Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem
The United States Congress designated the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in 1964 and it now has a total of 1,340,502 acres. Idaho contains approximately 1,089,059 acres. Montana contains approximately 251,443 acres. The wilderness is managed by the USDA Forest Service and is bordered by the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to the south (separated by the Magruder Corridor and Highway 12).
The Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem is one of the largest contiguous blocks of public land remaining in the lower 48 States. The core of the ecosystem contains three wilderness areas that make up the largest block of wilderness habitat in the Rocky Mountains south of Canada. Of the remaining unoccupied grizzly bear habitat in the lower 48 States, this area has the best potential for grizzly bear recovery, primarily due to the large core of designated Wilderness areas.
Despite numerous studies of this area, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) states that there have been no verifiable sightings of grizzly bears in the last 60 years in the Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem, until an adult male grizzly bear was mistakenly killed by a black bear hunter in September 2007 in the northern Bitterroot Mountains near Kelly Creek.
Management agencies, including the USFWS, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the USDA Forest Service, in cooperation with various non-governmental organizations, continue to monitor for grizzly bear movement into the Bitterroot Ecosystem. These agencies and organizations in addition to private companies (Simmons Sanitation and BFI) are also taking management actions to increase public awareness of wildlife sanitation issues and black bear/grizzly bear identification techniques and to improve wildlife sanitation within the Bitterroot Ecosystem.
Recovery planning efforts were completed in 2000, but were placed on hold in June 2001. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) vision for 2010 "to develop a defined course of action toward recovery" will require joint understanding of issues, sharing of knowledge (including new science and results of monitoring), and open communication among agencies, tribes, elected officials, interest groups, and the general public.
