Tag Archives: Endangered Species List

Montana files notice of intent to sue over wolverine listing

January 27, 2024Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolverinesnfpa

Wolverine in snow - Steve Kroschel — Wolverine in snow – Steve Kroschel

Montana is not happy with the idea of placing the wolverine on the Endangered Species List . . .

Less than two months after federal wildlife officials recommended Endangered Species Act protections for the North American wolverine, whose diminishing alpine habitat scientists have recognized as imperiled by climate change for decades, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) on Friday notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of its intent to challenge the listing in court.

“In Montana, wolverines continue to do well and inhabit much, if not all, of their available habitat,” FWP’s Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala stated in an agency press release. “We work closely with our neighboring states to ensure the continued conservation of these iconic species. Federal protections in this case will only get in the way of good conservation work.”

Specifically, state wildlife officials took issue with how their federal counterparts’ “switched course” in their listing notice by identifying the lower 48 states as a distinct population segment instead of as connected to Canadian wolverine populations in Canada. The finding came despite protections in Canada and states like Montana to ensure wolverine conservation, according to FWP.

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Federal Protections for Gray Wolves Restored

February 11, 2022Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, gray wolvesnfpa

A gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park - Jacob W. Frank, NPS — A gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park – Jacob W. Frank, NPS

Federal protections for gray wolves have been restored, except for those states where gray wolf endangered species status has already been removed by congress . . .

A judge has ordered federal protections restored for gray wolves across much of the U.S. after they were removed in the waning days of the Trump administration.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said in Thursday’s ruling that the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Wildlife advocates had argued state-sponsored hunting threatened to reverse the gray wolf’s recovery over the past several decades.

The ruling does not directly impact wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, which remain under state jurisdiction.

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Related reading: Interior Secretary Deb Haaland Speaks Up On Wolves, But Is It Enough? – Mountain Journal

Montana seeks grizzly delisting

December 7, 2021Environmental Issues, Newsdelisting, Endangered Species List, grizzly bearsnfpa

Grizzly Bear - Montana FWP — Grizzly Bear – Montana FWP

Oh, cripes. He we go again. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte wants the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the region’s grizzly bears from the endangered species list. Three articles are linked here, leading with one from Montana Free Press that seems the most complete . . .

Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office announced today that the state is petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, citing robust population counts and touting the state’s ability to independently manage Montana’s grizzly bears, which have been federally protected since 1975.

“We worked on grizzly bear recovery for decades. We were successful and switched to a focus on conflict management years ago,” FWP Director Hank Worsech said in a release about the petition, which seeks to remove federal protections for an estimated 1,100 grizzlies in western Montana. “We’ve shown the ability to manage bears, protect their habitat and population numbers. It’s time for us to have full authority for grizzly bears in Montana.”

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Also read:
Montana Seeks to End Protections for Glacier-area Grizzlies
Gianforte petitions for grizzly delisting

U.S. Plans to lift wolf protections for rest of country

March 7, 2019Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, gray wolvesnfpa

Wolves from Welcome Creek Pack in 2011 - Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks — Wolves from Welcome Creek Pack in 2011 – Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Not entirely unexpected: The U.S. Department of the Interior wants to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List for for the entire country . . .

U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that’s run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told The Associated Press.

Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the proposal during a Wednesday speech at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Denver, a weeklong conservation forum for researchers, government officials and others, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Spokesman Gavin Shire said in an interview with the AP.

The decision was based on gray wolves successfully recovering from widespread extermination last century, Shire said. Further details were expected during a formal announcement planned in coming days.

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Feds ponder plans after grizzly delisting setback

December 10, 2018Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, grizzly bear recoverynfpa

Grizzly bear on kill in winter - Jim Peco, NPS — Grizzly bear on kill in winter – Jim Peco, NPS

Here’s an excellent write-up on the current status of removing grizzly bears from the Endangered Species List . . .

For the second time in a decade, the officials charged with getting grizzly bears off the Endangered Species List have to rethink their future after a major court setback.

A 2007 federal move to delist grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming failed when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife couldn’t show the bears could withstand the loss of traditional food sources like whitebark pine seeds and cutthroat trout.

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) oversaw years of field work that concluded the bears could find alternate foods, and the federal government published a new delisting rule for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in 2017. Last September, another federal judge found it lacking and returned Yellowstone grizzlies to Endangered Species Act protection.

