Despite meeting federal recovery criteria for more than two decades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) ruled the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is “not warranted” to be delisted.
“The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation disagrees with these decisions. Once again, decisionmakers are moving the goalposts for delisting and turning their backs on the established science and success linked to these recovered populations at a time when we should be recognizing and celebrating them,” said RMEF Chief Conservation Officer Blake Henning.
RMEF has long maintained that state wildlife agencies should be allowed to manage recovered grizzlies and wolves just as they manage elk, black bears, mule and whitetail deer, mountain lions and other wildlife species.
The USFWS is also proposing an entirely new set of criteria for delisting that includes a new larger Distinct Population Segment (DPS) that includes most of the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming and the entirety of Washington.
“The USFWS’s decision not to delist the GYE grizzly bear is extremely disappointing and frustrating. The science is clear on grizzly bears: They are recovered in the GYE, and their recovery is a conservation success. It is very clear that grizzly bears should be under state and tribal management,” said Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angie Bruce.
Same goes for grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide of northwest Montana where numbers are growing. USFS also ruled that population also will not be delisted.
“The full recovery of the grizzly bear across the Rocky Mountain region should be acknowledged and celebrated – period. It’s time for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to catch up with the science, follow the law, and return management of grizzlies to the states, where it belongs,” said Montana Governor Greg Gianforte.
On the same day as the grizzly announcement, USFWS also announced gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes would not be delisted, again despite growing numbers.
(Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)