Greater Yellowstone Grizzly Bears: Should They Be Delisted?

Will Grizzlies be De-Listed from Endangered Species Act?

Alan Johnson, a U.S. District Court of Wyoming Judge, has issued a 45 day deadline to federal wildlife officials for a incredibly debated topic... Yellowstone-area grizzly bears and hunting.

The Wyoming judge has established a deadline to determine if the grizzly bears should be delisted from the Endangered Species Act. The push for the decision would potentially turn over the authority of grizzlies to Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

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The 45 day timeline has come about because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) has already missed a one-year deadline to determine if the grizzly population should still be considered a threatened species.

Alan Johnson wrote in a legal finding... “To be sure, this deadline will allow USFWS to take its mandatory action nearly two years after it was initially due, as well as within a mere few weeks of the schedule it already indicated it could meet on its own.”

Basically USFWS has gotten in trouble for missing their deadline that was set back in July of this year. They currently have a self-imposed administrative deadline of January 31, 2025, for the decision and now a judge is making sure it doesn't happen again.

Since 1975, Grizzly bears have been managed under the Endangered Species Act as a Threatened Species. The bear's population has long been within sustainable numbers in the greater Yellowstone area and has been considered a conservation success.

With pressure coming down on the USFWS and the quickly approaching deadline, it will be interesting to see how this shakes out. Even though the deadline is set, it doesn't mean that any hasty decisions will be made because there is still the administrative process of proposed rules, a final rule, AND several opportunities for the public to weigh in.

IF... the states do gain control of the greater Yellowstone grizzlies, that is where the opportunity for hunting grizzlies in the lower 48 will be up for grabs. The states have never received control in the past even though the bears have previously been delisted twice in the last 17 years.

Credit: Bozeman Daily Chronicle , History Channel