Judge Deciding Fate of Proposed Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Hunt

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen is preparing to hear arguments over a hunt of 22 Grizzly bears in Wyoming’s Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

Grizzly bears have been a protected species since 1975, when their numbers were estimated at 136. USA Today reports that the estimate today is roughly 700 Grizzly bears.

Some hunters, like guide Sy Gilliland, stress the need to hunt the bears as a way of controlling their population and ensuring the continued health of the bears going forward. Other hunters say the bear population has grown so large that it is becoming a threat to humans in the area, and must be curtailed for the harmony of the existence of both men and bears.

In 2017 at least 14 Grizzly bears in Wyoming were killed because they “attacked livestock or threatened humans.” Nine more Grizzlies were killed when they threatened hunters.

But opposition to the proposed hunt exists. A total of 73 biologists, ecologists, species fund managers, and others signed a letter to Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R), asking him to “stay the hunt until Wyoming’s proposed sport hunt of grizzly bears receives external peer review and subsequent adjudication by independent scientists.”

Additionally, a total of six suits have been filed against the hunt, all of which are consolidated under Crow Indian Tribe v. United States of America. (Case No. CV-17-89-M-DLC).

Judge Christensen will hear opening arguments in the case on August 30.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.