Feds delay decision on ‘endangered’ status of Yellowstone grizzlies
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(Wyoming News Service) A federal decision on the endangered status of grizzly bears has been delayed.
Wildlife managers in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove grizzly bears from the federal endangered species list in certain areas, including the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It would leave states in charge of their management.
According to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, the region's population has met recovery criteria for more than two decades, after the species gained federal protections in 1975.
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Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the population's spread across isolated ecosystems can be detrimental to recovery.
"Because Yellowstone bears are completely isolated from any other population, they have genetic diversity issues," Zaccardi pointed out. "The ideal is that we keep these bears protected until the populations are connected and there's actual genetic exchange."
A federal decision expected on July 31 was delayed until early 2025. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said the delay is to ensure consistency in decisions across several petitions. Governor Mark Gordon called the missed deadline unacceptable.
The Yellowstone area is spread across three states, so if grizzlies are delisted federally, they would be subject to multiple state management plans and hunting regulations.
Rick King, chief game warden and wildlife division chief for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said there is already a tri-state agreement and, with the National Park Service, a conservation strategy prepared.
"That provides the overarching guidance and commitments that all of the states and those agencies will make to ensure a healthy and robust grizzly bear population persists," King contended. "Even once they're removed from the ESA list."
Yellowstone grizzlies were delisted briefly both in 2007 and 2017 but both decisions were overturned in court.
