"Stable population numbers for grizzlies for more than a decade also indicate that the Yellowstone ecosystem is at or near its carrying capacity for the bears," it said. Yellowstone: Our first national park – Old Faithful Geyser may be the most-famous "resident" of Yellowstone National Park, but park ranger Dan Hottle says there is much more to see at the 2.2 million-acre park. Credit: USFWS / Ture Schultz, National Elk Refuge volunteer 
 
 LAKEWOOD, Colo. – In response to the successful recovery of one of the nation’s most iconic animals, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on Thursday stripping Endangered Species Act protections from the grizzly bear in and around Yellowstone National Park, saying the animal's numbers have rebounded sufficiently in recent decades. The estimated tally of grizzlies in the greater Yellowstone region, encompassing parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, has grown to a 700 or more today, up from as few as 136 bears in 1975 when they were formally listed as a threatened species throughout the Lower 48 states. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Delisting Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Due To Recovery 
 
 Decades of Conservation Lead to Endangered Species Act Success; Service also releases recovery plan supplement and conservation strategy to ensure population continues to thrive 
 
 For Immediate Release 
 
 March 3, 2016 
 
 
 
 Grizzly bears. "Our proposal today underscores and celebrates more than 30 years of collaboration with our trusted federal, state and tribal partners to address the unique habitat challenges of grizzlies," director Dan Ashe said. The final post-delisting management plans by these partners will ensure healthy grizzly populations persist across the Yellowstone ecosystem long into the future.” 
 
 To ensure robust monitoring of Yellowstone grizzly bears, balanced management and effective conservation going forward, the Service is also releasing two other documents for public comment, a draft supplement to the 1993 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan for the Yellowstone grizzly bear population, and a draft conservation strategy. Public chance to comment 
 
 The wildlife service is seeking comment from the public, agencies and scientists after publication in the Federal Register, expected in the next few days. "Even with this proposed delisting, the service remains committed to the conservation of the Yellowstone grizzly bear, and will stay engaged to ensure that this incredible species remains recovered," Ashe said. "Yellowstone grizzly bears are an isolated population that is experiencing high levels of conflicts with people and is likely declining in the wake of the loss of whitebark pine, a critically important food source," said Sylvia Fallon , a senior scientist at NRDC. The ESA has saved more than 99 percent of the species listed from the brink of extinction and has served as the critical safety net for wildlife that Congress intended when it passed the law 40 years ago. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart 
 
 A grizzly bear and her two cubs approach the carcass of a bison in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States, July 6, 2015.
– "This is really momentous, bigger than recovering the bald eagle," an environmental writer tells the Christian Science Monitor after the US Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday proposed removing grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone from the endangered species list. When grizzlies were added to the list in 1975, there were just 136 bears remaining in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (which includes both the park and surrounding lands) as a result of hunting. Today, there are an estimated 700 to 1,000 bears. "There is robust agreement that this population has recovered," Service Director Dan Ashe says. "It's now our obligation to delist the population and return management to the state." A final decision is expected later this year, reports Reuters. Grizzlies have also doubled their range to occupy more than 22,500 square miles of the Yellowstone region, but wildlife advocates fear they're still at risk. A record 59 Yellowstone grizzlies died last year as food sources, including white bark pine and cutthroat trout, dwindled. The proposal comes "a couple years too early," says one advocate, who fears that Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana will resume grizzly hunts, not held since 1974, on bears who stray beyond the park's boundaries. A scientist with the National Resources Defense Council tells CNN that the bears could see genetic problems if they don't interact with bears outside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Ashe says a five-year plan will be put in place to "ensure healthy grizzly populations persist across the Yellowstone ecosystem long into the future."