Grizzly bears could make a comeback in Idaho's Bitterroots under proposed plans from the federal government.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has opened its potential recovery plans for public comment. Grizzlies have recovered in two other parts of the West, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and North Continental Divide Ecosystem.

Jeff Abrams, wildlife program associate for the Idaho Conservation League, said it has not yet happened in the Bitterroots.

"Allowing them to move from these recovery zones that have seen these successes into a huge swath of the country that hasn't, and Idahoans in particular are in a place to be helpful in those conversations," Abrams asserted.

The Bitterroot Recovery Zone identified by the Fish and Wildlife Service covers about 6,000 square miles in central Idaho and a sliver of Montana. The public comment period for the plan is open through March 18.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed four alternatives for restoration: active reintroduction of grizzlies, natural recolonization, facilitating connectivity with other recovery zones or no action. Abrams said his organization favors a combination of natural recolonization and facilitating connectivity. But grizzly protections have been controversial in the region, with some saying enough bears already thrive there.

Abrams noted part of the recovery efforts will involve conflict management.

"Educating communities about bears being nearby, about bears potentially using habitat that folks like to recreate in, and how we can do that responsibly and safely is all part of the discussion," Abrams emphasized.

Abrams added it will take bold action to bring grizzlies back to the region.

"We can definitely develop a tenable plan for the Bitterroot with the right mix of vision, of leadership, and courage, which is what it's going to take, and the bears themselves have shown that this can be done," Abrams contended.

Friday is Endangered Species Day and experts are reminding Rhode Islanders of the plight of the North Atlantic right whale.

Right whales' habitat is off the Eastern Seaboard, where they stay close to the coast. They are slow moving and feed near the surface, and those factors, plus their high blubber content, once made them an ideal target for whalers. They were hunted to the brink of extinction before commercial whaling was banned in 1937.

Jane Davenport, senior attorney at the Biodiversity Law Center for the nonprofit conservation group Defenders of Wildlife, said they remain critically endangered.

"Human activities are killing off right whales unintentionally, via fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes, and those have the same effect as killing right whales by harpooning," Davenport pointed out. "They are reducing the population to the point where its survival is in question."

Current estimates place the right whale population around 370, with fewer than 70 females of reproductive age.

Right whales can be hard to spot, as they travel underwater, their backs are black and they have no dorsal fin. In 2008, NOAA Fisheries established seasonal speed zones, but only for vessels over 65 feet in length.

After new research, NOAA proposed amending the rule in 2022, applying it to vessels over 35 feet. The proposal was withdrawn in January but Davenport argued the expanded regulation is practical and necessary.

"If we slow boats down only in limited times and places during the year, it's not year-round, it's not everywhere," Davenport explained. "We need to have slow speed zones, just like we have slow speed zones around schools, twice a day during school days, during the school year."

Right whales feed on tiny crustaceans. Like other whales, their waste is an important part of the ocean ecosystem, as fertilizer promoting the growth of phytoplankton, which is the base of the marine food web. It is estimated phytoplankton are responsible for around half of the oxygen in the earth's atmosphere.

Davenport added despite the challenges, it is still possible to save the whales.

"We can coexist, and if we can coexist, we can allow the right whale to recover," Davenport stressed. "It is not too late. We have not passed the point of no return."


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Today, on the 20th anniversary of Endangered Species Day, conservation advocates warn polices of President Donald Trump's administration are undermining efforts to save animals and plants important to California ecosystems.

Trump's Department of the Interior wants to redefine the word "harm" to remove protection from habitat destruction in deciding which species are at risk.

Susan Holmes, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition, noted the public comment period for the proposed change ends Monday.

"The number one reason that endangered species become endangered is the destruction of habitat," Holmes pointed out. "The proposals coming from the Trump administration would make it impossible to protect the habitat that wildlife and endangered species depend on."

Trump appointees have also proposed huge budget cuts to agencies overseeing wildlife protection and to environmental research, saying they no longer align with administration priorities.

In California, 178 animals and 290 plants are listed as either endangered or threatened, or are candidates for listing.

Many local events are planned for Endangered Species Day, including programs at Dos Rios State Park and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.

Holmes emphasized it is a good time to celebrate the incredible progress the country has made to reestablish species like the gray wolf.

"In California, we've seen species that were on the brink of extinction coming back, including the California condor and the California sea otter," Holmes outlined. "It is really exciting to see people working in communities to recover some of these species."

Also on Monday, the public comment period ends for a proposal to list the monarch butterfly as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

It is Endangered Species Day, a reminder some plants and wildlife need protection, like Pennsylvania's eastern hellbender.

It is the state's official amphibian, a salamander which has survived for millions of years but now faces extinction due to habitat loss and pollution.

Ben Prater, Southeast program director for the nonprofit conservation group Defenders of Wildlife, said today is meant to raise awareness and remind people an incredible variety of species need public support. He pointed out scientists have raised concerns for years about declining eastern hellbender populations.

"The eastern hellbender is quite unique and charismatic," Prater explained. "It's the largest salamander in all of North America, growing to an average of two feet in length, so, it's a giant of our swift, cool, fast-flowing rivers and streams."

Prater stressed the best way to help is by supporting strong protections like the Endangered Species Act. The hellbender is proposed for listing under the act, which would bring federal and state resources to aid recovery, including protecting habitat and studying their breeding and behavior to support conservation efforts.

Prater noted hellbenders are picky. They need cold, clean streams, plenty of food, and flat rocks to nest. Their numbers have dropped, as pollution and dams have disrupted the connected waterways they rely on to breed and survive.

"The real insidious threat to hellbenders is the predominance of sediment that enters our waterways," Prater emphasized. "When you have development, bad forestry practices, bad agricultural practices, all of those things can affect the watershed and the quality of the water that hellbenders rely on."

He added historically, the eastern hellbender's range stretched along the Appalachian Mountains up and down the East Coast. Their preferred habitat includes the diverse mountain streams and rivers found from Alabama and Georgia all the way up to Pennsylvania and New York.