Bitter fight over grizzlies far from over

BILLINGS, Mont. — One of the most pristine expanses of wilderness in the lower 48 states grew even wilder over the past two decades, with the resurgence of grizzly bears across 9 million acres in and around Yellowstone National Park.

Those grizzlies will be cut loose from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act today. The move is being hailed by the Bush administration as a landmark in the drive to protect the bears' vast habitat.

But a lawsuit to reverse the administration's ruling already is being drafted, illustrating that the bitter fight over grizzlies — and the wild lands they roam — is far from over.

The preservation groups behind the pending legal challenge claim the administration is delisting grizzlies as part of its agenda to expand logging, oil and gas exploration and grazing on Western lands. They also argue the administration is ignoring new perils for grizzlies, in global warming and the boom in vacation home construction that is sweeping across the West.

"This is politics pure and simple. This is an animal that needs a significant amount of habitat, and there's a lot of interest in using some of that room and some of that habitat" for other purposes, said Louisa Wilcox, who heads the Wild Bears Project for the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of eight groups preparing a joint lawsuit over Yellowstone-area grizzlies.

Federal wildlife officials and some conservation groups say the litigation could throw a cloud over the entire endangered species program, obscuring one of the program's rare success stories.

"I don't think the Endangered Species Act has to be the club to always hold over people's heads," said Mitch King, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "What we need to do is turn populations around, get them on the right track, and then work with states and other agencies to keep them on the right track."

Four other grizzly populations in the Northern Rockies will retain their "threatened" status.

As many as 50,000 grizzlies once ranged the western half of the United States. Adults can top 6 feet tall and reach 600 pounds — striking terror in early European settlers who routinely shot, poisoned and trapped grizzlies until they were reduced to less than 2 percent of their historic range.

The Yellowstone-area population has grown from an estimated 200 animals in 1981 to more than 600 today in parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

Their rebound followed a lengthy effort to reduce human influences within the lush river valleys, sprawling mountain ranges and dense woodlands where bears reside.