by Cody McLaughlin - Sunday, January 19, 2025
Hunters and pro-conservation officials across the Mountain West are expressing disappointment over the Biden administration’s recent refusal to delist recovered Lower 48 grizzly bears from Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections and return their management to the states—despite decades of successful recovery efforts and state-level readiness to responsibly manage grizzly bear populations. On Jan. 8, the Biden administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a 171-page document rejecting state management and recommending that the entire Lower 48 grizzly bear population be managed as a single entity, or “distinct population segment (DPS).”
As noted in a USFWS news release, the federal agency rejected petitions from Montana and Wyoming officials to delist the grizzly bear in specific recovery zones in favor of proposing a rule that would revise the species’ listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and change the management approach to its recovery. The proposal entails establishing a single DPS comprising areas in Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming where suitable habitat exists and where grizzly bears currently reside or are expected to establish as populations continue to recover. The DPS would maintain its threatened ESA status while “removing ESA protections outside the newly proposed DPS, where grizzly bears do not occur and are not expected to inhabit in the future.” According to USFWS Director Martha Williams, “This reclassification will facilitate recovery of grizzly bears and provide a foundation for eventual delisting.”
The updated species status assessment and proposed rule is intended to fulfill a settlement agreement with the state of Idaho mandating the evaluation of the grizzly bear’s ESA status in the Lower 48 by January 2026. The USFWS’ action also addresses petitions from Montana and Wyoming to establish and delist DPS’s for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) where the USFWS claims these petitioned actions are “not warranted” and that grizzly bear populations in the two ecosystems do not amount to valid DPS’s.
As this hunting website reports, grizzly bears, once dwindling to the brink of extinction, have made a remarkable comeback due to dedicated hunter-backed conservation efforts—particularly in the GYE and NCDE where the USFWS now recommends managing the species as a single population. This is despite the fact the GYE alone spans approximately 22 million acres—larger than some U.S. states—prompting states like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to petition for delisting as reported by this website. These petitions, rooted in scientific studies and state-level population management plans and written in accordance with the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, argued that grizzlies have met recovery goals and can be sustainably managed by state wildlife agencies.
The Biden administration’s rejection of state petitions and refusal to return the species management to the states ignores not only incredible strides made in grizzly bear recovery but the growing challenges posed by increasing bear populations—including livestock depredation, property damage and escalating human-wildlife conflicts that are creating hardships not just for rural communities and ranchers who bear the brunt of these interactions but also for hunters, hikers and other recreationists who are subject to attacks by grizzly bears.
It is no surprise that the USFWS’ decision has drawn swift backlash from some state governors in states where grizzly bears reside. In a statement issued by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, the governor decried the move as “embracing a scorched earth strategy on his [President Biden’s] way out the door. He’s issued special favors to his son, banned offshore drilling and released terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. Joe Biden continues to show contempt for the law and the American people. The full recovery of the grizzly bear across the Rocky Mountain region should be acknowledged and celebrated—period.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little, whose state sued the Biden administration’s USFWS in 2023 over its failure to remove recovered grizzly bear populations from federal ESA protections, noted, “Despite a mandate by the American people in November and with fewer than two weeks left in office, the Biden administration continues to think they know Idaho issues better than Idahoans. By not delisting grizzly bears in the Lower 48, the USFWS is rejecting the fact that grizzlies reached and exceeded recovery criteria years ago.”
Speaking from a state wildlife agency perspective, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce shared how not delisting the species in the GYE is a “failure to appropriately recognize one of the greatest wildlife conservation success stories on earth.”
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the Biden administration’s approach, Alberta, Canada, has taken decisive steps to address similar human-grizzly bear encounter issues and has updated the province’s Grizzly Bear Management Plan that allows for the removal of problem bears through hunting, striking the correct balance between conservation and the needs of local communities. The revised plan acknowledges that effective wildlife management sometimes requires tough decisions and supports the idea that hunting is an extremely valuable tool for maintaining healthy grizzly bear populations.
The USFWS invites public comments on the proposed rule during a 60-day comment period that will run through March 17. Following the closure of the public comment period, it will review and address comments before publishing a final rule, which is expected by January 2026. For more information on the proposed rule and instructions for participating in the public comment process, please visit the project webpage.
In the meantime, as the Biden administration misses its final opportunity to demonstrate trust in state wildlife management agencies and uphold state petitions to delist recovered grizzly bears, we hunter-conservationists hope the incoming Trump administration’s USFWS can consider a new way forward in the future.
About the Author
Cody McLaughlin is an outdoor writer, conservationist and hunting advocate based in Alaska. He recently launched Trout Stream Studios as an executive producer for podcasts and livestreams in the hunting and veterans’ affairs spaces, including for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s “The Sportsmen’s Voice” podcast, the popular “Blood Origins” podcast and the Veterans’ Affairs Administration’s National Center for PTSD. He is a former board member and lead spokesman of the New Jersey Alliance, helping to represent the state’s 1.2 million sportsmen in the political arena.