Just days before the first grizzly bear hunting seasons in decades were set to open in Idaho and Wyoming in early September, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen put the seasons on hold and then stopped them altogether on Sept. 24 by returning grizzlies to the endangered species list. Environmentalists heralded the decision saying it was necessary to protect the bears while politicians, such as Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, proclaimed, “the grizzly is recovered in Wyoming. Period.”
Supposedly, decisions about listing and delisting species under the ESA are to be based on science. Therefore, you’d think that it would be a matter of whether there are enough bears to maintain a viable population.
Today there are an estimated 55,000 grizzly bears in North America, most of which live in remote parts of Canada and Alaska. Given those numbers, surely grizzly bears are not threatened with extinction.
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Read the entire piece in The Hill.
