By SUZANNE DOWNING
July 15, 2026 – The Trump administration has proposed shifting day-to-day management of grizzly bears in parts of the Lower 48 to state wildlife agencies, a move that supporters say recognizes decades of conservation success while keeping the species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the proposal Tuesday in Montana, joined by the governors of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Although grizzly bears would remain listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, state wildlife agencies would take the lead in managing bear populations within their borders under a new federal framework. Hunting would remain prohibited under the proposal.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service will open a 30-day public comment period after publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register.
“Grizzly bear conservation has steadily advanced over the decades in many portions of the species’ range,” Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik said in announcing the proposal. “This proposal recognizes these successes and right-sizes management where the greatest conservation success has taken place.”
The announcement is the latest chapter in a decades-long debate over whether recovered grizzly populations in the Northern Rockies should continue to receive federal protection.
Western governors welcomed the proposal, arguing that the bears have rebounded enough for states to manage conflicts with livestock producers and rural communities.
“When you have bears showing up in corn mazes, it means that they are recovered,” Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said during Tuesday’s announcement.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said wildlife decisions are best made by those closest to the issue.
“Decisions should be made close to the people affected by them,” Gianforte said.
Conservation groups immediately criticized the proposal, arguing that grizzly populations remain too fragmented and vulnerable to habitat loss to justify reducing federal oversight.
Greg LeDonne, Idaho director for the Western Watersheds Project, said the proposal was driven by politics rather than biology, arguing it does not comply with the Endangered Species Act’s scientific requirements.
The proposal follows years of litigation and political pressure from Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, whose leaders have sought full delisting of grizzlies. Idaho previously sued the Fish and Wildlife Service over the species’ status, leading to a settlement requiring the agency to reconsider its management approach.
For Alaska, however, the debate is largely academic.
Unlike the grizzly populations in the Lower 48, Alaska’s brown bears, including inland grizzlies, have never been listed under the Endangered Species Act. They have long been managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game under state authority.
That management model has produced one of the healthiest brown bear populations anywhere in the world.
Alaska is home to an estimated 30,000 brown bears, including both inland grizzlies and the larger coastal brown bears. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, that represents roughly 98% of all grizzly bears in the United States and more than 70% of North America’s grizzly population.
Bear densities vary dramatically across the state. Coastal regions with abundant salmon, such as Kodiak Island, Admiralty Island, and the Alaska Peninsula, support some of the highest brown bear densities on Earth, sometimes approaching one bear per square mile. Interior and Arctic regions have much lower densities because food sources are more limited.
The contrast supports a longstanding argument made by Alaska officials: that state wildlife managers are often better positioned than Washington, DC to balance conservation with local needs.
Environmentalists repeatedly complain that the State of Alaska harvests too many grizzlies in support of subsistence hunters who compete with the bears for sustenance.
The Trump administration has emphasized returning wildlife management authority to states whenever federal law allows. Interior Secretary Burgum has made local control a recurring theme across multiple resource and wildlife policy announcements since taking office.
The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that approximately 1,900 grizzly bears now live in the Lower 48, a significant increase from roughly 700 to 800 bears when the species was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. Before European settlement, an estimated 50,000 grizzlies ranged across much of the western United States.
Whether the latest proposal ultimately leads to greater state authority or eventually to complete removal of federal protections will depend on the outcome of the public comment process and likely future court challenges.
