Grizzly bears continue to migrate east and west

Grizzly bears are continuing to show up further and further from core recovery ecosystems near Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, bear managers from across the West said during a meeting of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee late last month.

For example, a grizzly bear has been wandering around the Grangeville, Idaho area.

Genetic analysis of the bear hair found that it was first marked in the Selkirk Mountain Range and then migrated about 245 miles south to the Grangeville area, which is on the west side of the Nez Perce National Forest.

The bear, a male, hasn’t gotten into trouble, though it was photographed at a black bear hunter’s bait station.

In Washington state, bear officials there said they suspect a grizzly bear ate a calf.

The Department of Interior recently announced it was squashing a plan to reintroduce grizzlies to North Cascades National Park.

In Montana, bears are on the move as well.

A young male grizzly bear was eventually put down near the town of Shelby earlier this year after it got into barbecue grills near homes as well as grains and other feed close to humans.

Shelby is about 60 miles from Browning, out on the plains.

Chuck Mark, chairman of the Bitterroot Ecosystem Subcommittee said in that region, managers are trying to be proactive about grizzly bears returning to the Bitterroots and adjoining lands.

There’s a huge swath of wilderness — the Selway-Bitterroot and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness that currently doesn’t have a self-sustaining population of grizzlies.

He said land managers there are working with communities to identify potential connectivity areas and they’re creating a science team for when bears arrive.

“We want to be as proactive as possible,” he said.

From a bear management standpoint, the IGBC is still working on consistent bear messaging across agencies and states.

The committee has representatives from Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. In this meeting, Canadian representatives from British Columbia and Alberta also participated.

One idea is the creation of a “Bear Smart” community. The program was started in Whistler, British Columbia and it could be expanded to the states.

According to the Bear Smart website, “our board and team of scientific advisors champion progressive management policies and human behaviours that reduce human-bear conflicts. This inevitably improves public safety, limits property damage and reduces the number of bears that needlessly die each year as a result of these preventable conflicts.”

Right now, even simple bear warning signs and other policies in the U.S. vary from state-to-state, agency to agency.

For example, a person hiking in Glacier National Park will see bear warning signs at every trailhead, while the Forest Service often doesn’t have any, even in areas where bears are known to live in high densities.

The idea is to invest what funds the committee has into education and other programs that will benefit bears everywhere, said committee member Tricia O’Connor.