The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources voted this week to advance a bill removing Endangered Species Act protections from grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This vote marks another step forward in the ongoing grizzly bear delisting effort. Many Western leaders and wildlife advocates support returning management of recovered populations to the states.
The Push for Grizzly Bear Delisting
Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming introduced House Resolution 281 — the Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2025 — with support from Montana Reps. Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing. The bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to delist Yellowstone-region grizzlies and restore wildlife management authority to the states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.
The legislation reinstates a 2017 rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) during the Trump administration. That rule recognized that the Yellowstone grizzly population had exceeded recovery goals. However, a federal court later overturned the rule. Proponents argue that states have the tools, data, and motivation to manage wildlife effectively without federal overreach.
“The GYE grizzly population has exceeded recovery goals for over two decades,” Hageman said during the markup hearing. “The ESA desperately needs a success story — and the grizzly bear is it.”
Advocates for delisting argue that continuing to pour resources into managing a recovered species diverts attention from animals that truly need protection. They say the prolonged listing of the Yellowstone grizzly reflects bureaucratic inertia, not science-based conservation.
Rep. Zinke, who oversaw the 2017 delisting rule as Secretary of the Interior, emphasized that the resistance stems more from political ideology than ecological necessity.
Court Battles, Petitions, and What Comes Next
In 1975, grizzlies in the Lower 48 gained protection under the ESA. At the time, fewer than 400 individuals remained. Today, the population exceeds 2,300, with strongholds in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystems.
Despite this success, delisting efforts have stalled due to lawsuits and shifting political agendas. Both Montana and Wyoming formally petitioned the federal government to delist grizzlies and return authority to state agencies. Federal officials denied both petitions, most recently under the Biden administration.
In response, FWS proposed managing all Lower 48 grizzlies as one unified population. This proposal would prevent delisting individual populations like the GYE grizzlies — even when those populations have clearly recovered. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte criticized the proposal, calling it a “scorched earth strategy” that undermines state management.
Opponents of the bill argue that federal oversight remains essential. Retired FWS grizzly recovery coordinator Chris Servheen supports managing grizzlies as a single population and warned that delisting could reduce monitoring and habitat protection. But many hunters, conservationists, and state officials see this one-size-fits-all approach as a threat to local success stories.
During debate, Democrats proposed three amendments. One required tribal consultation. Another followed the 2025 FWS species-wide assessment. The third sought to remove the bill’s block on judicial review. All three amendments failed along party lines.
Hageman defended the judicial review provision. She said endless litigation and arbitrary standards have stalled delisting for too long. “Until the bear has returned to state control where it belongs,” she said, “lawsuits and ever-changing criteria will continue to stand in the way.”
Where We Stand Now
Currently, the bill has passed out of committee 20–19 and now moves to the full House of Representatives. If passed, it would mark a major step toward restoring wildlife management to the states and recognizing that decades of investment and collaboration have brought the Yellowstone grizzly bear back from the brink.
Nobody (well, at least anyone with a tangential interest in the North American model of wildlife conservation) wants to see grizzlies extirpated again. A return to state management and responsibly-managed hunts will be a win-win for hunters (especially those hunting in the GYE), ungulates, and populations of grizzly bears as a whole.
With any luck, we’ll be dusting off those .375 H&Hs at some point…
