The Yellowstone area grizzly will not be delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Biden administration, as the service instead announced an alternate proposal Wednesday.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials also propose modifying recovery zones and managing the population as a single entity.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that it is proposing a new rule that would protect grizzly bears as a single population in Idaho, Washington, Montana and Wyoming, while offering land owners and land management agencies some flexibility to deal with problem animals.

The Biden administration is keeping protections in place for more than 2,000 grizzly bears in western states despite requests to lift the safeguards

Grizzlies in Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming will continue to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision will likely anger the officials of several northern states, which have demanded the right to take over bear management from U.S. Fish