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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely denied the State of Montana’s appeal, agreeing with the federal district court judge that there was a reasonably certain threat of imminent harm to grizzlies had the challenged wolf trapping and snaring season approved by the state last August proceeded as planned. The lawsuit is proceeding in federal district court in Missoula.

The Ninth Circuit also ruled that the district court properly relied on evidence provided by the plaintiffs’ expert scientists, writing: “As a whole, Plaintiffs’ evidence supported that a large percentage—nearly 40%—of grizzly bears in Montana would be active during the proposed wolf trapping season in the same areas as wolves and would be highly attracted to the wolf traps, which would likely result in grizzlies being caught in those traps.” 

“The State is in denial about climate change effects. The science clearly shows bears are entering dens later and emerging earlier exposing them to threats from baited traps and snares,” said Mike Bader, a consultant to the Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force. “The State of Montana cannot be entrusted with management responsibility for grizzly bears because they are acting irresponsibly towards carnivores and predators.”

“With state wildlife “management” in the northern Rockies facing enormous public and legal scrutiny for posing relentless dangers to grizzly bears and other carnivores, now is not the time to strip grizzlies of much needed federal protections,” said Lizzy Pennock, carnivore coexistence attorney at WildEarth Guardians. “We must give grizzly bears a fair shot at recovery, and hostile state management like Montana’s has a long way to go before it measures up to what wildlife and the public need.”

The ruling affirmed the preliminary injunction ordered by a federal district court judge in November, which was rooted in the district court’s determination that Montana’s wolf trapping and snaring regulations pose a reasonably certain threat of imminent harm to grizzly bears in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The injunction shortened Montana’s wolf trapping and snaring season throughout most of the state to January 1 to February 15 when grizzly bears were likely to be in their dens, providing crucial protections for the federally-threatened bear during the 2023-24 wolf trapping and snaring season in Montana. The State of Montana immediately filed an appeal of the decision, which led to this order.

Without the preliminary injunction, wolf trapping and snaring in grizzly bear habitat would have started as early as November 27, 2023 and continued through March 15 of this year. Per the injunction, the season ended February 15, meaning that Montana’s grizzly bears emerged from their dens this year to a much safer landscape.

The preliminary injunction, which came just days before wolf trapping and snaring was set to begin, was issued in response to a motion filed by the Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force and WildEarth Guardians on September 22, 2023. In this lawsuit, the plaintiffs show that the State of Montana is violating the federal Endangered Species Act by permitting indiscriminate steel leghold traps and strangulation snares to be set in known grizzly bear habitat during the non-denning seasons. 

Female grizzly bear with cubs. Photo by Sam Parks.

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Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force is a non-profit organization based in Missoula, Montana. The Task Force is dedicated to recovery of grizzly bears and their habitat and improvement in long-range National Forest Management Plans including the Lolo, Nez Perce-Clearwater and Bitterroot National Forests.

WildEarth Guardians is a conservation nonprofit whose mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Guardians has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, and over 179,000 members and supporters worldwide.