Briefs: Idaho threatens grizzly bear lawsuit

May 10—From staff reports

Idaho state officials announced on Wednesday their intent sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the Biden Administration's lack of action to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list.

"Idaho's entire congressional delegation and the state of Idaho are lockstep in efforts to delist grizzly bears," Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in a news release.

"Idaho has continually demonstrated leadership in species management, and we have never hesitated to push back on the federal government's overreaching actions that greatly impact a variety of activities on the ground in our state."

The state earlier petitioned the federal government to delist the grizzly bear in the lower 48 under the argument that it does not qualify as a "species" under the Endangered Species Act.

But the Fish and Wildlife Service in February ruled that Idaho officials "failed to present any credible scientific or commercial information" about its claims.

In a decision published Feb. 6 in the Federal Register, federal officials wrote: "We conclude that the petitioner failed to present credible scientific or commercial information such that a reasonable person conducting an impartial scientific review would conclude that removing the grizzly bear in the lower 48 from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife may be warranted."

At the same time, Fish and Wildlife Service officials indicated in the same document that proposals submitted by the states of Wyoming and Montana merited closer examination.

Montana asked the federal government that grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, a vast area in northwest Montana centered around Glacier National Park, be removed from the endangered species list.

The region is home to about 1,000 grizzly bears in the population. Likewise, Wyoming asked for the grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population, also about 1,000 strong, to be stripped of federal protections, according to the Lewiston Tribune.

Idaho has far fewer grizzlies — about 50 in the northern tip of the state and a small fraction of the Yellowstone population in its southeastern coroner.

"Politicians in Washington continue to use outdated endangered species protections to encroach on state sovereignty," Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador wrote in the news release. "In their desire to stop Idahoans from hunting or managing our own destiny, they pretend Idaho cannot handle the management of species."

The state's notice indicated that officials would "prefer to invest the resources of the federal and state conservations agencies on actual conservation, rather than on lawsuits" but also indicated that it has few other options.

"The state of Idaho has been and continues to be 100% committed to the conservation of grizzly bears, as the actions of local communities, landowners, recreationists and state government have demonstrated," said Jim Fredericks, the director of Idaho Department of Fish and Game. "This action is in response to a flawed ESA listing almost 50 years ago that has now become a barrier to the delisting of recovered populations."

A 1993 grizzly bear recovery plan prompted the decision to allow bears to be delisted based on numbers in certain recovery areas, such as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The petition says court rulings, often based on the way bears were originally listed, have prevented that from happening.

Yellowstone-area grizzly bears were delisted in 2017, but a 2020 court ruling restored federal protections based on multiple factors, including how it would affect bears outside of the recovery area.

Montana offers free Mother's Day fishing

Anglers hoping to wet lines in Montana can do so without fishing licenses on Saturday and Sunday.

In 2021, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a law that makes it free to fish in Montana on Mother's Day. The state has offered the same deal for more than 10 years on Father's Day weekend.