Casper, WY – State officials have announced that the Service has completed its initial review of that petition and found that the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem may warrant removal from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife.
The Service will now initiate a 12-month status review of the GYE grizzly bear.
Officials also said that if the removal of the GYE grizzly bear is warranted, management authority will be given to the State of Wyoming.
Our state already has a grizzly bear management plan in place, and it will be amended to recognize the necessary legal requirements to satisfy the Endangered Species Act requirements for post-delisting management.
Today, there is an expanding number of grizzly bears that have grown beyond the edges of the bear’s biological and socially suitable range.
With refined population estimates, data shows the population numbers more than 1,000 bears, far beyond all scientific requirements for a recovered, viable population.
