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HELENA, Mt. – The grizzlies of the Yellowstone area, which were to be hunted this month for the first time in decades, were granted a stay by a federal judge who ordered the complete restoration of the animal under the Endangered Species Act.
US District Judge Dana Christensen ruled in favor of the Crow Indian tribe and other tribes and environmental groups who had argued that the Fish and Wildlife Service had erred in removing the threat status of the bear in June 2017.
The agency, under the Obama administration, did not consider the impact of radiation on other protected grizzly bear populations in the region and that its analysis of threats to the animal was "arbitrary and capricious" , according to the judge's decision.
The case, the judge writes, "is not a matter of hunting ethics, and it is not about solving conflicts between humans or animals and grizzlies as a practical or philosophical issue."
This decision, after years of effort by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to remove the bear, adds to the controversy surrounding the Endangered Species Act. More recently, some scientists have accused the Trump administration of tryingo further weaken the act. Federal and state officials said they were thinking about how they would proceed and whether they wanted to appeal.
"People around the world will applaud the decision to once again protect Yellowstone's beloved grizzly bear under the Endangered Species Act," said Andrea Santarsiere, a lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity. "In the face of ongoing threats and occupying a fraction of their historical range, grizzlies are far from recovering. These beautiful besieged animals certainly should not be shot for thrills or a bear skin rug. "
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The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a statement saying it was disappointed with the court's decision, but maintained its previous determination that the grizzly bear population in the Yellowstone area had fully recovered.
An estimated 700 bears currently live in and around Yellowstone National Park in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, compared with about 125 bears in 1975.
During the first hunting season for over 40 years for the lower 48 states, the state of Wyoming planned to kill 22 bears this year and Idaho planned to allow hunters to kill them. a. Montana has not planned any hunting.
"I am disappointed with today's decision," said Wyoming Governor Matt Mead. "The recovery of the grizzly bear should be considered a conservation success. With Wyoming's investment of approximately $ 50 million for recovery and management, grizzly bears have exceeded all scientifically established recovery criteria in the region since 2003.
But in Judge Christensen's ruling, he stated that federal biologists "failed to demonstrate that the genetic diversity in the Yellowstone ecosystem, long recognized as a threat to the continued survival of the Yellowstone grizzly bear, is become a problem.
The judge wrote that "the determination of the Fish and Wildlife Service is arbitrary and capricious as it is both illogical and inconsistent with the cautious approach required by the United States".
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