A grizzly debate.

Sometime soon the decision to remove grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park from endangered species protections is expected to become final. "Delisting does not mean walking away from the bears," says Chris Servheen, grizzly recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Yellowstone grizzly was placed on the endangered species list in 1975, when only 220 to 320 roamed the area. Since the mid-1990s, the population has grown between 4 percent and 7 percent annually, and they have moved outside of park boundaries. With grizzlies occupying 48 percent more land than in 1975 and the population doing well, federal officials decided to remove them off the list and hand management over to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Critics of delisting say there are still too many uncertainties facing the bears, including declines in key food sources and increasing development on the park's fringes.