Idaho is seeking court approval for a proposed settlement mandating U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to issue a final rule by Jan. 1, 2026, revising or eliminating the current listing of “lower 48” grizzly bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
“Idaho and neighboring states have worked for more than 40 years in a broad-based effort to support and sustain healthy and reasonable grizzly populations in our states, but legal and bureaucratic gridlock has kept robust populations of grizzly bears unnecessarily under ESA protection,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) said in a statement. “The settlement provides a path to escape regulations that are not necessary in Idaho.”
The settlement arises from legal disputes surrounding Idaho’s petition to delist grizzly bears, submitted in March 2022 and rejected by USFWS in February 2023.
The petition stated that the state’s contributions to the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Area and northern Panhandle have been integral to one of the most successful conservation efforts. The petition points out the recovery of bear populations from a few hundred in 1975, when the bear was listed under the ESA, to over 2,000 today in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington.
The petition continued that it is vital to the future success of conservation efforts that the ESA functions as intended, allowing federal protections to be lifted for healthy populations. This would demonstrate the value of sustained investments in conservation for rural communities and enabling federal resources to prioritize species in greater need of protection, the petition read.
Attorney General Raúl Labrador said the proposed settlement provides legal direction “for Idaho to escape burdensome ESA regulations that are simply unnecessary for grizzly bear population success in our state.”
The proposed settlement does not guarantee the delisting of all grizzly bears. However, the January 2026 deadline provides a potential avenue for delisting in Idaho by addressing the flawed premise of the 1975 listing. Additionally, the settlement maintains Idaho’s existing protocol of obtaining a USFWS agreement before euthanizing troublesome grizzly bears that pose safety concerns but not immediate dangers.
USFWS has opened a public scoping period until March 18 to restore grizzly bears to the Bitterroot Ecosystem in Idaho and Montana. In late 2000, the agency issued a plan to reintroduce bears to the ecosystem but has yet to take any action. Comments may be submitted by searching for docket ID FWS-R6-ES-2023-0203 at regulations.gov. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
