Fifty years ago, a new law significantly altered the landscape of wildlife conservation in the U.S. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) turned 50 on Dec. 28, 2023, providing an opportunity to reflect on its lasting impacts for species of all kinds, including grizzlies.
After two centuries of willful persecution of wildlife in North America, the ESA formalized into our federal structures a counterforce of conservation. Environmental historian Dan Flores, who gave a webinar for Vital Ground last year that you can watch online at youtube.com/ForTheGrizzly, recently wrote that the ESA, "reversed one of the most disturbing histories of wildlife destruction of any modern nation ... expanding the circle of morality."
Under the ESA, grizzly bears were listed as threatened in 1975, with their numbers in the Lower 48 below 700. Threatened species receive a level of protected status one tier below "endangered," but still merit federal protections related to hunting and habitat conservation. Since their initial listing, careful management and the collective coexistence efforts of many stakeholders have allowed grizzlies in the habitat strongholds of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) of western Montana to recover significantly, to a current estimated total of nearly 2,000 individuals. While the populations remain genetically disconnected, these bears are now exploring beyond their protected cores, returning to historic range on the Great Plains and elsewhere.
In 2017, this positive growth led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to briefly remove the GYE grizzly population from the threatened species list. State agencies received full management authority. Tribes and a coalition of nonprofits challenged the USFWS decision, taking it to court where a federal judge ruled that, despite the increase in sheer numbers, the GYE population still warranted federal protection and management oversight due to the lack of genetic exchange with other populations. This legal chapter extended the ongoing debate about the long-term role of ESA protection, what constitutes species recovery, who should be responsible for bear management and whether delisting is an appropriate step at this point in the grizzly's recovery story.
Most recently, USFWS announced that it will soon issue a decision in response to several legal challenges of the grizzly's threatened status. By the end of January 2025, the agency says, it will decide whether or not to delist either the GYE or NCDE populations or, potentially, grizzlies in the Lower 48 as a whole.
As a group dedicated to the grizzly's long-term well-being as a species, Vital Ground closely monitors all decisions, policies and management plans that impact grizzlies on the federal level and in the various states that host or might host grizzlies. We submit public comments situationally but do not take a blanket position on delisting.
Regardless of listing status, natural connectivity will remain an important goal for long-term species stability. That's why Vital Ground dedicates the majority of our focus and resources to permanent habitat protection in key movement areas like the Swan Valley. We value the consistency offered by private land conservation that connects larger landscapes. In addition, our community partnerships - including many in the Seeley-Swan area - enable the use of time-tested safety practices and innovative technologies so people can coexist with grizzlies amid time's shifting winds.
The ESA has been, and remains, an important tool for preserving native wildlife and plants, from grizzly bears to bull trout to orchids. Grizzlies are just one of over 2,000 species protected under the legislation. Many other species are involved in their own complicated recovery situations as our society balances the unique circumstances of climate change, modern management techniques and diverse social and recreational values.
Like the ESA, Vital Ground's efforts ultimately strive for the well-being of multiple species, protecting habitat for an interconnected web of life. We fill our niche and tend to relationships within the broader ecosystem of conservation stakeholders helping shape the future of this landscape.
We know there is no finite end goal for conservation, but rather an ongoing collective journey to love and protect life in all its remarkable and diverse forms and to live with the land in a way that lets that love shine through. Always, but especially in this moment of reflection, we thank our conservation community for being with us on the journey.
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