Grizzly bear hunting season – the first in the Lower 48 states in more than four decades – is scheduled to begin Saturday in Idaho and Wyoming, but only if a federal judge gives a go-ahead after a hearing Thursday on whether to reapply the Endangered Species Act to protect them.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen planned to hear appeals in Helena, Montana, from wildlife advocates and Native American tribes who want to reinstate federal protections athat were lifted last year for about 700 grizzlies living in and around Yellowstone National Park.

Hunters say they should be allowed to kill a small number of grizzlies because the population has grown large enough to prompt President Donald Trump’s administration…