Staff Reports
Former President Joe Biden’s reluctance to remove the grizzly bear from its threatened species designation has sparked quite the uproar among Republicans in the West. But where the old administration failed, a new wave of lawmakers is stepping up to restore sanity to wildlife management, starting with the reintroduction of the Grizzly Bear State Management Act by the Senate Western Caucus. Rather than letting the bear hang around like a pesky relative who never leaves your house, this bill aims to give control back to the states, allowing for smarter and more effective management of the species.
This proposed legislation, set to be unveiled shortly, has garnered backing from a solid lineup of Republican senators, including Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, John Barrasso, Steve Daines, and even newcomers like Tim Sheehy. These lawmakers are pushing to strip the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear of its threatened status, which has been an unnecessary federal designation since 1975. The bill would also allow states the flexibility to manage their grizzly populations, while the federal government would still keep its watchful eye—kind of like a parent who hovers just a bit too close during a school dance.
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Republicans seek to delist Yellowstone grizzly bear after Biden’s rebuff https://t.co/8uvQbmKohF pic.twitter.com/JYP1O58CG2
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) January 30, 2025
Lummis put it bluntly, stating that the Endangered Species Act is essentially a dinosaur in desperate need of extinction, as demonstrated by the saga of the Yellowstone grizzly. According to her, putting bear management back in state hands would prevent out-of-touch Washington bureaucrats from mucking things up further. Under state management, local officials who know wildlife best will have the chance to do what needs to be done without federal mandates handcuffing their every move.
The Biden administration’s recent refusal to accept delisting petitions from Montana and Wyoming only underscores the problem. For years, the grizzly bear has been on the federal endangered list even after the population exceeded recovery goals by a whopping 40%. Even so, judges, often from the Obama era, continue to muddy the waters with their rulings, leaving local jurisdictions and their wildlife populations caught in a bureaucratic tug-of-war. It feels less like conservation and more like an elaborate game of red tape.
The numbers tell quite the story. As of 2023, the Yellowstone grizzly population had swelled to 1,030 bears—well above the recovery goal of 500—and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem bears totaled an impressive 1,163. With bears thriving, concerns from local farmers about predation on livestock are rising. Yet, environmental groups remain determined to keep these bears under federal protection, fearing that local management will lead to hunting and a decline in bear numbers. Meanwhile, one has to wonder: how much harm can be done when local managers understand their ecosystems better than Washington ever could? It’s time for decision-making to align with reality rather than ideology.
If this bill passes, the Interior Department would have to reissue its long-overdue delisting decision from 2017, ending the bureaucratic nonsense that has allowed the grizzly to overstretch its welcome in a land that needs to prioritize both conservation and human safety. After all, while grizzly bears might look cute on a postcard, anyone who has encountered one in the wild knows they come with a distinct set of challenges—and those challenges are growing by the year. It’s about time that those who live and work in bear country have a say in how to manage it.
