Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte submitted 

he petition to delist the Northern Continental Divide population, which occurs only in Montana, while

 Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon filed the petition to delist the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population, which occurs in parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

While critical of the decision to start a formal status review, which likely would result in a proposal to lift endangered species protections, environmental groups also noted that the service had denied a request from Idaho to delist all bears in the lower 48 states.

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