Yellowstone griz back on ESA list

Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem will remain on the endangered species list, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 22.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had planned to delist grizzlies in the ecosystem in 2007, but U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy put the Yellowstone grizzlies back on the endangered species list in 2009 after the Greater Yellowstone Coalition challenged the FWS decision.

Molloy agreed with the coalition that the bears were threatened by the sharp decline of high-altitude whitebark pine, which is blamed on warmer weather, pine beetles and blister rust. The bears eat pine nuts from the trees.

FWS argued for delisting in the appellate court, but the three justices ruled that until the federal government can provide better data explaining how grizzlies will fare without whitebark pine nuts, the bears will remain listed.

Jeff Welsch, Greater Yellowstone Coalition's communications director in Bozeman, says the Yellowstone bears need more habitat and can't pair up with grizzlies in places like Glacier National Park. He didn't foresee whitebark pines returning any time soon.

According to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, fewer than 100 grizzlies inhabited the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the mid-1970s. This year's count is 593, down from 603 last year.