While the administration did not propose delisting grizzlies in this action, it announced that it is considering issuing a separate final rule on the species’ listing status, potentially creating a pathway for future action to remove ESA protections altogether.Grizzly bears remain listed as threatened under the ESA because they have not recovered across a significant portion of their historic range. Although populations have grown in parts of the northern Rockies, grizzly bears occupy only a fraction of their historic range. Long-term recovery depends on reconnecting isolated populations, protecting habitat, and maintaining strong federal protections and oversight. 

Just 18 months ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) rejected petitions from Wyoming and Montana seeking to delist grizzly bears, concluding that removing ESA protections would be premature because the species had not fully recovered. Instead, the agency proposed retaining ESA protections while revising the grizzly bear's Distinct Population Segment (DPS) and updating the species' 4(d) rule.

The Trump administration's new proposal would create a tiered management system that gives federal, state, and tribal wildlife agencies greater flexibility to manage grizzly bears with less direct federal oversight. It also expands exceptions to the ESA's prohibitions on  “take” (a legal term that includes killing, harming, harassing, trapping, capturing, or otherwise injuring protected wildlife) by allowing additional management activities, incidental take, conflict management, trapping of other species, and other agency actions that previously required greater federal oversight or authorization.

Although grizzly bears would remain listed as threatened species under this proposal, the revised 4(d) rule would substantially reduce the practical protections afforded by the ESA. Coupled with the administration’s announcement that it may issue a separate final rule on the grizzly bear’s listing status, the proposal signals a broader effort to shift from federal recovery to state-led management before recovery is complete. Comments are due by August 17, 2026.