Wyoming congressmen applaud grizzly delisting

The Wyoming congressional delegation is pleased with the Department of Interior’s announcement Thursday that the Yellowstone grizzly bear will be de-listed from the Endangered Species List by late July. The delegation released the following statements Thursday. “I am pleased to see the administration recognizing the recovered status of the grizzly bear in the Yellowstone area,” Enzi said. “Grizzly bears in Yellowstone have been recovered for many years, so it is good to see management returned to state hands where it belongs. This is great news for Wyoming.” “We already know the grizzly bear has fully recovered in Wyoming,” said Barrasso. “After years of Washington moving the goal posts, Wyoming should be able to move forward with managing our wildlife. The grizzly bear’s recovery demonstrates just how capable Wyoming is in effectively recovering threatened and endangered species.” “For years the Obama Administration failed to acknowledge the successful hard work and dedication of the state, tribal, and federal partners which led to the healthy recovery of the grizzly bear population inside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Cheney. “This welcome decision to delist the grizzly bear from the Endangered Species Act rightly returns management of the Yellowstone grizzly to where it should be, under the control of experts in Wyoming, not Washington.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will release a final supplement to the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan for the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear population. The delisting strategy was finalized by the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team in December of 2016. The document is available here.