COURT RULING: Grizzly Bears Around Yellowstone Can Stay on Endangered Species List
Delisting the grizzly bear violated the Endangered Species Act because it was the result of political pressure by the states rather than having been based on scientific data.
MARIE FAZIO: About 700 grizzly bears around Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are safe — at least for now… A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled this week that the bears living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem — which includes 34,000 square miles in parts of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming — will remain federally protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, affirmed a 2018 Federal District Court ruling that required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put grizzly bears back on the endangered species list… In 2017, the Fish and Wildlife Service removed the grizzly bear from its list of endangered species, prompting conservation groups, tribes and individual citizens to sue. The delisting was overturned in Federal District Court a year later, which forced Wyoming and Idaho to cancel planned grizzly bear hunts. (Hunting grizzly bears is not allowed in Yellowstone or Grand Teton National Parks)…
The ruling means it is still illegal to hunt grizzly bears for sport in the designated area. The issue has been a source of contention and lawsuits for more than a decade… The court also ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to “conduct a ‘comprehensive review’ of the remnant grizzly population.” The decision to delist the grizzly bear violated the Endangered Species Act because it was “the result of political pressure by the states rather than having been based on the best scientific and commercial data,” according to the decision…
Sarah McMillan, a spokeswoman for WildEarth Guardians, a conservation group involved in the lawsuit, said “It’s like a kill zone right outside Yellowstone National Park, and those are exactly the kind of bears that need to be dispersing and providing that genetic connectivity,” she said… When they were placed on the endangered species list in 1975 there were only a few hundred. Around 50,000 grizzly bears once roamed North America from Canada to Mexico. To have a viable population, they would need 5,000 to 10,000, Ms. McMillan said, a small fraction of the former population. But the ultimate goal is full recovery for the grizzly bear and eventual removal from the list. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO