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The time to delist grizzly bears and turn over management to the States they inhabit has been staring us in the face for a long time now. However, constant roadblocks and moving goalposts have kept delisting from becoming a reality. Fingers crossed, a delisting can move forward now; better late than never!
For those of us who live with grizzly bears and have had Federal management shoved down our throats the prospect of a delisting is welcome news. I for one do not want to see the bears eliminated, just managed properly by the folks who have boots on the ground knowledge of both the bears and the local communities that have been and continue to be impacted by decisions made where the reality of living with grizzlies is no more real than that of living with dragons.
A delisting decision would benefit not only the people of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming but the bears themselves as there are simply too many grizzlies trying to eke out an existence in an overpopulated ecosystem. While conflict with bears is part of living around them, a delisting would open management solutions, such as controlled hunting, that would place increased monetary value on the bears and help mitigate overcrowding amongst the bears themselves which forces them to expand into habitats where they are not socially viable.
A delisting should be viewed as a success, as the aim of the ESA (Endangered Species Act) was and shouldn’t be, to keep a species on the list in perpetuity. Grizzly bears have recovered in the viable habitat they currently abide in and this is a win! It should be celebrated with a delisting and real world management.
The following link will take you to a public comment portal for the delisting of grizzlies and I highly recommend you click on it and leave your comments to aid in the delisting decision making process.
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FWS-R6-ES-2024-0186-0001
To view the recent letter to USFWS Acting Director, Paul Souza, which was signed by 11 Senators and Congressmen, click here, it outlines exactly what is being done to delist grizzlies and is worth the read.
Looked at a few comments every one that I saw was antihunting. I didn’t see any for delisting. Is there a sensoring of comments?