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A federal judge restored the protection of species at risk to about 700 grizzlies living in or around Yellowstone National Park on Monday, a few days before Wyoming and Idaho were allowed to hunt nearly two dozen animals.
US District Judge Dana Christensen rescinded a decision made in 2017 by the Fish and Wildlife Service to remove grizzlies, protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1975. He said that environmental and tribal groups who argued that FWS had not taken into account how the elimination of Yellowstone grizzly bear protections would affect the recovery of bears living in other parts of the country.
"By removing the grizzly bear from Greater Yellowstone without analyzing how the radiation would affect other members of the grizzly bear population under 48, the Service did not consider the impact of the reduced protections in the Yellowstone ecosystem" , wrote Christensen. "Thus, the Service" has absolutely not taken into account an important aspect of the problem ".
The grizzly bear population of Yellowstone and surrounding areas has substantially recovered since its inception over 40 years ago, and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has welcomed their recovery when the agency announced its intention to remove these protections. But the decision – proposed for the first time under the Obama administration – has been largely controversial.
Environmentalists have argued that the growing population of Yellowstone is expanding and may soon migrate far enough to be close to other grizzly bear populations in the United States. Such an event could help preserve genetic diversity and bears, but it has also brought new fears of increased conflict with humans.
"The Service has appropriately recognized that the genetic health of the population is an important factor that requires consideration," wrote Christensen in his 48-page decision. "However, he misinterpreted the scientific studies that he relied on, without recognizing that all the evidence suggests that the long-term viability of the Greater Yellowstone grizzly is much less certain in the absence of new evidence. genetic material."
The tribal groups, who had sued the federal government following the strike, welcomed the news and urged Zinke to sit down with the Amerindian leaders to discuss future efforts to protect the species as people cross borders. of Yellowstone.
"We have a responsibility to speak out for the bears, who can not speak for themselves," said Lawrence Killsback, president of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. "Today, we are celebrating this victory and will continue to defend the interests of the Yellowstone grizzlies until the population is recovered, including the ancestral home of the tribe in Montana and other states."
Idaho and Wyoming planned to drop hunters up to 23 animals this fall, the first chance to do so for decades.
"We are pleased that the court has sided with science rather than states determined to reduce the Yellowstone grizzly bear population and subject these cherished bears to a trophy hunt," Rice said in a statement. "Changing food sources, isolation, inadequate state management plans, and other threats that grizzlies continue to face deserve protection until they are fully recovered."
In a statement to the Washington Post, FWS said it was reviewing the decision.
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