BILLINGS — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that grizzly
bears in the Yellowstone region need continued protection under
the Endangered Species Act due to the decline of a tree species
that serves as a key food source for some of the animals. The
ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocks the
federal government's effort to lift protections on about 600
threatened grizzlies across 19,000 square miles of Montana,
Wyoming and Idaho. Such a move would have turned over management
of the animals to state wildlife agencies and allowed hunting
for grizzlies for the first time in decades. But the judges said
a significant threat to the bears' recovery has emerged in
recent years as whitebark pine trees have declined. Whitebark
pine nuts are a key food source for some bears. Beetle
infestations brought on by a warmer climate have devastated huge
stands of the trees at high elevations across the Yellowstone
region. After a judge in Montana pointed to the trees' decline
as an unacknowledged threat to g