BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- Trophy grizzly bear hunts are under
consideration for the Northern Rockies in the surest sign yet
that more than 30 years of federal protection for the fearsome
animal is nearing an end across much of the region. An estimated
1,600 bears inhabit the landscape around Yellowstone and Glacier
national parks, and for now, they're protected as a threatened
species. But federal officials are working on plans to lift
those protections as soon as 2014 for bears in the Yellowstone
area. Bears around Glacier would follow. Authority over the
animals -- which can top 600 pounds and live for 25 years --
would transfer to state agencies. And with human-bear conflicts
and livestock attacks on the rise, wildlife officials in
Montana, Idaho and Wyoming said hunting would help them deal
with problem bears. Yet officials stressed that any grizzly
season would differ significantly from the aggressive wolf hunts
now underway in the region. Idaho and Montana have lifted quotas
on wolves with the explicit ai