Endangered Species Coalition statement in response to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announcement that it is preparing to remove Endangered Species Act protections from grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region:
“The Endangered Species Act is a critical safety net that has prevented 99 percent of protected plant and animal species from going extinct, and the restoration of the Yellowstone grizzly bear is another example of how the Endangered Species Act works to protect and recover species from the brink of extinction.”
“Nevertheless, the Endangered Species Coalition is concerned about:
- The lack connectivity to date between grizzly bear populations;
- The impact of climate change on bears, bear foods, and bear habitat;
- Dwindling funding for grizzly bear conservation;
- Ongoing human-bear conflict in certain areas and the associated grizzly bear mortality.”
“The Endangered Species Coalition will carefully scrutinize the draft delisting rule and conservation strategy to ensure it supports a healthy, stable population of grizzly bears into the foreseeable future, connectivity between bear populations, as well as strong protections in core grizzly bear habitat. Any delisting rule should also include robust monitoring of population trends, mortality and habitat conditions, as well as continued funding for vital conflict reduction work that maintains and improves social tolerance for grizzly bears. Finally, we expect strong commitments from states to manage bears carefully and conservatively, to allow grizzly bears to expand to suitable bear habitat.”
“The restoration of the Yellowstone grizzly bear to is an amazing Endangered Species Act success story. Thanks to decades of dedicated conservation efforts by federal, state and tribal wildlife officials, wildlife conservation groups, sportsmen and landowners, more than 700 grizzly bears roam the greater Yellowstone region, where there once were as fewer than 150. We need to ensure that grizzly bear conservation endures for future generations.”
–Derek Goldman, Northern Rockies Representative
###
7 comments on “Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Delisting Announcement — Endangered Species Coalition Will Work to Ensure Proposal Contains Strong Conservation Measures for Grizzly Bears”
Shut this agency down!!! Save OUR wildlife from “wannabee serial killers”. DO NOT use tax payer money for your murdering sprees. I would save an animal over any of you useless waste of air monsters!!
shut it down
please do not delist save our wild life….we have already entered the 6th mass extinction…do not fuel it
Nowhere in your statement do you consider the impacts to tribal nations in the United States and Canada. All tribal nations revere the grizzly bear as part of their culture. Where is the consultation that FWS promised to hold with sovereign tribal nations? Who does the Endangered Species Coalition represent? Finally, I challenge Secretary Zinke to read the Department of Interior’s mission statement; and explain to tribal nations why he is proceeding with the delisting over our objections.
I think it’s disgusting that the trump administration is taking these poor bears off the endangered species list. Just because their numbers have increased to 700, that doesn’t give those selfish self-centered ranchers the right to hunt them down and shoot them. I think those ranchers are already “spoiled” by the government. If they lose a cow, they are Immediately reimbursed by the government in the thousands of dollars for the loss of a cow. For that matter, what difference does it make if a cow does get accidentally killed by a bear. The cow will be going to the slaughterhouse anyway for beef. So who cares if a cow gets killed whether it is by a wild animal or a human. Either way the cow is going to die. And if they really want to protect their “precious” cattle, they should keep them in an electrified fence, so that No wild animal could possibly get to them instead of letting the cows roam all over the territory, and be subjected to being attacked by predators like wolves, coyotes, cougars, and of course grizzlies. It really pisses me off the way these cattle ranchers get all up in arms about all these predators. Just because the government allowed these money hungry land mongers to buy all that land, they act like the entire planet belongs to them. Maybe instead of raising cattle, they should start raising vegetables. A lot of people are going Vegan, and becoming vegetarians anyway. So it wouldn’t surprise me, if the market for beef begins to decline. I also think we need to get rid of Ryan Zinke and the entire trump administration, and get some people in the White House who actually give a damn about the people and the environment, and not for their own personal gain. There’s been nothing but bad things happening ever since that idiot in the White House became president. Not to mention, he had to get the Russians to help him get elected. How dishonest is that! I say Keep these bears and all predators on the endangered list. They are beneficial to the environment. It’s been proven that without predators to thin out the weak and sick elk, and deer populations, those animals would become extinct due to illness and diseases. That’s what the predators like cougars, wolves, coyotes, and bears are for, to keep the herds healthy and thriving. But these ranchers are too stupid to realize that. All they care about is making money and extracting more money from the government. Keep these bears on the endangered list Forever! Protect them from all the Human Predators who inhabit this Earth!