer number of new wells is raising concerns with wildlife managers.

Chris Servheen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator said bear managers weren't aware of the broad expanse of wells planned.

"It's certainly of concern," he said. "You bet."

Grizzly bears in recent years have slowly, but surely, been expanding their range. Glacier Park acts as a refuge for bears — unlike other regions, there are few human-caused mortalities in the Park and the population is doing well.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Rick Mace estimates the grizzly bear population in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem is expanding at a rate of about 3 percent a year. The NCDE covers 8 million acres of land from Glacier Park south to Lincoln along the Continental Divide.

According to a recent DNA study, nearly 50 percent of all the grizzly bears in the NCDE live in Glacier Park.

Mace has been radio collaring and tracking dozens of grizzly bears over a six year period. By tracking females and their cubs, he was able to determine the estimated growth rate of the population.

The growth didn't surprise Servheen.

"We had every indication the grizzly bear population was doing well," he said. "This is the first hard documentation."

But the success of the bear population comes as a cautionary tale. Increasing pressure from humans is still a paramount concern, bear managers noted.

Glacier Park officials, for example, are worried about the impacts a new federal law would have that allows guns in national parks.

"The real concern is someone shooting a bear," said Jack Potter, Chief of Science and Management for the Park.

While carrying a gun is illegal, shooting one, unless a person is in "imminent danger," is not, Park managers noted.

In addition to those concerns, wildlife managers in cooperation with Canadian biologists are tracking grizzly bears and wolverines by radio collars and transmitters in the Canadian Flathead.

The area around Fernie, British Columbia, is growing and the idea is to secure key wildlife habitat through conservation easements or outright purchase to allow connectivity of populations across Highway 3 in Canada.

Climate change could impact bear populations, biologists note, and one way to hedge against habitat variability is to manage for biodiversity across a large landscape, so bears and other populations can move if need be. It's not unusual for a grizzly bear to travel 80 miles in search of food or to get to its favorite berry patch — especially males.

But four-lane highways, like the one planned for Highway 3 in Canada, could prove a hindrance to migrations.

"The time is now to consider the impacts," Servheen noted.