“Grizzly bears live on only 4 percent of the lands they once roamed in the lower 48 states,” said Brett Hartl, endangered species policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity............... “If the Service moves to delist the Yellowstone bear population — one of the few populations the agency has made any effort to recover — it’ll declare the job done and close the door on recovering these magnificent animals across other parts of their historic range, just as it’s trying to do with gray wolves".................."Extensive areas of suitable habitat for grizzly bears exist across the western United States". ................"A legal petition filed by the Center last week identified more than 110,000 square miles of potential grizzly habitat in places like the Gila/Mogollon complex in Arizona and New Mexico, Utah’s Uinta Mountains, California’s Sierra Nevada and the Grand Canyon in Arizona".............. "If additional recovery efforts are initiated in this area, grizzly bear populations could expand from roughly 1,500 today to as many as 6,000 bears"............. "But none of this will happen if the Service ends protections in Yellowstone"

Grizzly Bears Need Continued Endangered Species Act Protection to Survive, Conservation Groups Say