Federal Judge Nixes Grizzly Bear Hunts for Good

Restoring protections to grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park, a federal judge on Monday rescinded a 2017 rule by the Trump administration that allowed hunting of the endangered species outside of the park...“Although this order may have impacts throughout grizzly country and beyond, this case is not about the ethics of hunting, and it is not about solving human- or livestock-grizzly conflicts as a practical or philosophical matter,” Christensen wrote in his Monday order. “These issues are not before the court. This court’s review, constrained by the Constitution and the laws enacted by Congress, is limited to answering a yes-or-no question: Did the United States Fish and Wildlife Service exceed its legal authority when it delisted the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear?” Christensen found that it did. The judge wrote that “delisting the Greater Yellowstone grizzly without analyzing how delisting would affect the remaining members of the Lower-48 grizzly designation, the Service failed to consider how reduced protections in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem would impact the other grizzly populations.” Focusing on two of the many challenges brought on behalf of the grizzlies, Christensen found that the delisting would have a negative effect on the remaining grizzly bear populations in the Northern Rockies ecosystem, and that the service acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in its delisting...MORE