USFWS Decision on Updated ESA Listing for Grizzly Bears Expected January 2026

UPDATE:
House Natural Resources Committee Voted to Delist the Greater Yellowstone Grizzly Population

Contact Your Elected Officials!
Use The Buttons Below To Contact Your Senators and Representatives:

  • Tell them you care about grizzly bears: It's important to stress why people value grizzlies as a keystone species, especially from those of us who frequently share the landscape with these iconic mammals. 

  • Show your support for maintaining threatened status for all grizzly bears in the lower 48: Continued federal protections are the best way to ensure the long-term viability of the species in the Northern Rockies. 

  • Express agreement with the USFWS's assessment that delisting is not warranted: Tell your Senators and Representatives that the best science and the agency tasked with managing grizzlies indicate that delisting now would not benefit the species.

In January, 2025 the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposed update to grizzly bear Endangered Species Act Listing and Management, maintaining Endangered Species Act protections for grizzlies in the lower 48 states.

The proposed action responds to petitions by Montana and Wyoming to delist current populations in the Greater Yellowstone and North Continental Divide Ecosystems. The USFWS determined that delisting the populations is “not warranted.”

This revision establishes a single distinct population segment (DPS) of grizzlies, which will retain threatened status under the ESA. This update aligns with current research, which has documented grizzlies moving between the current recovery zones, indicating that those populations are no longer discrete and have developed into a single population covering a larger area.

However, the proposal removes ESA protections outside of the new DPS, significantly diminishing where grizzly bears are protected. and includes increased flexibility for management agencies and authorized landowners to kill grizzly bears involved in conflicts.

Overall, this is step forward for the species and highlights the continued need for habitat protections to support grizzly movement, connectivity, and long-term recovery.

 

The proposed update would create a single population segment for grizzly bears encompassing the 6 current distinct population segments, retaining threatened status within the new DPS.

 

Stay Informed

If you would like more information please visit the Grizzly Bear Recovery Program webpage.