By Victoria O’Brien
Cody Enterprise
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

CODY — Federal officials announced Tuesday a new proposal that would return the management of the threatened grizzly bear to the states.

Under the proposal, the Department of the Interior would “increase management flexibility for grizzly bears in areas where the species has met, and in many cases exceeded, federal recovery benchmarks,” according to a press release.

The announcement came at a press conference in Big Sky, Mont. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon joined Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Idaho Gov. Brad Little and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Brian Nesvik to back the proposal.

“The science is more than clear,” said Burgum. “Grizzly bears have recovered and far exceeded every federal recovery benchmark. Today, the Interior is returning conservation leadership to the Western states instead of Washington bureaucrats.”

In the press release, the DOI said the revised proposal “builds on decades of conservation progress led by states, tribes, federal agencies, private landowners and local communities” and “supports the Trump administration’s goal of reducing unnecessary regulatory complexity, empowering states and tribes and ensuring wildlife management decisions are practical, science-based and effective on the ground.”

However, the DOI also stressed that this proposal “does not change the grizzly bear’s listing status under the Endangered Species Act and does not affect existing experimental population designations.”

Nesvik, who previously led Wyoming Game and Fish for more than five years, said that the proposal recognizes the steady gains made by grizzly bears over the last 40-plus years and “right-sizes management where the greatest conservation success has taken place.”

“This action,” he added, “would support the administration’s priority of easing regulatory burdens through common sense flexibilities in management.”

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Blowback

Immediately following the announcement, the Western Watersheds Project issued a broadside against the proposal.

“We know what state management will look like for grizzly bears because Wyoming, Idaho and Montana have already told us what they plan to do,” said Greg LeDonne, the Idaho director of WWP. “State management will lead to high mortalities for grizzly bears because these states consistently ignore science and ethics, promote misinformation, and enact laws and regulations to permit the killing of carnivores by any means they deem necessary.”

LeDonne was referring to the last time grizzly management was ceded to the states in 2017. Following the decision, both Wyoming and Idaho created hunting seasons for the bears. The Wyoming hunt never came to bear after environmentalists sued to resume federal protections.

Environmental groups like WWP argue that not only is the risk of mortality a threat, but the bears still don’t occupy enough of their historic range or have enough genetic diversity. Two of the areas listed among the grizzly’s six recovery zones – the Northern Cascades and Selway-Bitterroot ecosystems – are still without bears.

The Center for Biological Diversity suggested that greater connectivity between grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems could significantly improve the bears’ genetic diversity.

“The science is clear that grizzlies need full federal protection to recover, not a rule that will lead to more grizzly bear mortality,” said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation program legal director at CBD. “We’ll be reviewing the rule and considering next steps.”

Positive response

The Wyoming Wilderness Foundation, meanwhile, had a more sanguine response, calling the proposal “a conservation success worth celebrating.” 

The WWF said it collaborated with the Property and Environment Research Center, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Boone and Crockett Club to develop “a framework that recognizes recovery, expands state management responsibility, supports effective conflict response and maintains clear biological safeguards.”

“Grizzly bear recovery has reached the constructive point where management, not just protection, must lead the next chapter,” said Jess Johnson, the WWF government affairs director. “This is a milestone and a call to action. It recognizes decades of conservation success and creates an opportunity for states to carry that success forward through active, science-based management.”

History of the grizzly

Since 1975, the grizzly population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has grown from 136 to more than 1,000 animals today.

Historically, grizzly populations ranged from Alaska to Mexico with upward of 50,000 bears inhabiting the western United States. Today, an estimated 2,000 grizzlies occupy just 6% of their historic range in the lower 48 states.

The FWS credits “sustained conservation efforts by states, tribes, federal agencies, private landowners and local communities” for the bears’ recovery. 

Comment period open

FWS is reopening a 30-day public comment period on the revised proposed 4(d) rule. The revision updates a January 2025 proposal and focuses solely on the 4(d) provisions. The agency is not proposing changes to, and is not seeking additional comment on, other components of the January 2025 proposed rule. 

To see the proposed rule and supporting documents, along with instructions about how to participate in the public comment process, visit https://www.fws.gov/grizzlyrulemaking.