Earthjustice Responds To Wyoming's Vote To Open Hunt Of Yellowstone Grizzlies | WPN World People News

This week, the Wyoming Fish and Game Commission voted to allow hunters to shoot as many as 22 grizzlies outside of Yellowstone National Park. The hunt, slated to start this September, will be the first allowed in the state in more than four decades. This action was made possible by a 2017 decision by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service to strip Endangered Species Act protections from this population of grizzly bears despite a recent spike in grizzly deaths in the Yellowstone region.

Earthjustice, on behalf of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and several conservation groups, is challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to delist Yellowstone grizzlies, with a hearing scheduled in federal court in Missoula, Mont., on August 30, 2018, before the hunt is to commence.

The following statement is from Tim Preso, Earthjustice attorney in Bozeman, Montana:

“We will do everything we can to use the power of the law to make sure that this illegal delisting decision does not result in dead grizzlies this fall due to Wyoming’s planned hunt. The grizzly is a major part of what makes the region in and around Yellowstone National Park so special and unique. The Yellowstone region’s iconic grizzlies deserve better than to be subjected to trophy hunting based on a half-baked government decision.”

Source: Earthjustice