The Fish and Wildlife Service’s new plan for protecting grizzly bears would allow some to be killed in defense of livestock, working dogs or humans, under the proposal that’s now getting scrutiny from all sides.
As part of its contentious proposal announced Wednesday to keep grizzlies listed as threatened, the agency carved out some exceptions to the Endangered Species Act’s standard prohibition against killing protected animals. The resulting nuance confronts advocates as they dig deeper into a proposed rule that will span some 170 pages when it’s formally published in the Federal Register.
Some environmentalists who applauded the decision to keep the grizzly listed under the ESA are balking at the proposed exceptions, while some Westerners who decried the listing decision are now praising the exceptions.
“The silver lining to [Wednesday’s] unfortunate news is that the service intends to update federal regulations to give states and landowners more tools to manage grizzly bears,” said Brian Yablonski, CEO of the Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center, adding that “we plan to remain engaged as the service prepares updated rules related to private lands and landowner tools.”
