Save the Yellowstone Grizzly

09/03/2026

Medicine Grizzly Lake is one of the most sacred places to the Blackfeet Nation. For countless generations, the Blackfeet have coexisted with the grizzly, developing a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the great bear.

In honor of this enduring relationship, let’s protect grizzlies and the wild places they need to survive for future generations.

Please comment on the proposed Roadless Rule repeal and Travel Management Rule revisions. Your voice matters.

🐻 TAKE ACTION FOR GRIZZLIES

Learn more and submit your comments at SaveTheGriz dot org

Keep informed, get our enews text GRIZ to 66866

The Griz Abides. Can We?

09/02/2026

ANOTHER THREAT TO GRIZZLY HABITAT
Forest Service Travel Management Plan

The U.S. Forest Service is proposing major changes to how roads, trails, and motorized access are managed across our National Forests.

The proposal would:
• Create an “open unless closed” policy that presumes existing roads, trails, and other access routes are open unless there is a documented reason to restrict them.
• Remove national criteria intended to minimize impacts of motorized use.
• Require annual reviews of closed or highly restricted routes.
• Allow some off-route motorized use, including retrieval of downed big game.
• Exempt Class 1 e-bikes from motor vehicle designation requirements on trails where bicycles are allowed, subject to restrictions.

For grizzlies, more motorized access can mean less secure habitat, more disturbance, more human-bear encounters, and greater barriers to connectivity.

Combined with the proposed repeal of the Roadless Rule, these changes could put some of our wildest remaining grizzly habitat at greater risk.

Speak up for secure, connected grizzly habitat.

Comments are due Wednesday, September 23, 2026.

Submit comments link in Bio >>

Grizzlies Are Not Recovered.

Learn more at SaveTheGriz.org
Text GRIZ to 66866.

09/01/2026

Five sweeping federal actions could fundamentally reshape the future of America’s public lands, endangered species, and grizzly bear recovery. This commentary connects the dots, showing how changes to the Endangered Species Act, grizzly protections, the Roadless Rule, and travel management could collectively alter our wild landscapes for generations.

Read The Five Horseman of the Apocalypse in the Daily Montanan , link in Comments >>

Learn more on our website savethegriz dot org.

Keep informed: Text GRIZ to 66866 for our free e-news and action alerts.

08/31/2026

The Trump administration has formally proposed eliminating the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of National Forest lands from most new road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting.

In Montana alone, approximately 6.4 million acres of National Forest lands are inventoried roadless areas.

For grizzly bears, this isn’t just about logging.

It’s about secure habitat and connectivity.

Roadless lands provide some of the wildest and most secure habitat remaining for grizzlies. New roads increase human access, fragment habitat, displace bears, and can increase the risk of human-caused mortality.

The Forest Service acknowledges that eliminating the rule could increase opportunities for roads, timber harvest, fuels treatments, and some mineral and energy development.

GRIZZLIES NEED SECURE, CONNECTED HABITAT

Grizzly recovery is not simply about how many bears exist today.
True recovery requires bears to move between isolated populations, maintain genetic diversity, expand into suitable habitat, and reclaim more of their historic range.

That makes roadless lands especially important for explorer bears moving beyond established populations and toward landscapes such as the Bitterroot, where grizzlies are beginning to return after decades of absence.

Every new road can bring more human activity into previously secure habitat and with it, greater potential for disturbance, conflict, and mortality.

We should be reconnecting grizzly habitat, not carving it up with more roads.

TRIBES ARE RAISING CONCERNS TOO

The Forest Service reports that the majority of Tribal governments consulted oppose rescinding the Roadless Rule, raising concerns about sacred sites, traditional gathering areas, water quality, subsistence resources, Tribal sovereignty, and increased industrial development.

TAKE ACTION BY SEPTEMBER 21

Tell the USDA and Forest Service:
Keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. Protect secure and connected wildlife habitat from unnecessary roads, logging, and development. Grizzly bears need large, intact landscapes and safe pathways between populations to achieve true recovery.

Submit your comment link in the comments >>

Learn more at SaveTheGriz.org
Text GRIZ to 66866 for our free e-news and action alerts.

08/17/2026

Last Day To Public Comment: Stop the Expansion of State Control Over Grizzly Bears. Comments due today, Monday, August, 17

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comments on a proposed revision to the 4(d) rule that would expand state authority over federally protected grizzly bears while they remain listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal would also revise the regulations governing when grizzly bears may be killed, injured, or harassed, giving qualifying states broader authority to lethally manage (kill) "conflict" grizzly bears with less case-by-case federal oversight.

