grizzly bears

The court sided with two organizations that sued the Fish and Wildlife Service for not carrying out its own decision, made almost 23 years ago, to place an experimental population of 25 grizzlies in the Bitterroot Recovery Area.

Keith Hammer writes, "The most generous estimates say we have increased grizzly numbers in the lower 48 from 2% to 4% of what they were before we humans shot, trapped and poisoned most of them and stole their habitat."

Dave Mattson writes, "The Governors of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho have been moving Heaven and Earth to expedite removal of Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears and return management to the states."

A Missoula federal judge heard oral arguments Tuesday on why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has failed to recover the Bitterroot population of grizzly bears for the past two decades.

On Tuesday, a Yellowstone National Park wildlife biologist on a radio telemetry flight observed the first grizzly bear of 2023 to emerge from hibernation.

Mike Bader writes, "The integrity and independence of the petition's review process must not be compromised and corrupted by political interference or perceptions of bias. Let the science speak for itself as the law requires."

Montana leaders have been petitioning the federal government to consider removing grizzly bears from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and giving the state the opportunity to manage the species.

More than two dozen organizations and scientists have submitted criticisms of Montana’s proposed grizzly bear management plan, hinting at the hurdles that might hamper delisting.

Nine different conservation organizations have filed a lawsuit against the United States Forest Service for increasing grazing allotments just north of Yellowstone National Park that they say will likely lead to more human-grizzly bear conflicts and stunt recovery of the threatened species.