Thursday's announcement from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke comes after decades of study and formalizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announcement a year ago to move the grizzlies from protection through the Endangered Species Act.
The United States Department of Interior cited a significant rebound in the population of Yellowstone grizzly bears as the reason for the lifting of protection, but scientists from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) say there is an ulterior motive. Thus, the future recovery of the other sub-populations will be fundamentally, and perhaps permanently, undermined by the Service's premature decision to strip the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem bears of ESA protections.
The federal agency will continue monitoring the grizzly population over the next five years, and certain factors would prompt a new federal review of the bears' status, such as a high number of female deaths for three consecutive years. That document is available on the Wyoming Game and Fish website. Trash in and around the park, as well as food in campsites, is to be kept in bear-proof containers or in vehicles. In 2013, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team determined that the reduction in whitebark pine nuts did not significantly impact grizzly bears and again recommended delisting.
The bears have been protected under federal law for more than 40 years. Grizzly bears will be killed through trophy hunts on the doorstep of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks instead of inspiring millions who come to the region just for a chance to see a live grizzly bear in the wild.
The move, which was first proposed by the previous administration of President Barack Obama past year, will go into effect 30 days after it is published in the federal register.
Today's announcement to remove federal protection comes at a time when key grizzly bear food sources in the heart of the Yellowstone ecosystem have been collapsing and grizzly mortality rates have been increasing.
Lobbyist wounded in GOP baseball shooting leaves hospital
The FBI said, however, that it does not believe that the photographs were taken to surveil targets at this point. Analysis of the shooter's phone and email account is still ongoing, the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated.
In a statement, Idaho Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore called delisting a conservation success. Earthjustice challenged an earlier grizzly delisting decision in court and won in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2011.
The change, which is set to take effect next month, is a sign of the major comeback by the Yellowstone bears. The Yellowstone population is now estimated near 700 bears.
But many remain skeptical about the bears' prospects, despite USFWS assurances.
Establishing connectivity and genetic exchange will help protect the bears against the very serious threats posed by climate change, continued habitat loss, and illegal poaching. Cheney noted that the decision, quote, "rightly returns management of the Yellowstone grizzly to where it should be, under the control of experts in Wyoming, not Washington", endquote.
A delisting, if it is borne out after lawsuits are settled, doesn't mean the federal government would be completely divorced from dealing with the bears.
Comments