Environmental organizations are urging the federal government to enhance protections for Rocky Mountain grizzly bears as a potential Trump administration prepares to assume office again. On Wednesday, a coalition of 14 groups, including the Sierra Club and the Humane Society of the United States, submitted a petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, advocating for measures to connect separate populations of grizzlies. They are asking that officials facilitate the movement of bears from the Yellowstone ecosystem in Wyoming through parts of Idaho and Montana to the Glacier National Park area.
The petition stresses that significant scientific agreement indicates that a naturally connected metapopulation of grizzly bears would lead to improved genetic diversity and increased demographic resilience for the species. However, ranchers who worry about the threat of grizzlies to their livestock oppose the idea of expanding the bears’ habitat. They are aligning their efforts to persuade the approaching Trump administration to roll back protections rather than promote grizzly expansion.
Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, cautions that not all areas where grizzlies may wander are suitable habitats. He stated, “As the population increases—which we believe it is doing right now—they start to expand into other areas, but they’re not natural habitats for grizzly bears. This presents additional challenges.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service faces a court-mandated deadline of January 20—coinciding with Trump’s inauguration—to determine if grizzlies will continue to receive protection as a threatened species. A federal judge in Cheyenne set this date after the agency missed its previous deadline.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the recent petition. The previous iteration of the Trump administration temporarily lifted federal protections for grizzly bears, though those attempts were halted by court rulings. States such as Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho still aim to remove federal protections to better manage the bears on a local level, potentially leading to plans for grizzly hunting similar to the current practices for wolves in the region.
Grizzly bears are the largest bear species in North America, second only to polar bears. While the biggest grizzlies reside in Alaska, those found in the contiguous United States can weigh over 600 pounds (approximately 270 kilograms). Since they were classified as federally protected threatened species in 1975, the Rocky Mountain grizzly population has grown to around 2,000 animals. Despite this increase, they continue to face numerous threats, including a record 73 grizzly deaths this year in the Yellowstone region attributed to human interactions, as reported by Earthjustice.
When bears repeatedly invade human settlements looking for food, wildlife managers may euthanize them for public safety. Furthermore, many bears face danger from vehicle collisions and other accidental encounters. A recent incident involving the famous grizzly bear No. 399—a 28-year-old bear known for raising at least 18 cubs—emphasized the dangers posed by traffic. No. 399 often attracted admirers by spending time near roads in the Grand Teton National Park but was ultimately struck by a vehicle while crossing a road south of Jackson, Wyoming.
The petition argues that facilitating connections beyond current habitats would enhance genetic diversity and bolster the bears’ resilience against threats like habitat loss and climate change. It references a recovery plan from Chris Servheen, the former grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, who associated the future of grizzlies with that of wolves in the same regions. Servheen cautioned that if grizzly bears were delisted from federal protection, the prospects for their recovery would be severely compromised. He stated, “If they delisted all of the grizzly bears, the game is over for grizzly bears and it wouldn’t be a recovery plan.”
