BILLINGS, Mont. -- A federal appeals court says the decline of a food source for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region is sufficient reason to keep the animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Tuesday's ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocks the federal government's effort to lift protections on about 600 threatened grizzlies in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
Two members of the three-judge panel criticized government wildlife officials for a "damn-the-torpedoes approach" to removing protections.
Some grizzly bears rely on whitebark pine nuts as a key food source. Beetle infestations brought on by a warmer climate have killed huge swaths of the trees at high elevations in the Yellowstone region.
Government biologists argue grizzlies can adapt and find other food sources
I FIND IT FUNNY HOW THE ARTICLE MENSIONS THAT THE PINES ARE DYING OFF,... BUT NOWHERE IN THE ARTICLE DOES IT SAY THAT IT AFFECTS THE GRIZZLIES VERY MUCH, THEY JUST THROW THAT BIT OF INFORMATION OUT THERE TO MAKE IT SEEM THAT THE PINES ARE THE FOOD SCOURCE THAT AFFECTS THE GRIZZLIES BADLY,.. BUT NOWHERE IN THE ARTICLE DOES IT ACTUALLY SAY THAT...
GET MY DRIFT? SO TECHNICALY THEY ARE NOT LIEING,..
