Proposed Rule2025-00325
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of the Grizzly Bear in the Lower-48 States
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Published
January 15, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentFish and Wildlife Service
Abstract
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 12-month finding on a petition to establish and delist a Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) distinct population segment (DPS) of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the lower-48 States. After a thorough review of the best scientific and commercial data available, we find that grizzly bears in the petitioned DPS do not, on their own, represent a valid DPS. Thus, we find that the petitioned action to establish and delist a GYE DPS is not warranted at this time.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3763-3765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00325]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2022-0150; FF09E21000-256-FXES11130900000]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding
for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of the Grizzly Bear in the Lower-
48 States
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notification of finding.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a
12-month finding on a petition to establish and delist a Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) distinct population segment (DPS) of the
grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the lower-48 States. After a
thorough review of the best scientific and commercial data available,
we find that grizzly bears in the petitioned DPS do not, on their own,
represent a valid DPS. Thus, we find that the petitioned action to
establish and delist a GYE DPS is not warranted at this time.
DATES: The finding in this document was made on January 15, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The finding and the supporting information that we developed
for this finding, including the species status assessment report and
species assessment form, are available on the internet at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2022-0150. Please submit
any new information, materials, comments, or questions concerning this
finding to the appropriate person, as specified under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hilary Cooley, Grizzly Bear Recovery
Coordinator, Grizzly Bear Recovery Office, telephone: 406-243-4903,
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0c6465606d7e75536f63636069754c6a7b7f226b637a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e9818085889b90b68a8686858c90a98f9e9ac78e869f">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who are
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay
services offered within their country to make international calls to
the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Previous Federal Actions
Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.; hereafter, ``Act''), the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos
horribilis) is currently listed as threatened species in the lower-48
States (40 FR 31734, July 28, 1975). We detail the original rulemaking
and our subsequent actions for the species in our species status
assessment (SSA) report (Service 2024, pp. 74-76) and summarize the
relevant actions for this finding below.
On June 30, 2017, we finalized a rule to establish the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) distinct population segment (DPS) of the
grizzly bear and remove it from the Federal List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife (List) due to recovery (82 FR 30502). However, in
2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana vacated and
remanded the 2017 delisting rule, putting the GYE grizzly bear
population back on the List (as threatened) as part of the lower-48
States listed entity. As a result, the List does not currently include
an entry for a GYE DPS. On March 30, 2021, we completed a 5-year status
review for the grizzly bear in the lower-48 States in which we
concluded that the listed entity should retain its status as a
threatened species under the Act (Service 2021, entire).
On January 21, 2022, we received a petition from the State of
Wyoming (petitioner) to revise the listed entity of grizzly bear under
the Act. The petition requested that we: (1) establish a GYE DPS; and
(2) remove it from the List (``delist''), asserting that the GYE DPS
did not meet the definition of an endangered or threatened species. On
February 6, 2023, we published a 90-day finding (88 FR 7658) that the
petition contained substantial information indicating that establishing
and delisting a GYE DPS may be warranted. This document and our
supporting species assessment form constitutes our 12-month finding on
the January 21, 2022, petition to establish and delist a GYE DPS of
grizzly bear under the Act.
Background
Under section 4(b)(3)(B) of the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), we
are required to make a finding, within 12 months after receiving any
petition that we have determined contains substantial scientific or
commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be
warranted, as to whether the petitioned action is warranted, not
[[Page 3764]]
warranted, or warranted but precluded by other pending proposals (known
as a ``12-month finding''). We must publish a notification of this 12-
month finding in the Federal Register.
This document announces the not-warranted finding on the petition
for the GYE grizzly bear population in accordance with the regulations
at 50 CFR 424.14(h)(2)(i). In this document, we have also elected to
include a summary of the analysis on which this finding is based. This
supporting information can be found on the internet at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2022-0150 (see
ADDRESSES, above). We provide the full analysis, including our
rationale and the data on which the finding is based, in the decisional
file for the petition and our subsequent findings. The species
assessment form contains an explanation of why we determined that
grizzly bears in the petitioned DPS do not, on their own, represent a
valid listable entity such that the petitioned actions are not
warranted at this time. The following is a summary of the documents
containing this full analysis.
Listable Entity Requirements
Under the Act, the term ``species'' includes any subspecies of fish
or wildlife or plants, and any distinct population segment of any
vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature (16 U.S.C.
