Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Delisting Shows Endangered Species Act Success

On March 22, 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that Yellowstone grizzlies are being removed from the list of species requiring the intensive care provided by the Endangered Species Act.

“Yellowstone grizzly bear recovery is the best kind of proof that the Endangered Species Act is effective in protecting wildlife for our children’s future,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO, National Wildlife Federation. “The nation’s safety net for imperiled wildlife works, and the American people want it to stay that way.”

Find out why NWF is so excited by this announcement by watching this video:

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Transcript of the Video

Tom France, Director, NWF's Northern Rockies Natural Resource Center: I think that grizzly bears are the great wildlife icon of the American West. They symbolize for me personally and for most Americans I think the wild country of the northern Rockies and having grizzly bears is testament to our nation's commitment to wildlife conservation. Study after study, poll after poll, shows that Americans want to see their wildlife heritage maintained not only for this generation, but for the next generation and the generation after that. The success story in the Yellowstone is we brought the grizzly bear population back. It shows that we can do this around the country and should inspire us to really work harder to protect wild populations of animals.

Sterling Miller, Senior Wildlife Biologist, Northern Rockies Natural Resource Center: When I was an undergraduate at the University of Montana some 30 years ago, grizzly bears were just undergoing a tremendous stress. Thirty years later, that grizzly bears have been recovered in the Yellowstone area, that is a tremendous testimony to the effectiveness of coordinated efforts by state and federal agencies, assisted by non-government organizations like the National Wildlife Federation, in achieving success, achieving recovery. Since grizzly bears have recovered in the Yellowstone area, it shows that the Endangered Species Act can work, as it was designed to. It's an example that the United States is willing to undertake the kind of actions necessary to preserve our natural environment and the wildlife that depends on it. If we can do that with grizzly bears and other species, it bodes well for the future of our society.

Chris Servheen, Bear Recovery Coordinator, Grizzly Bear Recovery Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: We need to demonstrate that we can take sensitive species like grizzly bears and provide a space for them in the same places that we live. It's evidence of our success as a civilization and it's important to the future of generations like my kids and their kids.

Tom France: Americans really care about wildlife and the grizzly bear in Yellowstone is something that almost every American has a feel for, every American wants to know that bears there are doing well, that the population is secure, not only now but for future generations. And I think that the success of recovery in the Yellowstone should really make Americans proud about how we're protecting wildlife in this country and should inspire us to keep working to protect other wildlife species and populations. By restoring grizzly bears and recovering bears in the Yellowstone, I think we've sent a powerful message that America is committed to maintaining habitat for bears and many other species of wildlife and that by working together we can ensure that future generations will be able to see bears in the wild.

Chris Servheen: I have two little boys and I want them, when they grow up, to be able to go into the wilderness and into the forest and see grizzly bears in their wild state and see healthy grizzly bear populations and to be able to pass that on to their children and their grandchildren.

Sterling Miller: I think the National Wildlife Federation can be very proud of its role in helping get grizzly bears recovered.

Tom France: The fact that we've been able to work together and turn it around is tremendously exciting to me and I think that Americans should really look at the effort that has taken place in the greater Yellowstone and take heart about how the Endangered Species Act works.