The U.S. House is set to consider whether grizzly bears in the region in and around Yellowstone National Park should be taken off the endangered species list.
A resolution passed the Natural Resources committee July 15 by one vote. It’s the latest development in the ongoing battle over the future of grizzly bear protections in the lower 48.
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) introduced the measure to delist the bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), which covers her home state, and slivers of Idaho and Montana. Wyoming lawmakers have proposed similar resolutions in recent years, though they have never advanced.
Hageman and others argue the population has rebounded.
“The GYE grizzly population has exceeded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recovery goals for over two decades,” Hageman said in the committee meeting.
The goal was to get to 500 bears after the population was first listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. Now, there’s more than 1,000 bears. Hageman said this means more bear encounters, citing incidents of livestock kills and human attacks.
But environmental groups are concerned about the population’s geographic and genetic isolation, plus the threat of hunting if federal protections go away. Additionally, in 2024, more than 70 grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem died, largely due to human causes, such as car crashes.
More than 60 groups signed a letter urging committee members to vote “no” on the resolution. Representative Jared Huffman (D-California) led the charge among lawmakers.
“The grizzly could once again vanish from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Huffman.
But Hageman said Wyoming has a sound management plan and, if this grizzly population is delisted, resources could be redistributed to other species in need.
“If we could start hunting the bear, that would bring revenue into the state of Wyoming for management of other species,” she stated.
Huffman pushed back.
“It seems like a rather hollow assurance to say that if we delist the bear and just let it go back to the state,” he said, “that we'll focus our efforts and our resources on other species, when you are cutting all the programs and the budgets that would help those other species.”
Despitethe opposition, the resolution passed 20 to 19 in favor of delisting grizzlies from the endangered species list. It also aims to bar judicial review since judges have previously stood in the way of delisting efforts.
This all comes after an announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in the final days of the Biden administration, that is slated to keep the bears federally protected.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
