Laura Lundquist

(Missoula Current) Less than a month after announcing a decision to keep grizzly bears on the Endangered Species list, the Trump administration has cancelled meetings intended for public comment.

On Monday afternoon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publish a one-sentence announcement: “In light of the recent transition and the need for this Administration to review the recent grizzly bear proposed rule, the Service is cancelling all four of the public meetings and hearings that the agency voluntarily scheduled on this proposal.”

On Jan. 8, the Fish and Wildlife Service released a new rule that would maintain protections for grizzly bears and change the six recovery populations into one population segment for the lower 48 states. The states of Montana and Wyoming were petitioning to delist the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone populations respectively, leaving the rest of the populations under Endangered Species protection.

While all grizzly bears would remain protected, the agency proposed changes to the 4(d) rule of the Endangered Species Act that would allow wildlife management agencies more flexibility, giving them more leeway to kill grizzlies that got into conflict situations.

The Fish and Wildlife Service opened a 60-day comment period and scheduled four public meetings in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The first meeting was scheduled for Tuesday evening in Missoula, and several wildlife groups were rallying their supporters when the announcement came out.

“That’s barely 24-hours notice. If they planned on cancelling, it would have been good to get a few more days. We had people coming up from Darby and driving down from Whitefish and over from Butte. They got their evening back, I guess,” said Adam Rissien, WildEarth Guardians rewildling manager.

Mike Bader of the Flathead Lolo Bitterroot Citizen Task Force took a more skeptical view, saying he was surprised the meetings hadn’t been cancelled shortly after President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.

“I was expecting this, but it’s very disappointing. I don’t know what they’re going to do - it’s not that easy to undo a rule. But they may try an executive order,” Bader said. “It’s really draconian. The message to the public is ‘No, we don’t really care what you think.’  People have been getting ready for these hearings and sending in comments. They’re pulling the rug out from under the process. I would suggest people continue to comment.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service clarified that the comment period is still open.

The rule will be difficult to undo, partly because it resulted from court settlements and various parties have already agreed to what’s happening. A settlement with the state of Wyoming required the agency to issue the proposed rule by this month. A settlement with the state of Idaho requires that a final rule be completed by January 2026 and that will be a difficult deadline to meet if the service has to start over.

Bader pointed to recent actions Trump has taken that could further complicate the agency’s efforts to finalize the recent grizzly bear rule.

In keeping with Trump’s insistence that employees be loyal to only him, Trump fired 18 agency inspectors general on Sunday, including two from the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service. That means the agencies have no independent oversight to call out biased or unethical decisions.

In addition, on Jan. 22, the Trump administration told federal employees to report coworkers who tried to continue efforts to promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies. Those who failed to report their coworkers would face “adverse consequences.” Even though this event was unrelated to endangered species, Bader said it could have a chilling effect throughout the federal government.

“I think this is the start of a big purge. I think it’s going to be cut pretty deep,” Bader said, referring to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The WildEarth Guardians issued an official statement Monday afternoon.

“We are disappointed, but not shocked, that the new administration cancelled its public hearings where people could voice their support for keeping federal grizzly bear protection in place under the Endangered Species Act,” the release said. “Today's announcement shows the Trump administration does not care about science and will listen only to industries and states that want to kill grizzly bears with impunity.”

Friends of the Clearwater had a similar response.

"If there was any doubt that politics rather than science rules the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's management of grizzly bears, this cancellation lays that to rest," said Jeff Juel, Friends of the Clearwater Forest Policy Director.

Even if the Fish and Wildlife Service kept the grizzly on the Endangered Species list, many expect Congress to try to delist the bear the way it did the Northern Rockies gray wolf. Already, Rep. Harriett Hageman, R-Wyo., has introduced House Resolution 281 to remove the Greater Yellowstone grizzly population from protection.

Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.