Photo credit Frank T. van Manen/IGBST

Why the Name Change from YES to YGCC?

Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee (YGCC) is the group that will guide how the ecosystem population will be managed now that recovery goals are attained and the species is officially delisted.

As part of the recovery plan for the Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly population, a Conservation Strategy  was required to guide how the population would be managed once recovery goals were attained and the species was officially delisted. The goals for recovery of the Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzlies were first met in 2004 and have been exceeded every year since then. The Yellowstone population was first delisted in 2007 but legal challenges relisted the bear in 2009. Since 2009, the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee (YES) has worked to manage the recovered population while addressing the concerns that caused the relisting. By 2016 YES had sufficiently addressed concerns that the United States Fish & Wildlife Service began consideration for redelisting. In 2017, the Yellowstone Ecosystem population was again delisted.

Aside from the management aspects of the Conservation Strategy, the name of the group responsible for combined oversight of the Yellowstone Ecosystem was also changed. Going from the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee (YES) to the Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee (YGCC ). The original YES committee was made up of state and federal agencies responsible for local recovery efforts and reported to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Per the Conservation Strategy, once the delisting occurred the committee no longer reports directly to IGBC but will keep them informed of their activities. Every member of the YGCC still has an agency leader that is part of the IGBC so a measure of accountability is still maintained to ensure responsible management.

Final Signed Conservation Strategy

Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee Meetings

Upcoming Meetings

Please refer to the Meeting Calendar for upcoming meetings of the Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee

NEW! Download “Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team Research and Monitoring Summary 2018” here

Meeting Summaries

Yellowstone Subcommittee Meetings (prior to April 2017)

Meeting Summaries

Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee Membership

  • Mike Volesky (Chair) Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Helena, MT
  • Kim Liebhauser (Co-Chair) BLM-Wyoming, Cody, WY
  • Tricia O’Conner Bridger Teton National Forest, Jackson, WY
  • Melany Gossa Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest, Dillon, MT
  • Derek Ibarguen Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Idaho Falls, ID
  • Lee Miller Idaho Association of Counties
  • Lisa Timchak Shoshone National Forest, Cody, WY
  • David Vela Grand Teton National Park Jackson, WY
  • Dan Wenk Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Nat’l Park, WY
  • Jim White Idaho Dept of Fish and Game, Idaho Falls, ID
  • Brian Nesvik Wyoming Dept of Game and Fish, Cheyenne, WY
  • Tom Rice Montana Association of Counties, Beaverhead County, Dillon, MT
  • Loren Grosskopf Wyoming County Commission, Park County Cody, WY
  • Leander Watson Shoshone Bannock Tribes, Fort Hall, ID
  • Mary Erickson Custer-Gallatin National Forest, Bozeman MT
  • Rick Hotaling BLM – Montana Dillon, MT
  • Mary D’Aversa BLM – Idaho Falls, ID

Yellowstone Ecosystem Information & Education Subcommittee

  • Laurie Wolf (Chair) Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Helena  MT
  • Morgan Warthin Yellowstone National Park
  • Danielle Chalfant Oyler Southwest Montana Bear Education Working Group
  • Dustin Lasseter Wyoming Game and Fish Department
  • Denise Germann Grand Teton National Park

Advisors to the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee

  • Dan Tyers USFS Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Mgmt Coordinator, Bozeman, MT
  • Frank van Manen Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team Bozeman, MT
  • Hilary Cooley USFWS Liaison
  • Kelsie Dougherty Administrative Coordinator, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Bozeman, MT

Policy and Research Reports

NEPA Documents

Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan: Draft Supplement: January 29, 1982 and Revised Plan September 10, 1993
Draft 2016 Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Policy

  • Yellowstone Grizzly Coordinating Committee Charter
  • 2006 Forest Plan Amendment for Grizzly Bear Habitat Conservation for the Greater Yellowstone Area National Forests
    In April 2006, the Forest Service amended six forest plans on six Greater Yellowstone Area national forests (Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Bridger-Teton, Caribou-Targhee, Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests) to incorporate the habitat standards and other relevant provisions in the Final Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Area. The Record of Decision (ROD) presents the three principal reasons officials selected Alternative 2-Modified. In addition, the decision document describes the public involvement process and issues, and other alternatives considered. The amendment to the six forest plans is contained in the appendix of the decision document.

Research

NOTE: The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) is an interdisciplinary group of scientists and biologists responsible for long-term monitoring and research efforts on grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The full list of their publications can be found on the IGBST website.

Yellowstone Ecosystem Description