Environmental groups sue over train-related grizzly deaths

Two environmental groups are suing Burlington Northern Santa Fe over the train-related deaths of dozens of federally protected grizzly bears in northwestern Montana and northern Idaho.

In a lawsuit filed in a federal district court in Missoula, WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project argue that the Endangered Species Act prohibits Burlington Northern Santa Fe and its subsidiary, BNSF Railway Company, from continuing with an unauthorized “take” of grizzlies, which are a threatened species in the lower 48 states.

The lawsuit focuses on tracks owned and operated by BNSF between Sandpoint, Idaho, and Shelby, Mont. The groups allege that between 2008 and 2018, trains on BNSF railways “killed or contributed to the deaths of” approximately 52 grizzly bears located within the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear recovery zones.