Editor's note: This story is part of 'ESA at 50,' a series that examines the past, present and future of the Endangered Species Act. Often called the "pit bull of environmental laws," the ESA has provided federal protection to nearly 2,000 animals and plants. On its 50th anniversary, it grapples with political uncertainty and unforeseen ecological challenges.
An estimated 300 wolverines prowl the snowy elevations of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and parts of Washington, Utah and Colorado. Their hard-to-find nature has challenged the ability of biologists to confirm wolverines' population in the Lower 48 states.
A wolverine triggers a remote camera in the Helena National Forest. The elusive carnivore depends on deep snow for breeding and scavenging food. Climate change and habitat fragmentation have made it a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act on its 50th anniversary.
Kalon Baughan
50 years of the ESA: Explore this series, in photos
Erin Fenger, conflict prevention specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park, throws old cattle bones into a dump trailer on a ranch outside Valier, Mont. in Sept. 2023. Montana FWP’s prairie bear team routinely picks up bone pits and carcasses from ranches to prevent grizzly bear attraction to the operations.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Henry Becker, pets Zia, an anatolian shepherd, on the Stickleg Ranch outside Conrad, Mont. in Sept. 2023.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Range rider Sigrid Olson rides her horse Jake on public land in search of cattle outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Range rider Sigrid Olson rides her horse Jake on public land in search of cattle outside Potomac, Mont., in October 2023.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Range rider Sigrid Olson rides her horse Jake on public land in search of cattle outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
A major aspect of Sigrid Olson’s job as a range riding is documenting the condition of cattle on the range and signs of predators in the area. She produces a report from her notes that she shares with producers and wildlife agencies.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Range rider Sigrid Olson poses for a portrait after a day of range riding outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Range rider Sigrid Olson loosens the saddle on her horse Jake after a day of range riding outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Kristina Harkins of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks walks down a hillside near Ambrose Creek northeast of Stevensville after using a radio receiver to locate sharp-tailed grouse on Nov. 16. Harkins is a field coordinator for FWP's effort to reintroduce the species west of the Continental Divide, where they haven't been seen for decades.
JOSHUA MURDOCK, Missoulian
Harkins uses a handheld radio antenna to listen for collared sharp-tailed grouse near the MPG Ranch in the northern Bitterroot Valley on Nov. 16.
JOSHUA MURDOCK, Missoulian
Kristina Harkins, in the driver seat of an FWP truck near the MPG Ranch Nov. 16, listens for signals from radio-collared sharp-tailed grouse using an omnidirectional antenna mounted atop the truck cab.
JOSHUA MURDOCK, Missoulian
Male sharp-tailed grouse dance on a lek in early morning light in spring 2023.
Photo by Kristina Harkins, Montana FWP
An estimated 300 wolverines prowl the snowy elevations of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and parts of Washington, Utah and Colorado. Their hard-to-find nature has challenged the ability of biologists to confirm wolverines' population in the Lower 48 states.
Kalon Baughan
A wolverine triggers a remote camera in the Helena National Forest. The elusive carnivore depends on deep snow for breeding and scavenging food. Climate change and habitat fragmentation have made it a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act on its 50th anniversary.
Kalon Baughan
Staff from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks re-introduced Arctic grayling in French Creek in the Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area in early October 2023. The fish have genetic ties to river-dwelling Arctic grayling in the Big Hole River. French Creek is a tributary to the river.
Duncan Adams, The Montana Standard
Fish, Wildlife and Parks Fisheries Biologist Jim Olsen, right, and Region Three Supervisor Marina Yoshioka hold buckets for transporting Arctic grayling during a repopulation project on French Creek on Oct. 2 in the Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area.
JOSEPH SCHELLER, The Montana Standard
Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries technician Lance Breen releases Arctic grayling into French Creek during a repopulation project in the fall of 2023 in the Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area near Anaconda.
JOSEPH SCHELLER, The Montana Standard
Fluvial Arctic Grayling
Courtesy of Mark Conlin
Fluvial Arctic Grayling
Michael (Josh) Melton/USFWS
It's unusual to see Park Service personnel, or anyone, in Yellowstone National Park carrying a weapon. But this summer a crew used an air rifle to shoot darts to collect DNA samples from bison. The sampling is a small part of the work being conducted as the animals are considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Jacob W. Frank, NPS
Bison close up in a snow storm in Yellowstone National Park.