Grizzly bears have not fully recovered. They continue to occupy only a small fraction of their historic range in the lower 48 states. True recovery depends on reconnecting isolated populations, protecting secure habitat, preparing communities to coexist with bears, and allowing grizzlies to adapt to a changing climate not expanding state authority over lethal management before recovery is complete.

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that grizzly bear recovery should be strengthened not weakened.

Talking Points

• Grizzly Bears Are Not Recovered. Grizzly bears still occupy only a small fraction of their historic range in the lower 48 states. Recovery is not complete.

• Recovery Depends on Connectivity. Explorer bears are essential for reconnecting Yellowstone, the Northern Continental Divide, the Bitterroot, the Selkirks, the Cabinet-Yaak, and future recovery landscapes. As climate change alters food availability and habitat conditions, these bears will become even more important for maintaining genetic diversity and helping populations adapt. They should be protected not placed at greater risk.

• Climate Change Makes Connectivity Even More Important. Climate change is transforming the landscapes grizzly bears depend on. Federal management should protect habitat connectivity that allows bears to naturally disperse into suitable new areas rather than increasing the likelihood of lethal removal.

• Prioritize Conflict Prevention
Conflict prevention should always come before lethal removal. The Fish and Wildlife Service should require proven nonlethal measures before authorizing the killing of federally protected grizzly bears.

• Keep Strong Federal Oversight. As long as grizzly bears remain protected under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government should retain strong oversight of lethal management decisions rather than shifting greater authority to the states.

• Learn From the Tetonia Tragedy. The deaths of the Tetonia mother grizzly and her cubs demonstrated why stronger accountability is needed not less. The Service should strengthen federal oversight and emphasize prevention instead of expanding state authority over lethal management.

• Support Bear Smart Communities. Invest in Bear Smart Communities by expanding bear-resistant trash containers, secure food storage, attractant management, community education, and other proven measures that prevent conflicts before they occur.

• Promote Bear Spray. Encourage hunters, outfitters, anglers, hikers, and all backcountry recreationists traveling through grizzly habitat to carry and know how to use bear spray. It remains one of the most effective tools for preventing serious injuries to both people and bears.

• Invest in Coexistence
Expand funding for electric fencing, bear-resistant trash containers, carcass removal, range riders, livestock conflict prevention, food storage requirements, and public education. Preventing conflicts protects both people and grizzly bears.

• Include Tribal Leadership
Native American Tribes have lived alongside grizzly bears for thousands of years and should play a central role in grizzly conservation and management. Traditional ecological knowledge deserves equal consideration alongside Western science.

• Complete Recovery Before Expanding State Authority
The Endangered Species Act was enacted to recover imperiled species until federal protections are no longer necessary. The focus should remain on restoring connected grizzly populations across suitable habitat before expanding state authority over their management.

Personalize your comment and make your voice heard.

Public comments are due today Monday, August 17, 2026.

Link to submit your comment in the comments below.

Stay informed about the latest grizzly bear conservation news and action alerts. Text GRIZ to 66866 to get our free e-newsletter

Thanks!

08/17/2026

Last Day To Public Comment: Stop the Expansion of State Control Over Grizzly Bears. Comments due today, Monday, August, 17

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comments on a proposed revision to the 4(d) rule that would expand state authority over federally protected grizzly bears while they remain listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal would also revise the regulations governing when grizzly bears may be killed, injured, or harassed, giving qualifying states broader authority to lethally manage (kill) "conflict" grizzly bears with less case-by-case federal oversight.

If finalized, qualifying states would gain broader authority to manage "conflict" grizzly bears while reducing case-by-case federal oversight. We believe this moves grizzly conservation in the wrong direction by weakening the federal protections grizzly bears still need.

Grizzly bears have not fully recovered. They continue to occupy only a small fraction of their historic range in the lower 48 states. True recovery depends on reconnecting isolated populations, protecting secure habitat, preparing communities to coexist with bears, and allowing grizzlies to adapt to a changing climate not expanding state authority over lethal management before recovery is complete.

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that grizzly bear recovery should be strengthened not weakened.

Talking Points

• Grizzly Bears Are Not Recovered. Grizzly bears still occupy only a small fraction of their historic range in the lower 48 states. Recovery is not complete.

• Recovery Depends on Connectivity. Explorer bears are essential for reconnecting Yellowstone, the Northern Continental Divide, the Bitterroot, the Selkirks, the Cabinet-Yaak, and future recovery landscapes. As climate change alters food availability and habitat conditions, these bears will become even more important for maintaining genetic diversity and helping populations adapt. They should be protected not placed at greater risk.

• Climate Change Makes Connectivity Even More Important. Climate change is transforming the landscapes grizzly bears depend on. Federal management should protect habitat connectivity that allows bears to naturally disperse into suitable new areas rather than increasing the likelihood of lethal removal.

