Grizzlies De-Listed
Written by Andrew-Rossi on June 23, 2017
After years of deliberation and research, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced yesterday that the Yellowstone population of the grizzly bear has been recovered to the point where federal protections can be removed and overall management can be returned to the states and tribes.
The population has rebounded from as few as 136 bears in 1975 to an estimated 700 today and meets all the criteria for delisting. Zinke called the announcement good news for many communities and advocates in the Yellowstone region, calling the de-listing, quote, “one of America’s great conservation successes, “ endquote.
The Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear population now occupies more than 22,500 square miles, an area larger than the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.
Governor Matt Mead, as well as U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Representative Liz Cheney, applauded the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the grizzly bears within Yellowstone. Cheney noted that the decision, quote, “rightly returns management of the Yellowstone grizzly to where it should be, under the control of experts in Wyoming, not Washington,” endquote.
