WYOMING — On Wednesday, Jan. 8, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed a new 4(d) Rule to clarify the geographic area where grizzly bears in the lower 48 states are subject to protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This ruling denied Wyoming and Montana petitions to remove ESA protections from grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).
According to the USFWS, grizzly bears were listed under the ESA in 1975 throughout the lower 48 states, including areas outside the historical range of grizzly bears. The proposed rule would establish a single distinct population segment (DPS) encompassing areas in Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming, where grizzly bears currently reside or are expected to establish as populations recover.
“This reclassification will facilitate recovery of grizzly bears and provide a stronger foundation for eventual delisting,” USFWS Director Martha Williams said in a statement. “And the proposed changes to our 4(d) rule will provide management agencies and landowners more tools and flexibility to deal with human/bear conflicts, an essential part of grizzly bear recovery.”
After receiving petitions from the states of Montana and Wyoming to establish and delist DPSs for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and GYE, the USFWS determined that these petitioned actions are “not warranted.” For now, the USFWS decision ends an effort by Montana, Idaho and Wyoming to strip grizzly bears of federal protections.
“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 DPSs,” the USFWS said in a press release.
USFWS said via press release that “maintaining all recovery zones together in one DPS 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.”
Following the ruling, Governor Mark Gordon announced that he remains committed to delisting the GYE grizzly bear, in spite of the USFWS determination.
“I look forward to working with the Trump Administration, Interior Secretary nominee Doug Burgum and Congressional leaders on delisting the GYE grizzly as well as on reforming the broken ESA, which has lost its focus on species recovery and returning wildlife to state management,” Governor Gordon said.
Greater Yellowstone Coalition Executive Director Scott Christensen said in a statement that the USFWS’s decision “charts a durable path for improved co-management with states so that communities have the best available tools for living alongside bears.”
“Today’s announcement acknowledges the challenges grizzly bears still face, and at the same time provides an opportunity to achieve meaningful recovery while employing more tools for people living alongside bears,” Christensen said via press release.
The USFWS invites the public to comment on the proposed rule to designate a single DPS during the 60-day comment period following its publication in the Federal Register in the coming days.
