Biologist recognized for grizzly recovery in greater Yellowstone
- By MARTIN KIDSTON
. CODY, Wyo. — Andy Pils keeps a small office at the Wapiti district ranger station, although he doesn't spend much time here among the filing cabinets and computer monitors. More often than not, the wildlife biologist is out on the Shoshone National Forest, offering bear safety tips to backcountry visitors or assisting other agencies with bear relocation. "Grizzlies are a big deal here on the Shoshone," Pils said last week while spending a rare day in his office. "They're very fascinating animals and they're powerful symbols of wild places and wild things." For his contributions toward grizzly bear recovery in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, Pils was recognized recently with an agency award for "Leadership in the Conservation of Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species."
Given by the Rocky Mountain regional office of the U.S. Forest Service, the prestigious award came with a framed art print of a grizzly bear roaming a Rocky Mountain meadow. While the print now hangs prominently on Pils' office wall, it's the bear itself that gets him talking. It's a discussion that includes the animal's troubling absence from the landscape just three decades ago, its current recovery and its uncertain future.
"There are some aspects to bear ecology that make grizzlies a little more sensitive to habitat change, as well as an increased human presence on the landscape," Pils said. "There's going to be a real need for the Forest Service and some of these other agencies to continue a pretty intensive monitoring effort of bear populations and habitat, and their key foods, once they're delisted." Working around the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in Montana and Wyoming, Pils has noted some major changes in grizzly habitat, including a reduction in whitebark pine, one of the bear's leading food sources. It's uncertain what these changes in climate and habitat will have on the grizzly's future. But while there's cause for some concern, Pils said, the picture may not be bleak. "What's not clear is how these changes are going to affect the bear's population," Pils said. "Will bears be able to find alternative food sources? There's evidence they will. They're very adaptable omnivores."
If and when the bears are delisted, Pils said, biologists will work to ensure that the animals stay recovered. He believes that the grizzly will always require management, from a human safety standpoint as well as for ecological reasons. "There are a lot of bears out there these days, and at certain times of the year, there are a lot of people in the woods," Pils said. "Just by virtue of that alone, there are a lot of opportunities for conflict. But I'm always amazed at how few conflicts there are."
Over the past decade, Pils has worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Kemmerer, Wyo., and on Montana's Gallatin National Forest. He moved to Cody in 2008 to work the Clarks Fork, Greybull and Wapiti ranger districts of the Shoshone National Forest. It's a rugged region that covers an enormous area, and it sustains one of the largest grizzly populations in the lower 48 states. "I've been in and around the Yellowstone ecosystem for 16 years now, and there have been some pretty obvious changes," Pils said. "Grizzlies are continuing to expand their distribution and colonize new habitat. We have a pretty high density of bears now, where in the '70s and '80s, we had few if any bears."
While public education has helped bring the bear back from the brink, Pils and his small staff of seasonal employees will continue to advocate "bear-wise" recreation, and teach people how to co-exist with the grizzly while living and playing in bear country. "By and large, bears get along pretty well with people," Pils said. "People don't need to be afraid to go into the woods. But in some circumstances, bears can be dangerous to people, and people need to know how to keep themselves safe."
"There are some aspects to bear ecology that make grizzlies a little more sensitive to habitat change, as well as an increased human presence on the landscape," Pils said. "There's going to be a real need for the Forest Service and some of these other agencies to continue a pretty intensive monitoring effort of bear populations and habitat, and their key foods, once they're delisted." Working around the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in Montana and Wyoming, Pils has noted some major changes in grizzly habitat, including a reduction in whitebark pine, one of the bear's leading food sources. It's uncertain what these changes in climate and habitat will have on the grizzly's future. But while there's cause for some concern, Pils said, the picture may not be bleak. "What's not clear is how these changes are going to affect the bear's population," Pils said. "Will bears be able to find alternative food sources? There's evidence they will. They're very adaptable omnivores."
If and when the bears are delisted, Pils said, biologists will work to ensure that the animals stay recovered. He believes that the grizzly will always require management, from a human safety standpoint as well as for ecological reasons. "There are a lot of bears out there these days, and at certain times of the year, there are a lot of people in the woods," Pils said. "Just by virtue of that alone, there are a lot of opportunities for conflict. But I'm always amazed at how few conflicts there are."
Over the past decade, Pils has worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Kemmerer, Wyo., and on Montana's Gallatin National Forest. He moved to Cody in 2008 to work the Clarks Fork, Greybull and Wapiti ranger districts of the Shoshone National Forest. It's a rugged region that covers an enormous area, and it sustains one of the largest grizzly populations in the lower 48 states. "I've been in and around the Yellowstone ecosystem for 16 years now, and there have been some pretty obvious changes," Pils said. "Grizzlies are continuing to expand their distribution and colonize new habitat. We have a pretty high density of bears now, where in the '70s and '80s, we had few if any bears."
While public education has helped bring the bear back from the brink, Pils and his small staff of seasonal employees will continue to advocate "bear-wise" recreation, and teach people how to co-exist with the grizzly while living and playing in bear country. "By and large, bears get along pretty well with people," Pils said. "People don't need to be afraid to go into the woods. But in some circumstances, bears can be dangerous to people, and people need to know how to keep themselves safe."
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