The House Natural Resources Committee will vote on a host of bills this week, including one that removes Endangered Species Act protections for the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear.
The Yellowstone grizzly has been a long-running tug-of-war dating to the first Trump administration, which delisted the grizzly before courts overturned the action. The Biden administration maintained protections for the bear, naming it as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act — allowing take in some limited circumstances but otherwise keeping it protected.
Western states and Republicans argue that the grizzly has adequately recovered and no longer needs protection under the ESA, while Democrats and conservation groups have argued to keep the species listed.
Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman’s H.R. 281, the “Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2025,” would require the Interior Department to reinstate a 2017 rule delisting the grizzly. Hageman, along with Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), has led the charge in Congress to delist the iconic species.
