Acting on orders from a U.S. district judge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will review the status of grizzly bears across the Lower 48 states. Environmental advocates want to place grizzlies into 12 states.
The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group based in Arizona well known for filing lawsuits as a way to generate funding, previously filed suit against the federal government citing what it deems as 110,000 square miles of potential grizzly habitat across Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Specific locations mentioned include California’s Sierra Nevada, the Selway-Bitterroot in Idaho and Montana, and the Grand Canyon.
According to the Associated Press, the review must be complete by March 31, 2021.
(Photo source: U.S. Geological Survey)