Yellowstone鈥檚 grizzlies are back. Although they鈥檝e since 1975鈥攚hen just over 200 of them remained鈥攂iologists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that the population of Ursus arctos horribilis in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem has since more than tripled to roughly 780. There are nearly 3,600 square miles of carefully cultivated wilderness in the park and another 9,200 square miles near its borders, all protected from development and drilling by the Endangered Species Act. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a gold-plated management plan,鈥 says Chris Servheen, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service鈥檚 coordinator for bear recovery.
Which is why, in early 2015, the USFWS is expected to issue its second proposal to remove the area鈥檚 grizzlies from the list and hand over the animal鈥檚 fate to the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Shortly after that, the agency will almost certainly be sued by environmental groups, like the , that want the protections to remain in place.
If this sounds like a familiar fight, it should. The USFWS , only to have a reinstate them in 2009.
Environmentalists continue to argue that two of the bears鈥 primary food sources鈥攚hitebark pine nuts and spawning cutthroat trout鈥攁re in serious decline. They鈥檙e right, and the shortage makes for hungry grizzlies. 鈥淲hen bears traverse the landscape looking for food, they bump into people at high rates,鈥 says bear advocate Louisa Willcox. 鈥淎nd when they bump into people, they tend to die at high rates,鈥 often because they become aggressive or a nuisance (threatening livestock, raiding garbage cans).
But the real reason groups are suing is that a bear isn鈥檛 just a bear; it鈥檚 an umbrella species with habitat protections that benefit every other species in its range. 鈥淚f the grizzly bears are protected, then the wolverines are, too,鈥 says conservationist , best known for named Brutus. Though wolverine populations are in decline, they are not covered by the ESA鈥攁nd neither are many species of songbirds and amphibians that don鈥檛 draw nearly as much attention as a toothy 1,000-pound omnivore.
On the other side of the argument, states are eager to have access to land currently locked down by the Endangered Species Act. 鈥淩ight now you can鈥檛 log, you can鈥檛 open up trail systems,鈥 says Anderson.
The USFWS, meanwhile, just wants a win. 鈥淭he Endangered Species Act needs success stories,鈥 says Servheen. 鈥淚f we can take a difficult animal like grizzly bears and increase their numbers, it shows that the act works.鈥
The gray wolf could have cemented that success story鈥攊t was delisted in 2012鈥攂ut the states messed it up. Wyoming allowed wolves to be shot on sight and quickly landed them back on the list. Without a doubt, the USFWS deserves some recognition for its handling of grizzlies. The Yellowstone population is on the right track鈥攅ven if it hasn鈥檛 yet linked with Glacier National Park鈥檚, which advocates hope will improve genetic diversity. The best thing for the bear, and the Endangered Species Act, is for that linkup to occur without protections. 鈥淚t鈥檒l happen,鈥 says Servheen. 鈥淓ventually, they鈥檒l be connected.鈥 If, that is, the states do their part.