1532(16)). To interpret and implement the distinct population segment
(DPS) provisions of the Act, the Service and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration published in the Federal Register the Policy
Regarding the Recognition of Distinct Vertebrate Population Segments
Under the Endangered Species Act on February 7, 1996 (61 FR 4722) (DPS
Policy). Under the DPS Policy, we consider three elements to determine
whether to classify a population of a vertebrate species as a DPS: (1)
the discreteness of the population segment in relation to the remainder
of the species to which it belongs; (2) the significance of the
population segment to the species to which it belongs; and (3) the
population segment's conservation status in relation to the Act's
standard for listing, delisting, or reclassification. The Policy
requires that a population segment meet both the discreteness and
significance elements to be considered a valid DPS (i.e., a valid
listable entity) and only then may we consider whether the DPS warrants
listing under the Act.
Summary of Biological Information
The grizzly bear is a large, long-lived mammal that occurs in a
variety of habitat types in portions of Idaho, Montana, Washington, and
Wyoming. Grizzly bears are light brown to nearly black and are so named
for their ``grizzled'' coats with silver or golden tips. Grizzly bears
in the GYE population and the lower-48 States need access to large,
intact blocks of land with limited human influence that provide cover,
high-caloric foods, dens, and areas for dispersal. The specific quality
and quantity of these resources influence the ability of individual
grizzly bears to reproduce, grow, and survive at different life stages
and for the GYE population to be resilient or to withstand stochastic
events (Service 2024, pp. 99-101). Our SSA report provides our full
account of the life history, ecology, range, and historical and current
distribution for the grizzly bear in the GYE population and the lower-
48 States (Service 2024, pp. 39-73).
Summary of Information From the Petition
The petitioner requests that we establish a DPS for the GYE grizzly
bear population (GYE DPS). Specifically, the petitioner requests that
we establish a GYE DPS within the same geographic boundary that we
established as a DPS in our June 30, 2017, final rule (82 FR 30502),
which was subsequently vacated. The petitioner did not provide a new
geographic delineation for the petitioned GYE DPS and instead
referenced the boundary for the GYE DPS that we described in 2017
(hereafter, 2017 GYE DPS). In their arguments to support delisting, the
petitioner indicates that the GYE grizzly bear population's range has
expanded, including a four-fold increase in the occupied range since
the time of listing in 1975. The species assessment form provides
additional summary of the information presented in the petition,
including a map of the petitioned 2017 GYE DPS.
Summary of Finding
In determining whether to recognize the petitioned DPS as a valid
listable entity under the Act, we must base our decision on the best
scientific and commercial data available. Since 2017, the abundance,
distribution, and dispersal of grizzly bears within and surrounding the
GYE has increased. New information supports the petitioner's claim that
the GYE population has increased in size and distribution, so much so
that grizzly bears have dispersed and expanded beyond the western
boundary of the 2017 GYE DPS. The occupied range of the grizzly bear in
both the GYE and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE)
located to the north of the GYE, has steadily expanded over time. From
2016 to 2022, occupied range in the GYE increased by 4 percent
(Dellinger et al. 2023, pp. 22-23) and the NCDE increased by 19 percent
(Costello et al. 2023, p. 13). As a result, the distance between these
occupied ranges has decreased and continues to shrink. Models indicate
that the GYE and NCDE are currently only 98 kilometers (61 miles)
apart, within grizzly bear dispersal distance (Service 2024, p. 54).
In the June 30, 2017, final rule, we stated that the DPS Policy
does not require absolute separation of one population from another and
that occasional interchange does not undermine the discreteness of
potential DPSs (82 FR 30502 at 30518). While we still agree with this
statement, the 2022 estimated occupied range of the GYE population now
extends beyond the 2017 GYE DPS western boundary. We expect this trend
to increase over time.
Additionally, as the populations expand, individual grizzly bears
are dispersing into new areas outside the estimated occupied range.
Since 2017, there have been 190 verified observations of grizzly bears
outside of the current estimated occupied range of grizzly bear
populations in the lower-48 States. Currently, genetic studies have
confirmed that at least two grizzly bears originating from the GYE
population have dispersed beyond the 2017 GYE DPS border (IGBST,
unpublished data). We have also verified 86 observations of grizzly
bears outside of the 2017 GYE DPS boundaries and within potential
connectivity pathways to the NCDE (NCDE Management Zone 2 (NCDE
Subcommittee 2020, entire)) and to the Bitterroot Ecosystem (Sells et
al. 2023, p. 6).
These occurrences outside of areas considered occupied range are
becoming increasingly common, particularly in areas immediately to the
north and west of the 2017 GYE DPS. While in most cases the source
population of such grizzly bears is unknown, a number of them likely
originated from the GYE population, given their close proximity to the
GYE. The locations of these verified observations reveal the leading
edges of grizzly bear expansion within and between ecosystems (see
Service 2024, Fig. 1) (Dellinger et al. 2023, pp. 22-23). With the
increasing trends of population growth and expansion over the last 7
years, we anticipate range expansion
[[Page 3765]]
and dispersal events to continue under current management, including
the protections of the Act, such that natural connectivity between the
NCDE population and GYE population will likely occur in the near future
(Service 2024, p. 54).
