USA: After 30 years of federal protection, some U.S. grizzly bears may move off the endangered species list

Protected for 30 years, grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park could become fair game for hunters after the federal government on Tuesday (November 15) took the first step to remove the bears from the U.S. endangered species list. A big, bold icon of the American West that mostly eats plants and animals but occasionally attacks tourists, the bears became a victim of their own success, rebounding from a low of about 220 in 1975, when it was listed as threatened in the lower 48 states, to more than 600 today. "The Greater Yellowstone population of grizzly bears, a population that was once plummeting toward extinction is now recovered," Interior Secretary Gale Norton declared at a news conference. "These bears are now no longer endangered." If the grizzlies' protection is revoked after a public comment period likely to stretch the process well into next year, the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, which surround Yellowstone, have plans to allow limited hunting of bears outside national parks under a strict quota system. The planned "delisting" has split conservationists. The nation's largest environmental group, the National Wildlife Federation supports the move, calling it a great success for the Endangered Species Act and supporting state and local agencies plan to protect the bears. But other powerful groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club say it is premature to remove the grizzlies' safety net because their long-term success is still not assured. In the United States Congress, some Senators would like to revise the existing Endangered Species Act saying that species are not "delisting" often enough. Grizzly bears have roamed western North America for thousands of years. They are thriving in Alaska, home to an estimated 30,000, but their numbers dwindled in the lower 48 states early in the last century largely because of hunting and destruction of their habitat. Weighing as much as 1,100 pounds (500 kg) with claws about the length of a human finger, grizzlies have become notorious for their infrequent, but sometimes violent, confrontations with people. "It's my job to invite all of you to come to Wyoming and Yellowstone Park where we hope you get a glimpse of the grizzly," said Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi. "We hope you do not have an encounter with the grizzly."

ITN Source | November 17, 2005

Tags:. .sen. .safety. .toward. .secretary. .western