BOISE, Idaho — A seldom sight since the 1940s, Grizzly Bears are struggling to reestablish themselves in their native range of Idaho. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) hopes to change that by altering their management plan to consolidate all Grizzly Bear populations in the United States' Lower 48 into a "single protected population."
Previously, the USFWS broke Grizzly Bear populations into six distinct population segments (DPS) based on their geographic location. Those six populations have been actively tracked by state and federal partners for decades, with each population being managed in different and sometimes—disconnected ways.
Under the new proposal, Grizzly Bears would make up a "single distinct population segment" that encompasses the states of Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming— all of which include historic habitat for Grizzlies. The USFWS hopes this tact will help expand and connect the populations. Their ultimate goal is to grow the Grizzly Bear population to the point the species no longer warrants "threatened" status under the Endangered Species Act.
Maintaining all recovery zones together in one DPS will increase the speed of recovery in remaining ecosystems and the overall viability of grizzly bears, increasing the likelihood of successfully delisting the entire DPS by addressing the species’ recovery needs as a whole. -USFWS
In issuing the management change, the USFWS also rebuffed the States of Wyoming and Montana, who sought to delist their local populations in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide regions. The USFWS found those petitions "not warranted" after "a thorough review of the best scientific and commercial data available."
USFWS is inviting the public to comment on the proposed change during the 60-day comment period. In the coming days, the Federal Register will schedule the following changes for official publication, at which point the comment period will go live. You can find relevant updates as well as public meeting locations here.