Northwest Montana grizzlies will stay on endangered list a while longer

November 24, 2018Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, grizzly bear recovery, NCDE, Northwest Continental Divide Ecosystemnfpa

Grizzly bear sow with three cubs - NPS photo — Grizzly bear sow with three cubs – NPS photo

Grizzly bears in this corner of Montana will stay on the Endangered Species List a bit longer while federal officials evaluate the impact of an adverse judicial opinion on delisting the Yellowstone grizzly population . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it no longer plans to propose removing the population of grizzly bears in and around Glacier National Park from the endangered species list this year.

“We were on track to try and have a proposal, or at least have an evaluation of recovery and a potential proposal, out by the end of the calendar year,” says Hilary Cooley, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, at an annual meeting Tuesday on grizzlies in what’s known as the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, or NCDE.

She says a federal judge’s September opinion on last year’s delisting of a different population of bears in and around Yellowstone put a wrench in those plans.

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Plan aims to preserve griz habitat

May 30, 2018Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, grizzly bear recoverynfpa

Grizzly Bear - courtesy NPS — Grizzly Bear – courtesy NPS

Here’s a good article in the Hungry Horse News on the federal habitat plan intended to provide protection for grizzly bears in this corner of the country even after they are removed from the Endangered Species List . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed off on plan May 16 that looks to maintain grizzly bear habitat and recovery along the Continental Divide even after the bear is removed from the Endangered Species List.

The Habitat Recovery Criteria for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which includes about 8 million acres of land along the Divide from Glacier National Park south to Ovando, looks to maintain road density and other standards on federal lands, though it does include some wiggle room.

Roads and bears over the years have been a controversial subject, as federal land agencies — most notably the Forest Service, have either closed or completely torn out hundreds of miles of dirt roads that once criss-crossed the Forest. Studies have found that roads and grizzlies don’t mix — not because grizzlies won’t cross roads — they will — but because open roads often result in poaching or other forms of bear deaths due to interactions with humans.

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Habitat rules for grizzly delisting released

May 27, 2018Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, grizzly bear recoverynfpa

Grizzly Sow with Two Cubs - Wikipedia en:User Traveler100 — Grizzly Sow with Two Cubs – – Wikipedia en:User Traveler100

Amid substantial debate, plans for removing the grizzly bear from the Endangered Species List proceed apace . . .

A crucial piece of the plan to hand the biggest population of grizzly bears in Montana over to state management was released on Thursday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Habitat-Based Recovery Criteria for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem describes what grizzlies there need to remain off Endangered Species Act protection if the federal government decides to delist them. A full delisting plan for the grizzlies should come up for public review in June.

The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) stretches from the southern tip of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex north to the Canadian border. It includes Glacier National Park, but does not connect to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem around Yellowstone National Park. An estimated 1,000 grizzly bears inhabit the NCDE.

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Grizzly delisting coming for Northwest Montana

May 18, 2018Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, grizzly bear recoverynfpa

Brown Grizzly Bear - Wikipedia User Mousse — Brown Grizzly Bear – Wikipedia User Mousse

The Flathead Beacon has a good story on the plans to remove grizzly bears from the Endangered Species List in this corner of Montana . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to announce plans this September to delist grizzlies from the federal Endangered Species Act in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, the rugged chunk of Northwest Montana that includes Glacier National Park, parts of five national forests and two reservations.

It’s also believed to be home to the largest population of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.

The strategy to move grizzlies from federal to state control has long been in the works, and bear managers are now coordinating the scientific and policy research necessary to propose a delisting rule.

“We have believed this population has likely met the demographic recovery goals for many years now,” Hillary Cooley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) grizzly bear recovery coordinator, said. “We’ve met our recovery goal and we’re probably well above it, so this is a good time to start evaluating it formally.”

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North Cascades grizzly recovery effort halted by Interior Department

December 17, 2017Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, grizzly bear recovery, North Cascadesnfpa

Grizzly Bear - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Terry Tollefsbol, NPS — Grizzly Bear – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Terry Tollefsbol, NPS

Wait. What? . . .

Work on grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades Ecosystem has been halted even as the continental United States’ two largest grizzly populations near removal from Endangered Species Act protection.

North Cascades National Park Superintendent Karen Taylor-Goodrich told the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee on Wednesday that her staff had been asked to stop work on its environmental impact statement by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s office.

The order also stalls discussions with Canadian wildlife managers who oversee a similar grizzly recovery process in British Columbia, she said.

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