The Interior Department has proposed a major policy shift that would give Western state fish-and-game agencies more authority over grizzly bear management in the Lower 48 states.
While grizzlies remain listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), this could set the stage for future efforts to fully delist some populations and potentially allow regulated hunting.
The announcement by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik was made in core grizzly bear habitat just north of Yellowstone National Park, with Western governors in attendance.While details of specific management changes are virtually non-existent — the federal rules will be published on Friday — the Interior Department stresses that it is not removing grizzly bears from federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. Rather, it is proposing “to clarify the geographic area where grizzly bears in the lower 48 states are subject to protection under the Endangered Species Act.”In areas where Interior deems they don’t deserve protections, either because bear numbers have exceeded population thresholds or because they are endangering life or property, the USFWS also “proposed revisions to the current protective regulations to provide additional management flexibility for authorized agencies and individuals experiencing conflicts with grizzly bears.”
The move was supported by members of the U.S. Senate Western Caucus, who support enhanced flexibility in managing these bears.
Senator Barrasso also issued a media release, applauding the decision to return grizzly management to the west. If finalized, the rule would provide a tiered framework that would allow state wildlife managers to have more flexibility in managing federally listed species.It would also give states the ability to make on-the-ground decisions important to grizzly bear conservation and ensuring human safety. The rule would cover all grizzly bears in the lower 48 U.S. states. The DOI will receive public comment on the proposed rule over the next 30 days.
Hunters and ranchers are highly supportive of the move and are bracing for the usual legal onslaught from environmental activists.
The news was widely hailed by hunting and livestock groups as well as by the Republican governors of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, who said their respective agencies are prepared to shoulder management responsibilities for bear populations that have swelled from a few hundred when they were listed as endangered in 1973 to more than 2,000 today.Grizzly bears have been steadily roaming outward from their strongholds in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex south of Glacier National Park and in the Yellowstone Ecosystem into habitats and human communities that are unaccustomed to dealing with the apex predators and opportunistic scavengers.The rule announced yesterday authorizes state and tribal wildlife agencies to activate their own grizzly bear management plans, in coordination with the USFWS. Don’t expect states to immediately move toward proposing hunting seasons for grizzlies, as many environmental groups have warned. In Montana, at least, the state’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks Department has established a 5-year moratorium on hunting grizzlies.
My husband and I toured Glacier National Park last year. We took the warnings related to grizzly bears seriously, and rented a cannister of bear spray (which, fortunately, was not needed)). However, I nixed a proposed hike after seeing a rather sizeable trail of bear scat along one of the paths we were considering.
Interestingly, it appears that the grizzly bears were among those to receive a pardon from “Autopen” Biden.
A full delisting of grizzlies was attempted in 2007, and again in 2017. The latter led to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department issuing hunting tags for a grizzly season. However, both the 2017 and 2007 delisting efforts were overturned in court.States later petitioned to have the bears removed from federal protection.The Biden administration in its final hours denied the petitions and released a rule affirming grizzlies’ protected status.The Trump administration’s DOI proposal calls for revising the Biden-era rule by allowing state management of the species.
Of course, environmentalists are deeply unhappy about the move.
Clearly, the timing and outcome of any decision to remove grizzlies from Endangered Species Act protection remains uncertain, as scientific review, agency process, and litigation are still ahead. It will be interesting to see how the successful recovery of a predator population is handled, and whether the courts can balance the needs of the public against those of the animals.
At the same time, recovery is increasingly judged not just by bear numbers but by whether federal and state institutions can manage a successful, recovered population as effectively as they once managed decline.
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