A federal district court judge in Missoula has ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must reconsider whether to list Montana's Arctic grayling population under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency argued the listing is not warranted. The court's action was in response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of advocacy groups.

There are six grayling fish species in the Northern Hemisphere, but the colorful Arctic grayling is the only one found in North America and is already extinct in Michigan.

Patrick Kelly, Montana and Washington director for the Western Watersheds Project, part of the coalition suing the agency, said the grayling faces an uphill environmental battle.

"The elephant in the room here with a fish that is very dependent on cold water is climate change, and heat waves and drought, and everything associated with this human-caused phenomenon," Kelly explained.

The court order said the Fish and Wildlife Service has a year to make a new determination on the Arctic grayling. The battle over the fish began in 1991, but the agency contended based on its best science, the fish should not be added to the Endangered Species List.

Kelly pointed out the grayling have continued to face population decline and habitat degradation as the climate changes. He noted the West has faced some of the hottest weather on record and there have been huge stream closures on key rivers where grayling live.

"They're struggling and they have been for a long time," Kelly emphasized. "That's why this is such an important decision, because it's yet another chance, hopefully, for the agency to do the right thing and list this fish, so it can be protected and recovered under the Endangered Species Act."

Protection would require a federal recovery plan to address chronic low water flows in Montana's iconic Big Hole River, among other steps.


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A federal decision on the endangered status of grizzly bears has been delayed.

Wildlife managers in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove grizzly bears from the federal endangered species list in certain areas, including the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It would leave states in charge of their management.

According to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, the region's population has met recovery criteria for more than two decades, after the species gained federal protections in 1975.

Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the population's spread across isolated ecosystems can be detrimental to recovery.

"Because Yellowstone bears are completely isolated from any other population, they have genetic diversity issues," Zaccardi pointed out. "The ideal is that we keep these bears protected until the populations are connected and there's actual genetic exchange."

A federal decision expected on July 31 was delayed until early 2025. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said the delay is to ensure consistency in decisions across several petitions. Gov. Mark Gordon called the missed deadline unacceptable.

The Yellowstone area is spread across three states, so if grizzlies are delisted federally, they would be subject to multiple state management plans and hunting regulations.

Rick King, chief game warden and wildlife division chief for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said there is already a tri-state agreement and, with the National Park Service, a conservation strategy prepared.

"That provides the overarching guidance and commitments that all of the states and those agencies will make to ensure a healthy and robust grizzly bear population persists," King contended. "Even once they're removed from the ESA list."

Yellowstone grizzlies were delisted briefly both in 2007 and 2017 but both decisions were overturned in court.


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The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will soon have a new director, and she's taking stock of the challenges ahead.

More than half of Wyoming's total acreage is public land, and it's the least densely populated state in the Lower 48. So the director of its Game and Fish Department has a big job managing wildlife and habitats.

Gov. Mark Gordon recently appointed Angi Bruce to the role, the first woman to helm the agency. She is scheduled to take office in September.

Bruce said the state has a strong legacy, including the highest population of greater sage-grouse in the country, and the longest mule deer migration corridor in the world. But as weather patterns change and public land use increases, Bruce said the agency will need to focus on habitat resiliency.

"So, really looking at how we can make our habitat even stronger and more resilient to have the wildlife be able to take in those stressors and maintain their healthy populations will be a huge priority in the next few years," she said, "but then over the next decade as well."

Wildlife conservation requires work across agencies, which Bruce said makes outcomes stronger. She's looking out for important upcoming federal decisions that will affect state wildlife management for greater sage-grouse and resource management in the Rock Springs area.

Bruce said the department faces challenges including wildlife diseases. Chronic Wasting Disease, for one, is a fatal condition that affects mule and white-tailed deer, elk and moose, and its steady spread has become more concerning in recent years.

"Disease is where we don't have all the answers," she said, "and we definitely need more work done both management and research to understand it."

In her first year, Bruce said, she will prioritize listening to others-both within her department and Wyoming citizens at large.


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An art exhibit in Seattle is highlighting the dire situation for orca off the coast of Washington.

The show, called SUPER POD: All Together features all the members of the endangered Southern Resident orca pods.

Gabriel Newton, the artist behind the project, painted the whales in acrylic on 45 pieces of wood found on the shores of the Salish Sea, where the whales travel and feed. He said the whales are struggling to hold on.

"It was inspired by wanting to raise awareness around the plight that they're in and the lack of food that they're experiencing," Newton explained. "And to motivate people to take action to help the orcas recover."

There were 74 members of the Southern Residents left when Newton started the project but a recent population analysis found there are only 72 left. Newton argued removing dams on the lower Snake River would allow more chinook salmon, which are the whales' main food source, to travel to the Pacific Ocean. The exhibit opens at the A/NT Gallery at Seattle Center Aug. 1.

Deborah Giles, science and research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, said the lack of prey is the biggest issue for the Southern Resident orcas. She stressed drastic action is needed to save them, including curtailing fishing to ensure they have enough food.

"These whales are not recovering, and they're not recovering because we're not taking serious enough action with regard to fisheries management," Giles contended. "That's the bottom line."

Newton added it is critical to save the killer whales and salmon, not just for them but for us as well.

"Anytime a thread in the web of life is broken our own capacity to thrive is reduced," Newton asserted. "I view orcas and salmon as both very integral threads."


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