Feds Move Grizzly Delisting Goalposts… Again!

“The Service’s proposed rule would revise that listing to establish a single distinct population segment (DPS) encompassing areas in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming,” 

You can read the USFWS official release here.

This map shows the new USFWS Distinct Population Segment for grizzly bears under the agency’s new 4(d) Rule. 

Photo Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

I could probably just show you that map and it would be enough to illustrate how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has conveniently moved the goalposts for grizzly bear delisting once again. But, this is a blog so you’re going to get my dos pesos.

“This reclassification will facilitate recovery of grizzly bears and provide a stronger foundation for eventual delisting,” said Martha Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director. “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.”

Uh huh… and when that recovery goal is met there will be another which moves the DPS (Distinct Population Segment) into Oregon, California, Utah and Colorado? Don’t forget that the goal for these extremists in conservationist clothing has always been a corridor of grizzly bear connectivity from Yellowstone to the Yukon. It is extremely frustrating how states like Montana and Wyoming have exceeded grizzly bear recovery objectives only to have the rules changed in a blatant effort to usurp state management.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte responded to the USFWS decision by harshly criticizing the lame duck Biden administration for its “scorched earth” tactics. 

“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.”

Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon recorded his displeasure with the Biden administration’s decision as well. 

“It has always been clear the Biden administration had no intention of delisting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear,” Gordon says in the statement. “This latest move to keep a fully-recovered population on the Endangered Species List and eliminate the DPS (distinct population segment) confirms this decision is driven by politics and not biology.”

Guy Eastman has been quoted as saying, “Poor bears, they’re so overpopulated. All they’re trying to do is find new habitat. News flash bears: there isn’t any. You’re overpopulated in every square inch of suitable grizzly habitat.”

It seems this ruling is a slap in the face to both the residents of the affected States and the Game and Fish agencies that do the bulk of the heavy lifting when it comes to actually managing grizzly bears but don’t truly have much control.

That said, the USFWS did throw some breadcrumbs to the peasants by removing ESA protections from bears outside of the new DPS… “The proposed action removes ESA protections outside the newly proposed DPS, where grizzly bears do not occur and are not expected to inhabit in the future.”

Good news for folks living where there are no bears to begin with. For the rest of us having the ability to actively manage our own bears seems to be a pipe dream.

You can read the USFWS official release here.