Attack on the Endangered Species Act and The Impact on Grizzlies

When I first heard about the listing of the grizzly bear as a threatened species in 1975, I was appalled. How could the U.S. Fish and Wildlife department consider protecting an animal that can maul a human? My thinking and sentiment has changed considerably since then as I have spent time around this iconic creature. I now not only consider the grizzly worthy of protection, but I think of the grizzly as essential to the definition of wilderness in the United States. The passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 not only created a protection for threatened and endangered species, it provided a platform for the protection of “wilderness”. The existence of wilderness is fragile and rare. And wilderness is essential for grizzly bear survival.

Once the 2024 election was settled, it was predictable that this administration would soon attempt to modify the Endangered Species Act (ESA). That is assuming they could not eradicate it. From my perspective, this means it would collude with impacted local and state agencies to remove grizzly bears from the protection of the ESA.

In July 2025, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources voted to refer the management of the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to state control and simultaneously delist the bear from the ESA. This is essentially a recommendation to send the bill to the full House of Representatives for a vote. The committee vote was 20 to 19, down party lines.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) encompasses portions of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. The bill was introduced by politicians from those states. I don’t have information regarding when the bill will be addressed in the full House, but once it is voted on, I expect it to follow the same trajectory as the committee vote, and pass along party lines. This likely means that the same governing bodies that control wolf management, will be making decisions about how many grizzlies can be killed and how they are killed each year in the GYE. I will periodically update my information regarding this process.

Since my recent novel, The Mountains Are Watching has a grizzly as a major character, I have decided to weigh in on the pros and cons of moving the grizzly from federal management to state control. It’s important to know that I am not a biologist by training. I think of myself as a stakeholder in that I enjoy photographing wildlife, and I travel and recreate in areas occupied by grizzlies in the GYE. My thoughts are as follows:

Pros to delisting the grizzly bear and turn over management to the state level:

• It would reaffirm the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife’s determination of the ESA with regards the original goals for delisting the grizzly bear.
• Decisions about legal take (hunting and trapping) would be more in line with what some of the local population wants. This might reduce conflict between the enforcement of the ESA and the actions of local stakeholders: state government, hunters, trappers and ranchers.

Cons to delisting the grizzly bear:

• The grizzly species is impacted by environmental changes and delisting legislation does not seem to account for deviations in climate and changes in food sources. A primary example is the reduction of availability of whitebark pine. This is an essential food source for winter through hyperplasia (eating enormous amounts of food to gain weight). Recent studies indicate that the whitebark pine is declining in prevalence. A new study announced September 23, shows that whitebark pine trees could decline by up to 80% by 2050. The tree is a significant food source for grizzly bears and its future should be considered in the determination of the viability of the GYE grizzly bear population. In my opinion, in the recent effort to delist the bear, it isn’t given enough consideration.
• Most likely, the status of the various state’s approach to grizzly-bear management will be similar to the management of the wolf population. I think this has been a disaster for the iconic wildlife of Yellowstone National Park. Montana and Wyoming allow for hunting wolves in territory adjacent to the park. This results in the disruption and at times the decimation of wolf packs in the park. A male grizzly may have a territory of 200 to 400 square miles. This would easily take them out of the park and into danger, much like the grizzly in my novel, and could have a direct impact on the population of grizzlies in the park. That I think would be worse than unfortunate.
• The grizzlies of the GYE are a distinct population and need more protection since the population is isolated from other significant grizzly habitats. Hunters for trophies are simply gratifying an ego need. To reduce the population of grizzlies in the GYE simply for ego gratification seems to be a travesty of human nature.

My novel, The Mountains Are Watching, was written to provide entertainment but also to offer a glimpse into the dangers confronting wildlife near the borders surrounding the Yellowstone National Park. Currently, the park is a sanctuary for many forms of wildlife, but beyond the borders of the park, iconic animals are at risk of death at the hands of humans. This is even in wilderness areas like the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The impact of hunting and trapping on the edges of the park also impacts the park itself because animals don’t recognize those boundaries.

I am a big supporter of public lands. I also recognize the long-standing tradition of hunting, but I think that in areas adjacent Yellowstone special consideration for protecting wild animals is crucial. This is in addition to the need to be very careful in evaluating the plan to reduce protection for the GYE grizzlies. It also seems important to me to reevaluate the quotas for taking wolves near artificial boundaries of the park.

Finally, I hope you will check out my novels, A Land Divided and The Mountains Are Watching on Amazon. I hear that they are “good reads”, “good story telling”, “a gripping adventure”, and “heart-pounding suspense”. I wrote these novels to take readers on an adventure of suspense and excitement, but also to introduce the reader to aspects of nature of which he or she might not otherwise be aware.

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