Congress should support the Grizzly Bear State Management Act

Tomorrow, the House Natural Resources Committee will meet to consider 12 pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the 119^th Congress. One of the bills is Rep. Harriet Hageman’s (R-WY) H.R. 281, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2025.

If passed, this bill would remove grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) from the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Specifically, it would direct the Secretary of the Interior to reissue a 2017 final rule that delisted the bear.

Congress speaking directly on this issue would help ensure that the decision to delist the bears won’t be struck down by a court, something which is always a possibility when a court is reviewing an administrative action. In fact, the bill has express language that says the reissuance of the rule shall not be subject to judicial review.

Grizzly bears in the Lower 48 states have been listed as threatened for half a century. This means that they receive federal protection to continue growing their populations until they meet recovery goals that were created in 1993.

However, the grizzlies in the GYE have surpassed their recovery goals for many years. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), their population has increased nearly eightfold, from 136 to 1,030 in 2023. In fact, the GYE grizzlies have been delisted twice before, in 2007 and 2017, but both times the decisions were overturned in court.

As long as the GYE grizzlies remain listed under the ESA, FWS’s time and resources are being diverted toward a species that has already recovered. This undermines the protection of species that are genuinely threatened or endangered.

Further, states where the bears are located have been putting up millions of their own dollars to help the bears recover with the hope that they will be permanently delisted and regulatory burdens will be lifted. They shouldn’t have to waste resources on a goal that has already been achieved.

Of course, there are also unnecessary regulatory restrictions on property owners due to the listing of the GYE grizzly bear.  

Passing Rep. Hageman’s Grizzly Bear State Management Act would help with species protection, provide regulatory relief to the people who actually deal with the bears, and reward those who played a role in one of the ESA’s biggest success stories.

America is fortunate to have grizzly bears in our ecosystems. They are majestic creatures, but pretending there is a problem that doesn’t exist doesn’t do the bears–or humans—any favors.