How grizzlies fared the 2021 Montana legislative session
Critics say the shift in management efforts will lead to more grizzlies dying and fly in the face of federal protections of the animal. But supporters of the changes say it will help protect people and livestock from threats of a ballooning grizzly population.
Written By:
Keith Schubert / Daily Montanan | 4:28 pm, May 19, 2021 ×
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and credited to Frank Van Manen.
Bolstered by a political shift in the Montana governor’s office, Republican lawmakers zeroed on legislation this past session aiming to strip grizzly bears of their endangered species protections and shift management efforts to give the state and its residents more autonomy over dealing with conflicts caused by the animal.
At the end of a press conference Thursday after the echoes of the final gavel rang through the House and Senate chambers, Republican lawmakers started asking where to get a copy of talking points to take back home.
For GOP members of all stripes, the list of party wins to show their constituents is long â from a slew of tax cuts and lifting regulations on businesses to reducing access to abortion and increasing places where firearms can be carried.
Majority Republicans came to Helena with a self-branded mandate after one of the most dominant election showings in years. They left last week claiming victory over the agenda laid out in January.Â
Grizzly bears should be delisted from the Endangered Species Act in the entirety of the state of Montana and delisting should be exempt from judicial review, the Montana Legislature declared in a resolution passed Friday.
Senate Joint Resolution 18 brought by Sen. Bruce âButchâ Gillespie, R-Kevin, passed both chambers of the Legislature primarily along party lines with majority Republicans in support. Resolutions have no statutory effect, but lawmakers often pass them to indicate positions on federal policies, to commemorate historic events or support programs around the state.
The Legislature has passed resolutions in past sessions encouraging delisting of grizzly bears, which were listed as threatened in 1973. Management of the bears is one of the biggest wildlife issues facing the state as populations of the bruins continue to grow and ranges expand.
The legal issue with the bill, several opponents pointed out, is that because grizzly bears are federally protected they fall under federal rather than state law. Federal law currently allows