BOISIE — The federal government should remove Endangered Species Act protection for grizzly bears in the lower 48 states and return management of grizzlies to the states, according to a proposed Idaho House of Representatives memorial.

The state Fish and Game Commission in a Feb. 6 meeting by teleconference expressed support for the memorial, pending guidance from the governor’s office.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game worked with the drafters of House Joint Memorial 4 in a technical capacity, but it is not generally the department’s role to take a position on legislative memorials, department director Jim Fredericks said.

“I think we should support it anyway,” said commissioner Don Ebert of the state’s north-central region. “It’s what we’ve been trying to actually achieve.”

Southeast region commissioner Jordan Cheirrett said he agreed and does not see a downside.

The commission approved Ebert’s motion to support the memorial pending guidance from the governor’s office.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service late in the administration of President Joe Biden rejected petitions from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to delist grizzlies, “improperly reaffirming protected status for grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act, despite robust grizzly bear populations and in disregard of the ESA’s stated purpose,” according to the memorial.

Populations have “significantly expanded in number and range” since the 1975 listing, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife “continues to discount and ignore the combined efforts over several decades by Idaho’s Department of Fish and Game and (separate) Office of Species Conservation and their sister state agencies, which have conserved and protected grizzly bears and have played a critical role in the restoration of grizzly populations.”

Fish and Wildlife in a proposed rule  — announced Jan. 8 and supported by environmental groups — establishes a protected distinct population segment that encompasses Washington, much of Idaho and Montana, and part of Wyoming. The proposed rule also would change regulations to allow for additional management flexibility for authorized agencies and individuals experiencing conflicts with grizzly bears.

The distinct population segment that the proposed rule would recognize “is symbolic of moving goalposts under the ESA, at the expense of actual grizzly bear conservation and the safety, livelihoods and wellbeing of local communities,” according to HJM 4.

The memorial calls on the Trump administration to “achieve the ESA’s stated purpose and swiftly delist the grizzly bear to return full management authority of the species back to the states, whose management and stewardship have been instrumental in rebuilding populations under the ESA’s constraints.” The memorial also calls on the administration and Congress to review the ESA and its implementing regulations.

Memorial sponsors are Reps. Jerald Raymond and Judy Boyle, and Sen. Van Burtenshaw, who are all involved in agriculture.