The status of the grizzly bear in the lower 48 States will be reviewed to determine if the animal is a threatened or endangered species, Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service Director Lynn A. Greenwalt announced today. The public is invited to submit comments on the bear's status.
In announcing the action Greenwalt said he has invited the Governors of Montanta, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Colorado to submit pertinent scientific data for a biological survey of the numbers and distribution of grizzly bears in their remaining habitat.
This decision comes in response to a legally binding petition from the Fund for Animals seeking a review of the bear's situation in the lower 48 States to see if it should be listed as a threatened or endangered species.
Two seperate but related issues exist today concerning the grizzly bear. The first concerns the population status of the species in Yellowstone National Park, an issue now under detailed review by the National Academy of Sciences and for which an environmental impact statement is being prepared. The National Academy report is expected in early June 1974.
The second aspect is broader, concerning the status of the bear in all of the lower 48 States. This second dimension of the problem is the one addressed today by Greenwalt.
If the biological review that Governors and other interested parties have been asked to contribute to indicates the grizzly or any population thereof is either threatened or endangered in the lower 48 States the next immediate step will require the publication of the proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register. A period of at least 60 days following publication of the proposed rulemaking will be provided for the public to comment, and the Interior Department to analyze the submissions, before a final determination is made on the grizzly bear's status.
Any person or organization having information helpful in evaluating the grizzly's status should inform the Office of Endangered Species, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.
