BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — 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.
Federal officials also said they plan to reclassify the grizzly’s status so ranchers would be able to shoot bears that attack livestock. Protections will be withdrawn in states where the bears animals are no longer found, including California, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon.
The changes announced Wednesday could be revisited under President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
The Associated Press obtained details of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision in advance of its public announcement.
Grizzlies are fearsome bruins that can reach 800 pounds (363 kilograms) and live more than 25 years. They’ve been protected as a threatened species across the lower 48 states since 1975. Officials during Trump’s first term sought to eliminate those protections, but were reversed 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 hunts, although state officials said those 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.
Agency officials said they will take public comments on whether hunting could be used to relieve conflicts between people and bears. That would require an explicit exemption from provisions of the Endangered Species Act and would likely be challenged by environmentalists in court.
The public also can comment on whether it should be legal to shoot bears attacking livestock.
The agency’s actions 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.”
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and some members of Congress also criticized Wednesday’s decision, while wildlife advocates welcomed it. “The Fish and Wildlife Service rightly followed the science,” said Andrea Zaccardi with the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity.
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.
Following intensive recovery efforts led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are now more than 2,000 grizzlies in the lower 48 states and larger populations in Alaska, where hunting is allowed.
Even where hunting isn’t allowed, people are the biggest threat to bears. Dozens die annually after being captured and euthanized by wildlife agents in response to livestock attacks, shot by hunters in self-defense or hit by vehicles and trains.
Prior attempts to lift protections — in 2007 and 2017 — were blocked in federal court. In 2021, federal scientists determined protections were still needed, in part because human-caused deaths. 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 in 2023 that 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, hunts were scheduled in Wyoming — where almost 1,500 people applied for 12 grizzly bear licenses, and Idaho, which issued just one license. The hunts were blocked by a court order just days before they were set to begin.
Federal officials previously 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.
