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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed a federal court decision ruling prohibiting trophy hunts for grizzly bears in Wyoming and Idaho.

The appeals court agreed with the 2018 decision of a U.S. District Court in Montana that President Donald Trump’s administration illegally stripped Endangered Species Act protections from Yellowstone grizzly bears.

In ruling that Yellowstone grizzly bears must remain protected under the Endangered Species Act, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals pointed to the lack of “concrete, enforceable mechanisms” to “ensure long-term genetic health of the Yellowstone grizzly.”

The ruling explains an “increase population size” is “required to ensure long-term viability” and describes the grizzly bear as “an iconic symbol of the Rocky Mountain west.”

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Yellowstone-region…