Judge calls for re-listing of grizzliesA federal judge on Monday said the government must place grizzly bears back on the endangered species list in the Yellowstone ecosystem after being delisted two years ago.Ruling on an environmental-group-driven lawsuit spanning more than two years, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said Monday in Missoula, Mont., that climate change and forest fires are causing a decrease in white pine nuts.

Pine nuts are an important food source for grizzlies prior to hibernation.

“White bark pine is just one of the foods bears eat,” said Mark Bruscino, bear management program supervisor for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Cody.

Carrying capacity cannot be measured simply in white bark pine nuts. There are other environmental factors such as availability of other food sources, suitable habitat, fires and cycles of drought or adequate precipitation, Bruscino said.

And white bark pine nuts are irregular, Bruscino said. Some years, there is an abundant crop and some years, not.

“They're highly adaptive animals,” Bruscino said.

An absence of pine nuts may impact carrying capacity, but Bruscino said he does not believe it will cause a significant decline in the grizzly population.

Grizzly bears were removed from protection under the endangered species list in 2007.

“We have fought for 25 years to secure the grizzly bear's place in Greater Yellowstone, and today's ruling is a critical step in continuing the recovery of this symbol of the wild,” said a Greater Yellowstone Coalition news release Monday.

“Our hope now is that the (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service goes back to the drawing board and comes up with a plan that provides appropriate habitat protections and addresses long-term threats to bears,” said Craig Kenworthy, the coalition's conservation director.

U.S. Senators Mike Enzi, John Barrasso and Representative Cynthia Lummis, all R-Wyo., said late Monday that they were dismayed at the re-listing.

“This is a disappointing decision that was based on everything but the recovery numbers that show the grizzly bear is thriving in the Yellowstone National Park area. Two years ago, the federal government and the states came together and, based on sound science and a healthy grizzly population, agreed that the grizzlies no longer needed the protection of the Endangered Species Act. It is unfortunate that one slam of the gavel can erase that agreement,” said Enzi.