The Fish and Wildlife Service sparked fresh debate Wednesday with its long-awaited decision that grizzly bears still require Endangered Species Act protections.
Western lawmakers growled, environmentalists applauded, and the federal agency braced for more wrangling of the kind that has accompanied the iconic mammal since it was listed as threatened under the ESA in 1975.
“I’m relieved that the Fish and Wildlife Service found that grizzly bears still need Endangered Species Act safeguards,” said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation program legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “With ongoing federal protections, grizzlies in the Northern Rocky Mountains and North Cascades will have a real chance at long-term recovery, instead of being gunned down and mounted on trophy walls.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal would keep grizzly bear populations in all of Washington state and portions of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming listed as one distinct population that’s considered to be threatened. It would remove ESA protections outside of this newly proposed distinct population segment, where grizzly bears do not occur and are not expected to inhabit in the future.
