U.S. will keep protecting Rocky Mountain grizzly bears

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration will continue protecting about 2,000 grizzly bears in four Rocky Mountain states despite objections from Republican-led states, U.S. wildlife officials said Wednesday.

The Associated Press obtained details of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision in advance of a planned public announcement.

Federal officials also said they will reclassify the grizzly’s status so ranchers would be able to shoot bears that are killing livestock. Officials will end protections for the animals in states where they’re no longer found, including California, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon.

The bears have been protected as a threatened species across the lower 48 states since 1975. Officials during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term sought to eliminate those protections but were blocked in court.

Republican officials in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service beginning in 2021 seeking to reclaim state management of the grizzly population. That would have opened the door to public hunts, although state officials said they would be limited and not endanger the overall population.

Federal officials said they will work toward ending protections eventually but declined to offer a timeline.

“This reclassification will facilitate recovery of grizzly bears and provide a stronger foundation for eventual delisting,” Martha Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director, said in a statement.

The agency's actions were criticized by Idaho Gov. Brad Little.

"Despite a mandate by the American people in November and with fewer than two weeks left in office, the Biden Administration continues to think they know Idaho issues better than Idahoans," Little said in a prepared statement released late Wednesday. "By not delisting grizzly bears in the lower 48, the USFWS is rejecting the fact that grizzlies have reached and exceeded recovery criteria years ago."

Little said he instructed the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Office of Species Conservation to examine the proposed rule in an attempt to find the rationale behind the USFWS’s decision.

He said it "seemingly disregards the science and the collective efforts of stakeholders that have led to the successful recovery and conservation of grizzly bears."

The U.S. Forest Service reported that about 35-40 grizzly bears reside in the Selkirk Mountains with another 30-40 occupying the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem of Idaho and Montana.

Grizzly bears are a subspecies of brown bear found in Alaska and Canada, where they have never been listed as threatened or endangered. The total grizzly bear population is estimated at over 60,000 bears, with about 2,000 living in the lower 48 in Idaho, Washington, Wyoming and Montana, and under ESA protection.

A male grizzly bear was shot and killed in North Idaho by a hunter who told Fish and Game he thought it was a black bear.

The same thing happened in June 2023, when another hunter shot and killed a male grizzly bear north of Upper Priest Lake. The hunter said then he thought it was a black bear.

In August, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved temporary rules for black bear hunting in Idaho that include new requirements for bear baiting and a mandatory bear identification course for hunters.

Starting Jan. 1 of this year, anyone hunting black bears in Idaho must show proof of taking a bear identification test to help them differentiate between black bears and grizzly bears. 

The agency's actions also drew a sharp rebuke from Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, who worked on a prior attempt to remove protections for bears in and around Yellowstone National Park when he led the U.S. Interior Department under Trump.

“There’s no denying the Biden administration jammed this through with 12 days to go knowing it’s a blatantly political play to appease radical environmentalists," Zinke said in a statement to AP. “Thankfully the political hands pulling the strings at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are about to be fired.”

Grizzlies greatly expanded their range over the past several decades, including in parts of western Washington state. That’s led to more conflicts between humans and bears, including periodic attacks on livestock and, rarely, on people.

U.S. government scientists concluded years ago that the bear population in parts of the West — including around Yellowstone and Glacier national parks — had biologically recovered. But there’s been concern that state wildlife laws wouldn’t be enough to protect the animals.

Former Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly recovery coordinator Chris Servheen said keeping protections in place will allow grizzlies to continue expanding into new areas. Without those safeguards, he added, the species would again be driven toward extinction because of habitat losses due to climate change and hostile state officials intent on reducing bear populations.

“We spent about $30 million and 45 years recovering grizzly bears to where they are now. If they are delisted, it would turn around and they would again be on the verge of extinction,” Servheen said in an interview. He said he had not yet reviewed documents related to Wednesday's decision.

An estimated 50,000 grizzlies once roamed portions of 18 western states stretching from Texas to the Canadian border. They were wiped out in most areas by overhunting and trapping.

By 1975, only about 700 to 800 bears remained in the lower 48 states.

Prior attempts to lift protections — in 2007 and 2017 — were blocked in federal court. In 2021, federal officials decided protections were still needed because of pressures such as the number of bear deaths caused by humans. Authorities reconsidered over the past two years at the request of governors in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said there was “substantial” evidence grizzlies have recovered from the threat of extinction in the regions surrounding Yellowstone and Glacier national parks.

After the species temporarily lost protection in the Yellowstone region in 2017, Wyoming and Idaho scheduled hunts.

In Wyoming, almost 1,500 people applied for 12 grizzly bear licenses. Idaho issued just one license before the hunts were blocked without any grizzlies being killed.

Federal officials also raised concerns about laws from Republican-led states that could potentially harm grizzly populations. Among them was a Montana law allowing grizzlies to be killed if they attack livestock.

Certain states also have pursued aggressive policies against gray wolves, including loosened wolf trapping rules that some scientists fear could lead to grizzlies being inadvertently trapped and killed.