Deadline to Comment on Grizzly Bear ESA listing Rule, Sat May 17th, 2025

For info. visit

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/15/2025-00329/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-grizzly-bear-listing-on-the-list-of-endangered-and

The USFWS writes

“After a review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we affirm that the currently listed grizzly bear population meets our requirements for consideration as a distinct population segment (DPS) under the Act and that the population remains likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future. However, we find that clarification of the geographic areas included within the DPS is warranted. Therefore, we propose to revise the listing by defining the boundaries of the contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS. The revised entity would include all geographic portions of the currently listed lower-48 entity that contain suitable habitat and where grizzly bears are currently found or are likely to be found in the future as populations recover. This area includes all of Washington and portions of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. The contiguous U.S. grizzly bear DPS would retain threatened species status. This proposed rule would promote conservation of the grizzly bear by ensuring that the listing under the Act explicitly reflects the areas where grizzly bears currently occur and are likely to occur in the future. Clarifying that the listing does not include areas outside of the grizzly bear’s historical range will assist as recovery proceeds. We are also proposing to revise protective regulations for the grizzly bear issued under section 4(d) of the Act.”

The Federal Register Notice says:

“Written comments:FWS will accept comments received or postmarked on or before March 17, 2025. Comments submitted electronically using the Federal eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES , below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on the closing date.”

Despite what it says in the Federal Register, they closed the comment period on the 16th, as I tried to submit comments on 17th and it would not allow such. This must be a violation of law. Before writing test the portal to see if they fixed the glitch.

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Here is link to an on-line, petition by WildEarth Guardians – you must sign it by the 16th.  https://action.wildearthguardians.org/page/66070/petition/1?ea.url.id=3578617

Here is a quote from WildEarth Guardians:

“After rejecting delisting petitions from Wyoming and Montana, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is now proposing a rule that would narrow and weaken current protections for grizzlies. Now is the time to speak up and support grizzly bear recovery!

The agency is proposing to increase bear killings, reduce protected areas, and weaken restrictions to appease commercial livestock operators. Instead, we should prioritize coexistence and non-lethal conflict prevention.

We need to keep all safeguards in place until the science shows grizzly bears are fully recovered, and until the states have adequate rules in place to ensure grizzly bears will thrive for future generations.”

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Protect grizzly bears under the ESA!

Here is a link to Western Watersheds Projects article that criticizes the rule proposal:

https://www.westernwatersheds.org/2025/01/u-s-fish-wildlife-service-maintains-federal-protection-for-grizzlies-but-new-rule-raises-questions-on-long-term-recovery/

Read both of these & you can create a comment letter

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ADDRESSES:

Comment submission: You may submit comments by one of the following methods:

(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal:

https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS-R6-ES-2024-0186, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click on the Search button. On the resulting page, in the panel on the left side of the screen, under the Document Type heading, check the Proposed Rule box to locate this document. You may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment.”

(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R6-ES-2024-0186, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.

FWS request that you send comments only by the methods described above. FWS will post all comments on https://www.regulations.gov. This generally means that FWS will post any personal information you provide them (see Information Requested , below, for more information).

Availability of supporting materials: Supporting materials, such as the species status assessment report, are available at https://www.fws.gov/​species/​grizzly-bear-ursus-arctos-horribilis or at https://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2024-0186.