US will keep protecting more than 2,000 Rocky Mountain grizzly bears

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration will continue protecting about 2,000 grizzly bears in four Rocky Mountain states despite objections from Republican-led states, U.S. wildlife officials said Wednesday.

The Associated Press obtained details of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision in advance of a planned public announcement.

Federal officials also said they will reclassify the grizzly’s status so that ranchers would be able to shoot bears that are killing livestock. Officials also will end protections for the animals in states where they’re no longer found, including California, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon.

The fearsome bruins have been protected as a threatened species across the lower 48 states since 1975. Officials during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term sought to eliminate those protections, but were blocked in court.