No quick ruling given on protecting grizzlies

MISSOULA, Mont. — A Montana judge said Thursday he would not make an immediate ruling on whether to restore federal protections for a group of about 700 grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains, forcing wildlife advocates to try to find another legal way to block bear hunting set to begin this weekend in two states.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said at a packed court hearing in Missoula that he knew many people expected him to issue a quick ruling from the bench on the fate of the bears living in and around Yellowstone National Park, but told those attending “that’s not going to happen.”

He said he would issue a decision as quickly as possible but did not say whether he would rule before Saturday, when Wyoming and Idaho scheduled the first bear hunts to begin in the Lower 48 states since 1974.

“If I issued a decision today that would mean I have already made up my mind,” Christensen said.

Christensen asked Erik Petersen, Wyoming’s senior assistant attorney general, if his state would consider delaying the hunt until the judge’s ruling is issued. Petersen did not directly answer Christensen, but made a counteroffer to the judge.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead was willing to “make adjustments” to the hunting season, Petersen said, if the judge leaves Wyoming, Montana and Idaho in charge of managing the bears — even if he rules that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs to revise its rule declassifying grizzlies as threatened.