BILLINGS, MONTANA—A U.S. judge ordered federal protections restored for grizzly bears in the Northern Rocky Mountains on Sept. 24, a move that blocks the first grizzly hunts planned in the Lower 48 states in almost three decades.
Wyoming and Idaho had been on the cusp of allowing hunters to kill up to 23 bears this fall. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen had twice delayed the hunts, and the latest order blocking them was due to expire later this week. The hunts would have been the first in the U.S. outside Alaska since 1991.