• Prioritize Conflict Prevention
Conflict prevention should always come before lethal removal. The Fish and Wildlife Service should require proven nonlethal measures before authorizing the killing of federally protected grizzly bears.

• Keep Strong Federal Oversight. As long as grizzly bears remain protected under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government should retain strong oversight of lethal management decisions rather than shifting greater authority to the states.

• Learn From the Tetonia Tragedy. The deaths of the Tetonia mother grizzly and her cubs demonstrated why stronger accountability is needed not less. The Service should strengthen federal oversight and emphasize prevention instead of expanding state authority over lethal management.

• Support Bear Smart Communities. Invest in Bear Smart Communities by expanding bear-resistant trash containers, secure food storage, attractant management, community education, and other proven measures that prevent conflicts before they occur.

• Promote Bear Spray. Encourage hunters, outfitters, anglers, hikers, and all backcountry recreationists traveling through grizzly habitat to carry and know how to use bear spray. It remains one of the most effective tools for preventing serious injuries to both people and bears.

• Invest in Coexistence
Expand funding for electric fencing, bear-resistant trash containers, carcass removal, range riders, livestock conflict prevention, food storage requirements, and public education. Preventing conflicts protects both people and grizzly bears.

• Include Tribal Leadership
Native American Tribes have lived alongside grizzly bears for thousands of years and should play a central role in grizzly conservation and management. Traditional ecological knowledge deserves equal consideration alongside Western science.

• Complete Recovery Before Expanding State Authority
The Endangered Species Act was enacted to recover imperiled species until federal protections are no longer necessary. The focus should remain on restoring connected grizzly populations across suitable habitat before expanding state authority over their management.

Personalize your comment and make your voice heard.

Public comments are due today Monday, August 17, 2026.

Link to submit your comment in the comments below.

Stay informed about the latest grizzly bear conservation news and action alerts. Text GRIZ to 66866 to get our free e-newsletter

Thanks!

08/12/2026

RETURN OF THE GRIZZLY: MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER

The fight to protect grizzly bears has only intensified since this film premiered.
As new Endangered Species Act rollbacks and proposals to expand state control threaten grizzly recovery, Return of the Grizzly is more relevant than ever.

If you haven’t seen it, or if it’s been a while, we invite you to watch and share this award-winning documentary, narrated by Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges and scored by Bill Payne of Little Feat.

Watch on our page or YouTube channel.

🐻 TAKE ACTION: PUBLIC COMMENTS DUE MONDAY, AUGUST 17

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposed rule that would expand state authority over federally protected grizzly bears while they remain listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Grizzlies are not recovered. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that recovery should be strengthened, not weakened, and that expanding state control before true recovery is achieved puts grizzly bears at greater risk.

👉 Submit your public comment by Monday, August 17, 2026.

Link in Comments >>

🌲 Learn more and take action at SaveTheGriz.org

📱 Text GRIZ to 66866 to receive our free e-news and action alerts.

🎥 Watch. Share. Take Action.

The Griz Abides. Can We?

Thanks to our participants James Holt Sr., Doug Peacock, Michael Hausman, Terry Tempest Williams, Barrie Gilbert, Thomas McGuane, Bryce Andrews, Breanna Black, Jamie Jonkel, Blake Nicolazzo, Sherri Baxter, Marcel Huijser, Yvon Chouinard, Kari Kingery, Savannah Rose, Jeff Wirth, Orion Bellorado, CMarie Fuhrman , and Thomas Mangelsen.

Special thanks to Patagonia and the Sierra Club (Montana Sierra Club ).

08/12/2026

"To now allow cattle into this place clearly creates a major conflict as well as a rich food source for the bears – cattle. So, bears die for being bad actors and killing livestock, while the real culprits are the ranchers and agency people that unethically place the livestock into these places in spite of their own data showing it is not needed."

Every year, a record number of grizzlies die in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Last year, 73. Allowing cattle to graze again in this area is only going to increase that number. Wyoming should not be allowed to manage grizzlies.

Learn more text GRIZ to 66866 to receive our free e-news and action alerts.

In a couple of sentences buried deep in so-called “annual operating instructions”, the Bridger Teton National Forest decided to allow cattle from the

08/11/2026

RETURN OF THE GRIZZLY: MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER

The fight to protect grizzly bears has only intensified since this film premiered.

As new Endangered Species Act rollbacks and proposals to expand state control threaten grizzly recovery, Return of the Grizzly is more relevant than ever.

If you haven’t seen it, or if it’s been a while, we invite you to watch and share this award-winning documentary, narrated by Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges and scored by Bill Payne of Little Feat.

