For Immediate Release
Media contact:
Patrick Kelly, patrick@westernwatersheds.org, (208) 576-4314
(July 31, 2024) MISSOULA, Mont. — In disappointing news, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has filed a legal document indicating that it is delaying a decision on petitions from the governors of Montana and Wyoming seeking the removal of Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for grizzly bears.
Instead of reaffirming the critical protections under the ESA, the USFWS plans to issue a combined finding and a proposed rule that could potentially revise or remove the entire ESA listing of grizzly bears in the lower-48 states. This decision undermines science-based wildlife management and jeopardizes the future of these animals.
“It’s disheartening to see the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service still flirting with the idea of stripping Endangered Species Act protections from grizzly bears in the West,” said Patrick Kelly, Montana-Washington Director at Western Watersheds Project. “Despite grizzlies clawing their way back from a century of persecution and habitat loss, some politicians and bureaucrats are chomping at the bit to undo their progress. Their backdoor policies and regulations are nothing but a green light for grizzly decline the moment USFWS steps back.”
Grizzly bears, once numbering an estimated 50,000 in the western United States, faced near-extinction due to relentless persecution and habitat loss. By the 1930s, their population had plummeted to just 2% of their original range in the continental U.S., and by 1975, only 700 to 800 bears remained. The ESA listing in 1975 was a critical turning point, enabling modest recovery efforts that have since increased the population to approximately 1,900 bears, primarily in two key recovery zones: the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.
Despite these gains, grizzly bears occupy a mere 6% of their historical range and continue to face significant threats, including habitat fragmentation, dwindling food sources, and human-wildlife conflicts, particularly with livestock grazing in their core habitats.
“Delisting these isolated grizzly populations would undermine efforts to recover grizzlies across the Lower 48 and betray the very principles of the Endangered Species Act,” Kelly said. “We urge the USFWS to prioritize connecting these populations and safeguarding the protections grizzlies need to thrive for future generations. As the federal court rightly ruled in 2018, the Yellowstone grizzly population remains at risk of extinction due to its isolation, and this reality hasn’t changed.”
Western Watersheds Project is a non-profit environmental conservation group that works to influence and improve public lands management throughout the western United States in order to protect native species and conserve and restore the habitats they depend on.
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