Petition Filed to Improve Protections for Lower 48 Grizzlies

December 11th, 2024

Petition Filed to Improve Protections for Lower 48 Grizzlies

Today, along with 14 other organizations, we filed a petition with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to revise the 30-year-old Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan with the best available science and conservation practices.

Read all about it in The Missoula Current.

USFWS is considering removing Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from the Lower 48 grizzly bear populations, leaving the bears’ fate up to the states to manage. The governments of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming have adopted anti-carnivore policies, and state management could wipe out the gains we’ve made in grizzly bear conservation under the ESA over the last five decades. In contrast, our petition seeks to improve ESA protections so that grizzly populations may not only survive, but also thrive.

The Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan was put in place to guide management and recovery efforts after the Lower 48 grizzly populations were listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The plan designated “recovery zones” that set goals for isolated grizzly bear populations. But bear populations need to be connected to be healthy. Connectivity increases the genetic diversity of all populations, making them more resilient to stresses and environmental changes.

Our petition focuses on connecting grizzly bear populations and their habitats, while also implementing policies that reduce and prevent human-caused grizzly bear deaths.

Grizzly bears belong on this landscape. Updating the recovery plan provides guidance for durable, meaningful recovery of the Lower 48 grizzly populations, so that healthy populations can continue to thrive when it does become appropriate to remove Endangered Species Act protections.

We are grateful to the work of Earthjustice, Dr. Chris Servheen, and the 14 organizations we partnered with on this petition.

Click here to download the petition to USFWS

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