Overview
- On Tuesday Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced a proposed revision to the Endangered Species Act’s section 4(d) that would give states meeting federal recovery benchmarks greater authority to manage grizzly bears.
- The proposal does not remove the grizzly’s threatened listing under the Endangered Species Act and does not itself authorize hunting.
- Under the plan each state would be allowed to develop its own management plan in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but the administration has released few details about what those plans may permit.
- Conservation groups immediately warned the change could raise grizzly mortality and said they are prepared to sue if state plans or the rule harm recovery, citing past legal wins that blocked a 2019 Wyoming hunt.
- The outcome will hinge on the content of forthcoming state plans, FWS oversight and likely court challenges, and comes as fewer than 2,000 grizzlies remain in isolated lower‑48 populations.