“Natural” grizzly expansion may require attention in new places

Salmon-Challis National Forest Supervisor Charles Mark is calling for an update of interagency grizzly bear management planning. He is concerned for areas located outside designated recovery zones.

Mark serves as Chairman of the Bitterroot Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.

In an open letter to the committee, Mark said the Bitterroot Ecosystem has one of the largest blocks of unoccupied grizzly bear habitat in the lower 48 states. He said grizzly bears do not currently occupy that ecosystem, but “natural recovery” efforts may soon change that.

Mark is concerned that as the grizzly recovers and expands, the animals may move into the Bitterroot from other areas. Under current policy, he said the natural movement of bears would give them full protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. As a result, he says the nature of the Bitterroot subcommittee needs to change.

“My main concern was that there is no plan on how to deal with grizzly bears that find their way into populated areas, which are outside of designated recovery areas,” said Mark. “I believe we will encounter more grizzly bears expanding their range outside of the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide recovery areas, and we need to have a plan on what to do and how to do it.”

He is calling, first, for the subcommittee to be fully represented, including representatives of Idaho Fish and Game, the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, and county government. He said the area needs more information and education targeted at wildlife sanitation, food storage, and bear safety.

According to Mark, ‘the last verified death of a grizzly bear in the Bitterroot occurred in 1932 and the last tracks indicating grizzly bear occupancy were observed in 1946. There have been two verified reports since 2000 of grizzly bears moving briefly from occupied grizzly bear habitat in western Montana near the western portion of the Bitterroot Ecosystem in Montana. One grizzly was killed and the other disappeared.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service directs grizzly bear recovery and decided in 2001 to permit “natural recovery” to occur, which allows for protection of grizzly bears that may move into the Bitterroot from other areas.

You can see Mark’s open letter here.