The Trump administration has announced a new rule that will give Wyoming and other neighboring states more flexibility in managing grizzly bear populations, marking a significant shift in federal wildlife policy. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated that the rule effectively ends an era where federal bureaucrats, unfamiliar with local lands, dictated wildlife decisions.
The Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear population is presented as a conservation success story. When listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1975, the population was estimated at 136 bears. Today, it is estimated at 1,000, a more than seven-fold increase that has exceeded recovery targets. Despite this growth and expansion beyond the Yellowstone region, the bears have remained listed under the ESA.
Wyoming has invested millions of dollars over two decades in developing biologists, conflict response teams, and monitoring programs to support grizzly bear recovery. The state's Bear Wise program has educated ranchers and recreationists on coexistence with the growing bear population, and state wildlife officials regularly relocate bears to mitigate conflicts, such as cattle depredation.
History of Delisting Efforts
Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem first met federal recovery benchmarks in 2004. The population was briefly delisted in 2007, but a subsequent relisting occurred in 2009 following legal challenges. The Biden administration rejected petitions from Wyoming and Montana to delist the bears in 2023, citing activist lawsuits and manufactured uncertainty rather than the recovery data. This decision, made shortly before the administration's term ended, was met with criticism from Wyoming officials who viewed it as a failure to acknowledge scientific recovery and trust local management.
Critics argue that the continued federal listing of a recovered species undermines the purpose of the ESA, which is intended to aid species recovery and then return management to the states. This approach, they contend, suggests the ESA is used for permanent federal control rather than conservation. Ranchers, hunters, and wildlife managers in Wyoming maintain they possess the necessary expertise for effective coexistence and management, gained through daily interaction with the species.
Legislation has been introduced in Congress to delist the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear population, arguing that indefinite listing hinders conservation efforts and erodes public trust in the ESA. The new rule from the Trump administration is viewed as a positive step toward allowing science, rather than politics, to guide wildlife policy and returning management authority to the states that have contributed to the species' recovery. Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has expressed support for the new rule, stating it restores common sense to the state's grizzly policy.