Mountain States Legal Foundation represents Wyoming
families who support State management of the fully recovered grizzly
bear population surrounding Yellowstone National Park.
February 28, 2018 – DENVER, CO. Wyoming ranchers who know first-hand
the deadly consequences of an ever-growing grizzly bear population have
long been unable to protect their families, workers, livestock, or
property because of the Endangered Species Act. Charles Price, a
fourth-generation rancher in Daniel, has encountered grizzly bears in
ever increasing number—he and fellow ranchers in the Upper Green River
Valley lost 71 cattle to confirmed grizzly bear attacks in 2017 alone.
Mary E. Thoman of La Barge and her family have raised sheep in the area
for more than a century, dating back to when her ancestors emigrated
from Austria in the 1900s and homesteaded land in Wyoming. Not only
have they lost countless sheep due to grizzly bear predation, but also
one of their shepherds was attacked and mauled by a female grizzly in
2010. Today, Mountain States Legal Foundation asked a federal court to
allow these ranchers, along with the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation and
Wyoming Stock Growers Association, to defend their families,
livelihoods, and future when the court addresses management of grizzly
bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. “The grizzly bear, the
most dangerous four-legged beast in north America, is a subject of wild
fascination and idle curiosity to most Americans, but ranchers like
Charles and Mary know them and their destructive power up close and
personal,” said William Perry Pendley, MSLF president. “We intend to
ensure that their voices, real-world experiences, and informed
perspectives are heard by the court.”In June of 2017, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service published a rule designating the grizzly bear
population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (“GYE”) as a “distinct
population segment,” meaning it is both a “discrete” and a “significant”
segment of the overall grizzly bear population. In addition, the
agency concluded, after extensive research and careful monitoring, that
the GYE grizzly bear population exceeded the minimum population goal set
by the Service in 2013, was recovered fully, and is no longer in danger
of becoming extinct (there is only a one percent chance the GYE grizzly
bear could become extinct in the next 100 years). Therefore, the
Service removed the GYE grizzly bear population from any Endangered
Species Act listing to allow the wildlife agencies of Idaho, Montana,
and Wyoming to manage them.Immediately, various environmental groups and
some American Indian tribes sued to reverse the Service’s decision. If
they are successful, the ranchers and farmers in Wyoming will continue
to suffer the ill effects of the region’s ever-increasing grizzly bear
population, without the ability of Wyoming officials to address, let
alone resolve, their legitimate concerns. Mountain States Legal
Foundation, founded in 1977, is a nonprofit, public-interest legal
foundation dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use
property, limited and ethical government, and the free enterprise
system. Its offices are in suburban Denver, Colorado.
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