The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recommends the grizzly bear population in the Lower 48 retain its threatened status under the Endangered Species Act. Agency scientists previously moved to delist Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzlies in 2007 and again in 2017. Both times, federal courts overturned those decisions following litigation by environmental groups.
This latest USFWS determination comes even as the agency also stated that “grizzly bear populations in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems are biologically recovered.”
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation agrees that the GYE population is recovered, surpassed all previous delisting criteria established by biologists and scientists, and maintains state wildlife agencies should manage grizzlies just as they manage elk, mountain lions, black bears and other wildlife species.
Go here to view the USFWS news release.
(Photo source: Joe Lieb/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)