1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

A newly filed federal lawsuit exposes a quiet shift in wildlife policy. In order to clear the way for big logging projects like the Larabee Hat project in Montana, the U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service have officially rewritten the rules of grizzly bear survival. ​For decades, the standard scientific consensus mandated that a female grizzly bear requires a minimum "secure habitat" patch of 2,500 acres free from roads and human development to safely forage. Under new administrative guidelines, that requirement has been decimated down to just 1 acre. ​As wildlife biologists point out: a one-acre island of trees completely surrounded by logging roads isn’t a secure habitat, it’s a death trap. Worse yet, this policy shift targets the exact public lands corridor needed for bears to migrate and achieve crucial genetic exchange between Glacier and Yellowstone. ​Draft legislation stopping this change immediately!