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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Friday that it will consider removing grizzly bears in parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming from the Endangered Species Act. The decision is a result of petitions from Montana and Wyoming requesting that state governments be responsible for the management of grizzly populations in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which includes Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, as well as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
The Service will now conduct a review of the grizzly population in these regions to make a 12-month finding. At that point the agency will decide if removing ESA protections for the species is warranted. If that happens, a separate rulemaking process including a public comment period would follow.
The agency indicated that it will carefully consider laws and regulations in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho throughout the 12-month-finding period to ensure a smooth transition to state management, but significant legislation outlining state-level protection plans consistent with the requirements of the USFWS has yet to be offered by any of the three states. In 2021, a bill passed in the Montana Senate that would allow Montanans to kill grizzly bears that were attacking or threatening livestock. The agency notified the Montana legislature that the bill cannot be enacted because of an ESA regulation that only allows killing grizzlies as a means of self-defense, but the bill would become law if the grizzly is officially delisted.
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The drought is so critical that this recent rainfall is a little like finding a $20 bill when you’ve lost your job and you’re being evicted from your house.”
