Yellowstone Grizzly Bears – Back on Endangered Species List

On Monday, the U.S. District Court ruling required the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service to put the iconic animal back on the Endangered Species Act protected list.  Furthermore, U.S. Court District Judge Donald Molloy scolded the service for failing to put in place rules to protect grizzlies after their removal from the list. Grizzly bears can no longer be shot by humans.  Even though the hunting of the grizzlies was still illegal while not on the list, shootings seemed to dramatically increase.  This ruling will likely be the first in a long list of environmental policy reversals initiated by the Obama administration.  The Greater Yellowstone Coalition led the pack with a lawsuit in 2007 when the grizzly was removed from the list.   There are still several pending lawsuits in Idaho regarding grizzlies and it is expected this ruling will have an impact.