FWP has strong private land habitat initiatives. Most are funded through earmarked accounts 

 and include Montana's Migratory Bird Stamp (dollars directed toward wetland riparian areas), 

 Upland Game Bird Habitat Enhancement Program (dollars go primarily towards enhancing via 

 good management shrub/grassland communities) and Habitat Montana. Specifically, Habitat 

 Montana allows FWP to conserve habitat on private lands via lease, conservation easements 

 (purchased) or fee title acquisition. This program is not directed at specific species but rather at 

 conserving Montana's most threatened habitats, i.e. wetlands/riparian areas, shrub/grasslands, 

 and intermountain foothills. Habitat Montana funds have been used to conserve habitat in the 

 Yellowstone system via the Northern Range acquisition, Gallatin Lands Consolidation Program, 

 and three conservation easements along the west face of the Madison Mountain Range in the 

 Madison Valley. All of FWP's habitat conservation projects in the GYE have included 

 components of important grizzly bear habitat. Because of the subdivision threats, efforts to 

 conserve habitat in this portion of Montana will continue to be a FWP priority. 



The intermountain valleys between major mountain ranges of southwestern Montana are 

 primarily private land. These private lands are vital to the area's agricultural economy and 

 provide important habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife. As agricultural land, they also 

 provide a wide range of opportunities for wildlife to live and travel between mountain ranges. 

 Major highways bisect most of the intermountain valleys. FWP reviews subdivisions, applies 

 land conservation programs like Habitat Montana, and works with Montana Department of 

 Transportation on mitigating barriers to crossing transportation routes to build tolerances in 

 finding ways for wildlife, including grizzly bears, to "fit" on private land. 



This approach, currently used for other species, is very effective. 



Specific Habitat Guidelines 



A general statement of the approach FWP pursues when dealing with habitat issues is as follows: 

 FWP seeks to manage all fish and wildlife habitat on public land, whether roaded or unroaded, as 

 valuable and unique lands that will remain open to hunters, anglers, and other public users. 

 Accessibility to public lands will be balanced with the year-round requirements offish and 

 wildlife (habitat, clean water, food, shelter, open space, and disturbance management), while 

 maintaining a functioning road system, including keeping inventoried roadless areas roadless 

 (with science-based exceptions made for forest health, restoration, and other national needs). By 

 implementing this program we can maintain grizzly bears while still providing for other 

 appropriate uses. Reasons for the decline of brown/grizzly bears in North America are excessive 

 human-caused mortality and habitat loss. Habitat loss results from conversion of native 

 vegetation to agriculture, depletion of preferred food resources (i.e. salmon and whitebark pine), 

 disturbance, displacement from human developments and activities (roads, mines, subdivisions), 

 and fi-agmentation of habitat into increasingly smaller blocks inadequate to maintain viable 

 populations and connectivity. 



Management 



Radio telemetry studies have identified roads as significant factors in habitat deterioration and 

 increased mortality of brown/grizzly bears. Areas of adult female displacement by roads and 

 development totaled about 16% of available habitat in Yellowstone National Park. The 



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