BOISE, Idaho _ A federal court last week upheld a decision to keep grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem under the protections of the Endangered Species Act, ending plans in Idaho and Wyoming to allow grizzly hunts.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a 2018 district court decision blocking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from removing the bears from the endangered species list. The district court case began in 2017 as Idaho and Wyoming planned to issue tags for 2018 grizzly hunts. Idaho planned to issue a single tag, as it has the smallest grizzly population of the three states.
The Wednesday decision by the appeals court appears to put an end to future grizzly hunts unless the Fish and Wildlife Service again succeeds in removing the bears from Endangered Species Act protections.
