U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today issued the following statement after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced its plan to move forward with the delisting process for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).
“This is great news for Montana. The science is clear—it’s time to delist the grizzly bear. I’m glad to see Fish and Wildlife Service listen to science, Montanans, and Governor Gianforte to move forward with the process to delist the grizzly bear in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystems,” Daines said.
Governor Greg Gianforte filed a petition December 2021.
During his time in the Senate, Daines has been pushing for the administration to delist the grizzly bear in Montana.
In March 2022, Daines and Congressman Matt Rosendale pushed the Biden administration to respond to Governor Greg Gianforte’s petition to delist the grizzly bear in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.
In November 2021, Daines called on Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Senate Democrats to take action on his bill, the “Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2021,” to return grizzly bear management in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem back to Montana.
In July 2021, Daines continued his push for DOI Secretary Haaland to listen to the science and delist and return management of the grizzly bear back to Montana.
In April 2021, Daines urged DOI Secretary Haaland to commit to following science and delist the grizzly.
In March 2021, Daines introduced the “Grizzly Bear State Management Act of 2021,” which would remove grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from the Endangered Species List, prevent further obstruction in the courts, and return management of the species back to the hands of Montanans.
Contact: Matt Lloyd, Rachel Dumke, Blake Kernen