Livestock Producers Denounce Revised Grizzly Bear Listing

WASHINGTON (January 8, 2025) – Today, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) denounced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) revised grizzly bear listing and their rejection of state petitions to delist grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystems.   

“This proposed rule and rejected delisting petitions do nothing other than move the goal posts for species recovery and deny sound science. It is disappointing to see the Fish and Wildlife Service create a single Distinct Population Segment that spans four states, millions of acres, and multiple areas where the science already shows that grizzly bears have recovered,” said NCBA Director of Government Affairs and PLC Garrett Edmonds. “Combining multiple distinct ecosystems into one giant population segment for a solitary, apex predator further muddies the waters of what species recovery looks like and only makes it harder for recovered species to be delisted in the future. By creating this brand-new barrier to recovery, the Biden Administration is further weaponizing the Endangered Species Act and aiming it directly at rural communities on their way out the door.”