Federal Judge Restores Grizzly Bear Protection, Canceling Bear Hunting

A Montana federal judge said on Monday that grizzlies in and around Yellowstone National Park are expected to remain a protected species, canceling last year the decision of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to lift these protections.

This order, issued by US District Judge Dana Christensen, effectively cancels what was to be the first bear hunt in the 48 states of Lower Canada since 1991.

Christensen temporarily blocked the planned hunt in Wyoming and Idaho last month, two days before the opening day of the season.

In a 48-page document released on Monday, Christensen said the case – which would likely echo beyond the Northern Rockies – did not concern the ethics of hunting and that it was not the case. Did not act to solve human or animal conflicts. matter. "

The Wildlife Service, Christensen wrote, "did not make a reasoned decision" when it removed a population of about 700 Yellowstone grizzlies from the Endangered Species Act.

The agency did not consider the impact of the Yellowstone grizzly bear hunt on five other bear populations in the 48 Lower States – as necessary – and its analysis of the threats to the species was "arbitrary". and capricious, "writes Christensen.

Last year, the Wildlife Service concluded that the grizzly bear was no longer a threatened species requiring federal protections – an initiative contested by six lawsuits filed by Native American tribes and wildlife advocates. These trials have been consolidated into one.

Wyoming issued 22 hunting licenses; Idaho has issued one. But the hunt remained unresolved while Christensen was considering prosecution.

The bear was first listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1975, when there were between 136 and 312 grizzlies in the Yellowstone area.