Idaho Gov. Brad Little is asking a court to require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a final rule by the end of next year to revise or remove protections for grizzlies under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The state sued after its petition for grizzly bear delisting in 2022 was denied in February 2023.

“Idaho and neighboring states have worked for more than 40 years in a broad-based effort to support and sustain healthy and reasonable grizzly populations in our states, but legal and bureaucratic gridlock has kept robust populations of grizzly bears unnecessarily under ESA protection,” Little said. “The settlement provides a path to escape regulations that are not necessary in Idaho.”

The litigation comes as some Western states, including Wyoming and Montana, have reported increases in bear-livestock conflicts and depredations in recent years.

Because of federal procedural requirements for making changes to the ESA list, Idaho’s proposed settlement does not guarantee delisting of all grizzly bears. However, the January 2026 deadline makes delisting grizzly bears in Idaho possible by ending the flawed premise of the 1975 listing, state officials argue.

Grizzly bears are a subspecies of brown bear found in Alaska and Canada, where they have never been listed as threatened or endangered. The total grizzly bear population is estimated at over 60,000 bears, with about 2,000 living in the lower 48 in Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, and Montana, and under ESA protection.

The settlement also upholds Idaho’s current practice of seeking Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence before lethally removing nuisance grizzly bears that are safety risks but that do not pose immediate threats.

Source: Office of Idaho Gov. Brad Little