Washington, D.C. – The Wyoming Congressional Delegation announced today that after 30 years of being “endangered or threatened,” the Yellowstone grizzly bear population will take its next lumbering step toward being removed from the Endangered Species List (ESA).

Senators Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi, along with Congresswoman Barbara Cubin, all R-WY, continue to fight to reform the ESA.

“The grizzly population has been at recovery level for 10 years. The bear is an example of the need to reform the Endangered Species Act. The focus of the ESA should be recovery -- clearly, the act can be better,” Thomas said.

“This is something we’ve been planning on since before I worked on grizzly issues when I served in the Wyoming Legislature in the 1990s. Today, with this announcement we pick up the pace that I hope will remain quick and steady. I look forward to working with the Department to see this proposal accepted and to see the grizzly bear de-listed in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem early next year,” said Enzi.

"This is a positive step, but the length of time this process has taken should be proof enough that we need to reform the ESA,” Cubin said. “The grizzly should have been de-listed some time ago. In the 32 years since the ESA was enacted, more than 1,300 plants and animals have been listed, but only 39 have been de-listed, and only 10 were actually recovered. This is a failure rate, not a success rate. We all hope the grizzly will be number 40, but the ESA's past history doesn't exactly inspire confidence. The ESA is badly flawed and in desperate need of reform."

Four other grizzly populations in the lower 48 states have not yet recovered and will continue to be protected as threatened species under the ESA.

Grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area have made a remarkable recovery in the past three decades. When the species was listed, only 220 to 320 bears remained in the ecosystem, and these animals were jeopardized by loss of habitat and high mortality from conflict with humans. Today, the Yellowstone grizzly population is well over 600.

The proposal to delist the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears will be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, November 17. The public can submit comments on the proposal to: Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University Hall 309, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812. Comments can also be sent by electronic mail to FW6_grizzly_yellowstone@fws.gov. All comments must be received by February 15, 2006.