NPS/Neal Herbert
Bison herd with calves in Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park.
NPS/Neal Herbert
A herd of bison in Yellowstone National Park.
NPS/Neal Herbert
A bison cow and calf walk in the road in Yellowstone National Park.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank
A herd of bison move through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank
Cow and calf run through the sage in Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank
The ancient bison, Bison antiquus, was taller, had longer horns, and was 25% more massive than living American bison (Bison bison). It was roughly 7.5 feet tall and 15 feet long, weighing approximately 3,500 pounds. Bison had bone horn cores on their skull that served as a base for a longer horn made of keratin, the protein that makes up our fingernails. The span of the horns of Bison antiquus was approximately 3 feet.
NPS illustration by Benji Paysnoe
Wesley Sarmento, prairie bear specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, left, talks with Jennie and Seth Becker on the Stickleg Ranch outside Conrad, Mont. in Sept. 2023.
THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record
Timeline of Endangered Species Act
1966: Congress passes Endangered Species Preservation Act, creating a list of species at risk and outlawing harming those species.
1969: Congress adds amendments to pass Endangered Species Conservation Act, including at-risk species worldwide and providing expanded power to acquire conservation lands.
1973: Endangered Species Act enacted, replacing Endangered Species Preservation Act. The ESA gives federal government authority to protect plants and animals over economic concerns.
1975: Legislation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) becomes law. Grizzly bear receives “threatened” listing under ESA.
1978: Congress amends ESA to create “God Squad” – a cabinet-level committee that can overrule ESA protections in the wake of the Tellico Dam/snail darter fish controversy. It is only used once in 1991, to consider the northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest. The amendment also formed the critical habitat designation as a tool to protect species.
1982: Congress amends ESA to limit species status solely to biological and trade information, “without consideration of possible economic or other effects.”
1988: Congress amends ESA to require more public review and analysis of species recovery plans, along with post-recovery monitoring and spending oversight.
1990: Arctic grayling considered as candidate for ESA protection – the fish gets repeatedly reviewed and either rejected or precluded.
1995: Gray wolves transplanted inside Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho, with ESA protection.
1998: Bull trout listed as threatened species.
2000: Interior Department completes plan to transplant experimental population of grizzly bears in the Bitterroot Ecosystem along the Montana-Idaho border. The plan is shelved but never revoked.
2004: Congress amends ESA to exempt Defense Department lands from critical habitat.
2007: Greater Yellowstone grizzly delisting plan fails in court, due to uncertainty over changing bear food sources.
2008: Polar bear is first species listed as threatened by climate change due to Arctic ice loss.
2009: Congress amends ESA to allow Defense Department to participate in “off-site mitigation banking” of protected species’ habitat.
April 15, 2011: Sen. Jon Tester amendment to Defense Appropriations Act delists gray wolves from protection in Montana and Idaho, and bars judicial review. Center for Biological Diversity wins court settlement requiring U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to commit to 12-month reviews of 251 at-risk species whose legal status was in limbo.
2014: Congress blocks ESA listing for sage grouse, but the bird becomes test case for state/local recovery efforts aimed at avoiding federal designation.
2017: Second Greater Yellowstone grizzly delisting plan vacated after court rules Montana, Idaho and Wyoming used faulty population formulas and failed to show how delisting bears in one region might affect other at-risk populations.
2023: Federal judge ordered re-consideration of 2000 Bitterroot grizzly transplant plan, but notes that wild grizzlies have started inhabiting Bitterroot public lands on their own with full ESA protection. Interior Department considers giving ESA protection to Yellowstone Park bison.
A wolverine triggers a remote camera in the Helena National Forest. The elusive carnivore depends on deep snow for breeding and scavenging food. Climate change and habitat fragmentation have made it a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act on its 50th anniversary.
An estimated 300 wolverines prowl the snowy elevations of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and parts of Washington, Utah and Colorado. Their hard-to-find nature has challenged the ability of biologists to confirm wolverines' population in the Lower 48 states.
