EVANSTON, Wyo. (AP) - Wyoming Game and Fish Commission officials say they have no intention of rescinding their plan for grizzly bear management.
Representatives from several mountain counties appealed to the commission Thursday, claiming their counties had too little say in the development of a plan that will affect their land and residents.
Game and Fish officials countered that the plan had been in the works for more than two years, and the counties should have spoken up sooner.
"I don't know what more the Game and Fish (Commission) can do," G&F Commissioner Gary Lundvahl said. "They are probably the most open, and have more meetings than anyone I've ever known."
There will be more opportunities for the public to comment as the wildlife agency starts "fine tuning" its grizzly plan, G&F's Dave Moody said.
The federal government is in the process of delisting grizzlies, which have been on the endangered list since 1975. Wyoming, Idaho and Montana are creating their own bear-management plans.
Wyoming's plan would not allow bears in the Big Horn Range, Snowy Range and Sierra Madre Mountains. It would provide bear habitat in all suitable and socially acceptable areas within the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
The plan will take effect when grizzlies are removed from the endangered list, which is expected to happen sometime between 2003 and 2005.
