It’s no secret that grizzly bears in the Lower 48 live close to the edge of extinction. Now, with little explanation and almost no time for the public to respond, the Trump administration and three Western governors have proposed to make it easier for states to authorize the killing of these bears.
The federal proposal would change regulations that now protect grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act, stripping away protections that keep grizzlies in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming alive. States that have repeatedly pushed to kill more bears would exercise far more control. The public has until Aug. 17 to comment.
Lower 48 grizzly bears now live mainly in and near Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, with only about 1,000 bears in each of the parks’ ecosystems: the Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Continental Divide. That may sound like abundance, as recently suggested by Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, but these figures represent a mere remnant. An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 grizzly bears once roamed the West until white settlers shot and trapped them to near extermination.
Today’s populations are small and isolated, occupying a mere 6% of their historic range. The animals face inbreeding as well as disease killing one of their major food sources, whitebark pine.
The Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide populations are not connected to each other, nor to other subpopulations. The smaller Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak populations together hold about 120 bears. The Bitterroot and North Cascades — vast places that should have grizzly bears — have none. These gaps matter because isolated bears cannot find mates or rebuild the resilient populations contemplated by the Endangered Species Act.
The proposed rule divides Lower 48 grizzly areas into three management categories: Tiers 1, 2, and 3. Each carries different rules for who may authorize killing bears and under what circumstances. Yet the proposal does not specify which ecosystems will fall into which category, or what would be allowed in each category.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would retain authority over bears living in places in category 3 it calls “No Tier.” Yet it would now allow trappers of other species (wolves) to trap at times when grizzlies are presumed to be in their dens. As winters grow less predictable, this approach puts bears at clear risk.
Bears in locations assigned to “Tier 1” will also be subject to traps set for other species, and this danger would be year-round and governed by federal-state agreements the public has not yet seen.
Grizzly bears living in “Tier 2” locations provide the least federal protection of all.
The locations would be where the Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded — based on information unavailable to the public — that bear populations have achieved objectives such as the number of breeding females. Management would be under state-federal agreements that have yet to be developed or made public. Given the three states’ history of hostile management, we know this will lead to a dramatic increase in grizzly bear deaths.
In the Yellowstone area in the last two years, record numbers of bears were killed. As the West becomes hotter and drier, hungry bears push into human-dominated areas, underscoring the need for smarter measures that work for protection rather than automatic killing.
Moreover, this administration’s recent Roadless Rule repeal ramps up its campaign against bears by allowing more motorized vehicles in the backcountry. By fast-tracking approvals, the administration has also increased logging, mining and drilling on public land frequented by the bears.
Americans love grizzly bears — including conservatives who live alongside them in rural areas. The bears provide huge economic benefits to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, bringing in millions of dollars annually through tourism. Handing over their management to states undercuts decades of conservation work and erodes the public’s trust.
When grizzlies were first listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened in 1975, fewer than 800 survived in the Lower 48. Five decades later, that number has only grown to about 2,000 under federal oversight.
Much more, not less, needs to be done to protect grizzly bears, and offloading management to states is absurd. Please comment on this rule by Aug. 17.
Wendy Keefover is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She works as a wild carnivore advocate for Humane World for Animals.
Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park, photo by Wendy Keefover
