WASHINGTON— The Trump administration today announced a revised Endangered Species Act rule that would allow more killing of grizzly bears across the lower 48 states, where they’re currently protected as a threatened species.

“I’m deeply disappointed that the Trump administration is trying to make it easier to kill imperiled grizzly bears,” said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation program legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Grizzlies shouldn’t be killed at the whim of the livestock industry while it exploits our public lands for its own personal profit.”

Despite today's announcement, grizzly bears will remain protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Historically grizzly bears ranged from Alaska to Mexico, with an estimated 50,000 bears occupying the western half of the contiguous United States. Today grizzly bears occupy just 6% of their historical range in the lower 48 states, surviving in four isolated locations in the northern Rockies, where the current population is just over 2,000 bears.

Grizzly bear numbers in and around Yellowstone and Glacier national parks have improved since the animals were first protected in 1975. But the bears continue to be threatened by isolation from other grizzly populations and human-caused deaths.

Science shows that connections among grizzly bear populations are needed for genetic health, but habitat destruction along with killing and removing bears that wander outside arbitrary protected areas continue to prevent this crucial connectivity. Connectivity between grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems could significantly improve the bears’ genetic diversity.

Dispersal of bears from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem is needed to restore bears to additional areas, where they once lived and could again thrive. For example, the Selway-Bitterroot ecosystem has been identified as a recovery zone for grizzly bears but currently hosts no grizzly bear population. Reducing protections from bears in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem would thwart the potential for those bears to travel to nearby unoccupied areas.

“The science is clear that grizzlies need full federal protection to recover, not a rule that will lead to more grizzly bear mortality,” said Zaccardi. “We’ll be reviewing the rule and considering next steps.”

The Interior Department announced a 30-day public comment period.