The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday reaffirmed the protected status of grizzly bears on the Endangered Species List, rejecting petitions from Montana and Wyoming officials to delist the species in specific recovery zones.

In a 171-page document released January 8, FWS responded to the states, rejecting attempts to move the species under state management. Instead, the agency proposed managing grizzlies as a single population across Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington, as well as revisions of protective regulations for the species.

“This reclassification will facilitate recovery of grizzly bears and provide a stronger foundation for eventual delisting,” Martha Williams, a Montana resident and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director, said in a press release. “And the proposed changes to our … rule will provide management agencies and landowners more tools and flexibility to deal with human/bear conflicts, an essential part of grizzly bear recovery.”

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The announcement was met with immediate backlash from Montana’s elected officials. Governor Greg Gianforte, who has long pushed for management of the species by state officials, blasted the Biden administration for embracing “a scorched earth strategy” in its final days.

“Joe Biden has embraced a scorched earth strategy on his way out the door,” Gianforte said in a prepared statement. “He’s issued special favors to his son, banned offshore drilling, and released terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. Joe Biden continues to show contempt for the law and the American people. 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. We look forward to working with the incoming Trump administration to explore a new path forward.”

Grizzly bears throughout the contiguous states were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1975 when there were only an estimated 300 to 400 animals left in the wild. During the last decade, a saga of proposed delisting actions, lawsuits and petitions have left the fate of grizzly bears overshadowed with questions.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is working to answer many of those questions in its new comprehensive management plan. The agency proposes shrinking endangered species protections for grizzlies to a smaller geographical boundary. This single distinct population segment comprises parts of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington and “explicitly reflects the areas where grizzly bears currently occur and are likely to occur in the future,” according to the proposal. The proposed smaller area has an estimated 2,314 bears, and the species is not expected to inhabit areas outside this boundary, despite some calls to reintroduce grizzlies to areas such as the Sierra Nevada in California.

“Establishing a single (distinct population) encompassing all six recovery zones will provide a comprehensive and scientifically based framework for recovery. Grizzly bear distribution has significantly expanded, largely due to the commitments of state, federal, and tribal agencies,” according to the FWS release. “The Service also recognizes that recovery of small and extirpated populations relies on contributions from highly resilient populations. Maintaining all recovery zones together in one DPS (distinct population segment) will increase the speed of recovery in remaining ecosystems and the overall viability of grizzly bears, increasing the likelihood of successfully delisting the entire DPS by addressing the species’ recovery needs as a whole.”

The decision from FWS is a “first step towards fulfilling a settlement agreement with the state of Idaho requiring an evaluation of the grizzly bear listing in the lower 48 states by January 2026.”

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“With today’s announcement, the Service also responds to petitions from the states of Montana and Wyoming to establish and delist DPSs for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, respectively, and finds these petitioned actions ‘not warranted’. After a thorough review of the best scientific and commercial data available, the Service found grizzly bear populations in those two ecosystems do not, on their own, represent valid (distinct population segments.)”

Montana first filed its petition for delisting in December 2021 and the state’s elected officials have been vocal advocates for state management. 

“Today’s announcement is incredibly frustrating for Montana. For decades, Montana has followed the science and as a result, the bear has more than recovered in the Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystems. Continuing to move the goalposts on recovery is only harming the bear and putting our Montanan communities at risk. This is a shameful partisan play, and I’ll be pushing back every step of the way,” U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a Republican, said in a prepared statement.

U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, released a similar statement that “the science is clear that the bear has recovered and should be delisted.”

“In fact, we’re bordering on over-population to nuisance. Just ask the ranchers losing calves and grain and the hunters who get mauled whenever a grizzly hears a dinner bell ring at every trigger pull,” Zinke said in a statement. “There’s no denying the Biden Administration jammed this through with 12 days to go knowing it’s a blatantly political play to appease radical environmentalists. Thankfully the political hands pulling the strings at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are about to be fired and President Trump will no doubt immediately rescind this train wreck decision. This is why elections matter.”

Many conservation groups lauded the federal government’s decision, while cautioning that the details of the proposed changes to protective regulations would need to be closely examined to understand their implications for the species’ future.

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“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should be commended for keeping grizzly bears protected under the Endangered Species Act in the Northern Rockies and rejecting state management that would undo decades of conservation work that has helped us make tremendous progress toward bringing back a species that was almost wiped out,” wrote the Endangered Species Coalition, Friends of the Bitterroot, Friends of the Clearwater, WildEarth Guardians, and Wyoming Wildlife Advocates in a joint statement. “Importantly, the States of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming are grossly unprepared to manage grizzlies and have adopted anti-predator policies that would reverse the recovery of this iconic native species.”

The groups stated they will all participate in the agency’s rule-making process to “ensure that any new rule is informed by the best available science and modern conservation practices. This includes adopting a new recovery vision for grizzly bears that fosters a unified population with natural connectivity, increased habitat protection, and non-lethal conflict reduction.”

The federal wildlife agency said that the proposed actions are intended as a comprehensive new approach for long-term bear recovery, while simultaneously addressing concerns of humans living with and near bears.

“Grizzly bear populations are now geographically closer to each other than ever, and the Service has documented grizzly bear movement between some populations, indicating recovery zones are no longer discrete,” FWS explained. “This increased movement of grizzly bears illustrates the success of conservation and management efforts to date while highlighting the importance of establishing and maintaining conservation measures and management practices that foster continued movement of bears.”

To address concerns over human-bear conflicts, FWS proposed a revision to a rule known as “4(d)” that the agency expects will “give management agencies and landowners greater flexibility and tools to take bears in the context of research and conflict management.”

The 4(d) rule sets conditions for legally taking — removing or relocating — grizzlies without the need for additional permits under the Endangered Species Act. Allowable take includes self-defense, “demonstrable but non-immediate” threats to human safety, and for bears committing significant depredations to livestock and crops. The proposed rule adds additional exceptions for grizzly take on public and private land.

“Grizzly bear expansion is challenging for local communities and working lands, and the Service is committed to a collaborative approach and helping partner agencies, private landowners, and livestock producers by providing additional management tools … The proposed 4(d) rule recognizes the need for added flexibility and responsiveness on private lands and areas where grizzly bear populations are impacting private landowners and livestock producers while continuing efforts to promote conservation in areas crucial to the eventual delisting of grizzly bears in the lower 48 as a whole.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service said the public can comment on the proposed rules to designate a single distinct population segment and the associated 4(d) revision during the 60-day comment period following its publication in the Federal Register in the coming days.

In addition, FWS will hold four public hearings on the proposed rule.

January 28, a public information meeting will be held in Missoula at the Hilton Garden Inn on Reserve Street from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. with a public hearing from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

A virtual public informational meeting, without a hearing, will take place January 30 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

More information can be found online at https://www.fws.gov/grizzlyrulemaking.

Read the full FWS decision here.

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