To summarize, information provided by the petitioner and the best
scientific and commercial data available indicate that grizzly bear
abundance, distribution, and dispersal have increased, and grizzly
bears have expanded beyond the 2017 GYE DPS boundary. As a result, the
petitioned DPS identified in 2017 is no longer based on the best
scientific and commercial data available and is obsolete. As
populations have grown and expanded, grizzly bears have dispersed
beyond the 2017 GYE DPS boundary, often into areas considered to be
previously unoccupied.
Under our DPS Policy, a population segment of a vertebrate species
may be considered discrete if it satisfies either of the following two
conditions: (1) it is markedly separated from other populations of the
same taxon as a consequence of physical, physiological, ecological, or
behavioral factors (quantitative measures of genetic or morphological
discontinuity may provide evidence of this separation); or (2) it is
delimited by international governmental boundaries within which
significant differences in control of exploitation, management of
habitat, conservation status, or regulatory mechanisms exist that are
significant in light of section 4(a)(1)(D) of the Act. In determining
whether the test for discreteness has been met under the DPS policy, we
allow but do not require genetic evidence to be used.
Although the DPS Policy does not require absolute separation of one
population from another, (82 FR 30502, June 30, 2017, p. 30518), the
standard for discreteness must allow us to distinguish between the DPS
and other members of the species for purposes of administering and
enforcing the Act (61 FR 4722, February 7, 1996, p. 4724). As
summarized above, the best scientific and commercial data available
indicate that the estimated occupied range of the grizzly bear
population in the GYE has expanded since 2017. The NCDE population has
also expanded its range, and the two populations are increasingly
closer in proximity. Due to this expansion, which is expected to
continue in the future under current management, including the
protections of the Act, we no longer consider the 2017 GYE DPS to be
discrete, as grizzly bears have dispersed and expanded to such an
extent that it is not markedly separate from other members of the
taxon. Because grizzly bears within the boundaries of the 2017 GYE DPS
described by the petitioner are not markedly separated from other
populations of the taxon, it does not meet the discreteness element in
the DPS Policy as a consequence of physical, physiological, ecological,
or behavioral factors (61 FR 4722, February 7, 1996). Therefore, we
find that grizzly bears in the 2017 GYE DPS do not, on their own,
represent a valid DPS and we therefore do not consider the status of
grizzly bears in this petitioned entity as a separately listable entity
under the Act. Accordingly, we find that the petitioned action to
establish and delist the GYE DPS is not warranted.
We are in the process of fully evaluating the latest information
regarding the status of the grizzly bear in the lower-48 States in a
rulemaking expected by January 31, 2026. This rulemaking is pursuant to
a settlement agreement associated with the State of Idaho's petition to
delist the grizzly bear in the lower-48 States. That rulemaking, to
either remove or revise the currently listed entity of the grizzly bear
in the lower-48 States, will fully evaluate the best scientific and
commercial data available, which could include potential DPSs, while
considering potential population segment's conservation status and
Congress's direction to exercise DPSs sparingly and only when the
biological evidence indicates that such action is warranted. The trends
of increasing distribution and dispersal point to the need for a
broader, holistic evaluation at the rangewide level, which will be
completed as part of the rulemaking already underway. Consistent with
the DPS Policy, that analysis will require careful consideration of the
extent to which formerly isolated populations are connected, or likely
to be connected, and the need for connectivity to small or isolated
populations and unoccupied recovery zones, given the best and most
recent biological data available that support a durable recovered
grizzly bear in the lower-48 States.
Peer Review
In accordance with our July 1, 1994, peer review policy (59 FR
34270; July 1, 1994) and the Service's August 22, 2016, Director's Memo
on the Peer Review Process, we solicited independent scientific reviews
of the information contained in the SSA report for the grizzly bear in
the lower-48 States. Results of this structured peer review process can
be found at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. We incorporated the results of
these reviews, as appropriate, into the SSA report, which is the
scientific foundation for this finding.
References Cited
A list of the references cited in this petition finding is
available in the species assessment form, which is available on the
internet at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> under Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2022-
0150 (see ADDRESSES, above).
Authors
The primary authors of this document are staff members of the
Grizzly Bear Recovery Office, Ecological Services Program.
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Martha Williams,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-00325 Filed 1-14-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P
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