🐻 TAKE ACTION: PUBLIC COMMENTS DUE MONDAY, AUGUST 17

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a proposed rule that would expand state authority over federally protected grizzly bears while they remain listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Grizzlies are not recovered. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that recovery should be strengthened, not weakened, and that expanding state control before true recovery is achieved puts grizzly bears at greater risk.

👉 Submit your public comment by Monday, August 17, 2026.
Link in Comments >>

🌲 Learn more and take action at SaveTheGriz.org

📱 Text GRIZ to 66866 to receive our free e-news and action alerts.

🎥 Watch. Share. Take Action.

The Griz Abides. Can We?

Thanks to our participants James Holt Sr., Doug Peacock, Michael Hausman, Terry Tempest Williams, Barrie Gilbert, Thomas McGuane, Bryce Andrews, Breanna Black, Jamie Jonkel, Blake Nicolazzo, Sherri Baxter, Marcel Huijser, Yvon Chouinard, Kari Kingery, Savannah Rose, Jeff Wirth, Orion Bellorado, CMarie Fuhrman , and Thomas Mangelsen.

Special thanks to Patagonia and the Sierra Club (Montana Sierra Club),

08/10/2026

Public Comment Open: Stop the Expansion of State Control Over Grizzly Bears
Comments due Monday, August, 17

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comments on a proposed revision to the 4(d) rule that would expand state authority over federally protected grizzly bears while they remain listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal would also revise the regulations governing when grizzly bears may be killed, injured, or harassed, giving qualifying states broader authority to lethally manage "conflict" grizzly bears with less case-by-case federal oversight.
If finalized, qualifying states would gain broader authority to manage "conflict" grizzly bears while reducing case-by-case federal oversight. We believe this moves grizzly conservation in the wrong direction by weakening the federal protections grizzly bears still need.

Grizzly bears have not fully recovered. They continue to occupy only a small fraction of their historic range in the lower 48 states. True recovery depends on reconnecting isolated populations, protecting secure habitat, preparing communities to coexist with bears, and allowing grizzlies to adapt to a changing climate not expanding state authority over lethal management before recovery is complete.

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that grizzly bear recovery should be strengthened not weakened.

Talking Points
• Grizzly Bears Are Not Recovered
Grizzly bears still occupy only a small fraction of their historic range in the lower 48 states. Recovery is not complete.
• Recovery Depends on Connectivity
Explorer bears are essential for reconnecting Yellowstone, the Northern Continental Divide, the Bitterroot, the Selkirks, the Cabinet-Yaak, and future recovery landscapes. As climate change alters food availability and habitat conditions, these bears will become even more important for maintaining genetic diversity and helping populations adapt. They should be protected—not placed at greater risk.

• Climate Change Makes Connectivity Even More Important
Climate change is transforming the landscapes grizzly bears depend on. Federal management should protect habitat connectivity that allows bears to naturally disperse into suitable new areas rather than increasing the likelihood of lethal removal.

• Prioritize Conflict Prevention
Conflict prevention should always come before lethal removal. The Fish and Wildlife Service should require proven nonlethal measures before authorizing the killing of federally protected grizzly bears.

• Keep Strong Federal Oversight
As long as grizzly bears remain protected under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government should retain strong oversight of lethal management decisions rather than shifting greater authority to the states.

• Learn From the Tetonia Tragedy
The deaths of the Tetonia mother grizzly and her cubs demonstrated why stronger accountability is needed—not less. The Service should strengthen federal oversight and emphasize prevention instead of expanding state authority over lethal management.

• Support Bear Smart Communities
Invest in Bear Smart Communities by expanding bear-resistant trash containers, secure food storage, attractant management, community education, and other proven measures that prevent conflicts before they occur.

• Promote Bear Spray
Encourage hunters, outfitters, anglers, hikers, and all backcountry recreationists traveling through grizzly habitat to carry and know how to use bear spray. It remains one of the most effective tools for preventing serious injuries to both people and bears.

• Invest in Coexistence
Expand funding for electric fencing, bear-resistant trash containers, carcass removal, range riders, livestock conflict prevention, food storage requirements, and public education. Preventing conflicts protects both people and grizzly bears.

• Include Tribal Leadership
Native American Tribes have lived alongside grizzly bears for thousands of years and should play a central role in grizzly conservation and management. Traditional ecological knowledge deserves equal consideration alongside Western science.

• Complete Recovery Before Expanding State Authority
The Endangered Species Act was enacted to recover imperiled species until federal protections are no longer necessary. The focus should remain on restoring connected grizzly populations across suitable habitat before expanding state authority over their management.

Personalize your comment and make your voice heard.

Public comments close Monday, August 17, 2026.

Link to submit your comment in the comments below.

Stay informed about the latest grizzly bear conservation news and action alerts. Text GRIZ to 66866 to get our free e-newsletter.