Feds delay finalizing Yellowstone, Lower 48 grizzly bear plans until December

By: Mike Koshmrl

Outlets: Daily Montanan

Published: February 6, 2026

Words: 523

Last Updated: 3 weeks ago

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The deadline for Trump administration officials to decide if Yellowstone-area grizzly bears should retain Endangered Species Act protections has been pushed back nearly a year.

In January 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded to petitions from western states that called, in part, for ending the “threatened” designation that has protected Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzlies from hunting since the 1970s. In the waning days of the Biden administration, wildlife managers rejected the states’ pitches …

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