Plans to Remove Federal Grizzly Protections Move Forward
Trophy hunting of the animals could return to several states if the legal protections for grizzly bears are removed.
A Yellowstone grizzly eating grass. Credit: Terry Tollefsbol/NPS.
Grizzly bears in America could be under threat from trophy hunters in several states if plans to delist the animal from current legal protections go ahead.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a finding this month that stated that removing federal protections from grizzly bear populations in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystems “may be warranted.”
If these Endangered Species Act safeguards were to be removed, it could pave the way for the trophy hunting of grizzly bears in parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
“It’s disheartening that the federal government may strip protections from these treasured animals to appease trophy hunters and the livestock industry,” said Andrea Zaccardi, legal director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s carnivore conservation program. “After approving the all-out slaughter of wolves, Montana officials have proven they can’t be trusted to make science-based wildlife decisions. Our nation’s beloved grizzlies deserve better.”
The plans affect grizzly bear populations in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem, which occurs in and around the Glacier National Park in Montana, and the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem which occurs in parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.
While the Fish and Wildlife Service found that the bear population numbers in these two areas have “improved”, it also noted “concern” over the impact of recently enacted state statutes that are said to imperil grizzly bears.
Montana for example recently passed anti-predator legislation and regulations, including one new law that allows for nearly unregulated killing of grizzly bears that ‘threaten’ livestock, with no definition of what constitutes such behaviour. Further new laws allowing the hound hunting of black bears and baiting and snaring of wolves also endanger grizzly bears and other non target wildlife.
Removing federal protections also would allow states to greenlight trophy hunting of grizzly bears. When grizzly bears in Greater Yellowstone briefly lost federal protections in 2017, Wyoming immediately approved an extremely aggressive hunting season. And the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission recently adopted regulations making it legal to hunt grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide if they are delisted and certain population targets and mortality thresholds are met.
“Grizzly bears have come back from the brink since receiving federal protection in 1975, but the recovery of these imperilled bears still has a long way to go,” explained Zaccardi. “Rushing the removal of federal safeguards threatens to undo decades of work to recover these bears.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service will now begin a status review of these grizzly bear populations to determine whether removal of federal protections is warranted. The Service requests that the public submit comments during the review.
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Hope was last seen traveling with another critically endangered Mexican gray wolf, whose whereabouts remain unknown.