Wyoming is likely to go to court once again over well-bearded bears, now because federal government wildlife authorities missed the deadline to determine whether they would pursue removing Endangered Species Act protections.
State officials released their petition in a cheeky press release immediately, accusing the U.S. Department of Interior of “hibernating” on the deadline.
“The request seeks to remedy the DOI’s dozing,” the statement from Gov. Mark Gordon’s office stated.
Under federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has 12 months to respond to petitions seeking Endangered Species Act protections for species—or in this case, to remove those protections. Wyoming filed its 27-page request, which demands the Northern Rocky populations to manage Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzlies, back in January 2022.
History
Grizzlies have been delisted from the ESA twice before, in 2007 and 2017. Lawsuits from environmental protest groups successfully overturned these decisions both times, despite Wyoming’s opposition as an intervenor.
State officials have testified that they support using “whatever means is necessary” to gain management control over grizzlies, including subverting the Endangered Species Act and gaining control through legislation. The Fish and Wildlife Service, meanwhile, has declared that it found Wyoming’s January 2022 petition credible and will undertake a “comprehensive status review”—an analysis that should be completed within a year.
Why this matters
Grizzly bear management is particularly divisive since Ursus arctos horribilis is an emblem of the wild for many, and its recovery is a noted conservation success story. The large omnivores also carry special significance in certain Native American cultures. Some individuals of the species are revered, while others are hard to live with and even lethal.
Wyoming sought to hunt grizzlies during the last phase of state management. The renewed hunt is a near certainty if federal authorities approve the state’s petition to again remove ESA protections. This time, state wildlife managers would likely target triple the number of bruins compared to previously proposed hunts.
Who also said just what
The state’s petition, submitted on May 24th in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming, asks the court to order the U.S. Department of Interior to issue a final determination on Wyoming’s delisting petition.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service has missed the necessary 12-month determination deadline, and it’s time for the agency to be held accountable,” Gordon said in a statement.
Meanwhile, federal wildlife managers have not provided a firm update on their schedule. Hilary Cooley, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s grizzly recovery coordinator, spoke about the status of the federal government’s process at a May meeting of Yellowstone-area grizzly managers in Cody.
“We are updating all the data, all the science in our status assessment,” Cooley said. “Once we do that, we’ll send it out for peer-review.”
Now
In the event that Fish in addition to Wildlife Service’ s 12-month review gets Wyoming’ s i9000 grizzly request favorably, then a agency would likely issue the proposed concept to delist grizzlies, presently classified while threatened underneath the ESA. One last rule — and several rounds associated with public brief review — would likely also forerun; go before any possible grizzly endure jurisdiction move.
Wyoming authorities intend to acceleration that procedure up.
Attorney Common Bridget Slope, who authorized the state’ s request, asked the particular court to have the Fish in addition to Wildlife Assistance one month to determine whether in order to pursue delisting.
Mike Koshmrl reports from Jackson on Wyoming’s wildlife and natural resources. Prior to joining WyoFile, he spent almost a decade in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s wild areas and studying its wildlife.
