States propose scaling back safeguards for grizzlies

When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing the Yellowstone grizzly population from the Endangered Species list last March, it looked like a decision would finally be made after years of disagreement about the bears’ management. But now there's a new twist: Environmentalists say that more information made public in recent weeks about how the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho plan to manage grizzlies after the delisting may call into question the long-anticipated ruling. In a 16-page letter submitted at the end of the comment period in May, and recently made public, the Yellowstone states are pushing for less federal discretion than the proposed rule allowed. Though environmental groups have disagreed with state management before, “we did not expect to see a letter like this,” said Tim Preso, an attorney with EarthJustice, one of the organizations behind the successful relisting lawsuit when grizzlies were first given the boot in 2007. “Given the way the states are conducting themselves and their disavowing of key conservation promises — to whatever extent that there was concern about this delisting before, it’s certainly been ratcheted up.”...more