The Grizzly Story
Before European settlement, 50,000 to 100,000 grizzly bears ranged from Mexico to Alaska, across North America’s vast prairies, wetlands, forests and mountainsides (view animated map of historic and current range). Also known as the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the grizzly is considered a "keystone species" that influences the diversity of other species in the ecosystems it inhabits.
As a top predator, the grizzly affects the number and distribution of prey species and other predators. Foraging on berries and herbs, bears disperse seeds and so promote a variety of plant life. As grizzlies dig for tubers, insects and rodents, they loosen topsoil and help renew nutrients. And where coastal grizzlies dine on salmon, they spread nitrogen and other marine elements well beyond streams into upland habitats.
Owing to the grizzly's extensive home range and need for wild land, undisturbed denning habitat, and abundant native berry crops and prey—from grubs and ground squirrels to deer and elk—the condition of a grizzly population is one of nature’s barometers of a healthy and complete ecosystem.
Today, approximately 1,500 grizzlies remain in the lower 48 states, refugees of a long history of persecution and the sweep of settlement and development that consumed 98% of the bear's historic range in the conterminous states.
In 1975, the grizzly was listed under the Endangered Species Act as "threatened" in the U.S. south of Canada.
The populations that remain survive in five distinct ecosystems, sustained by wild habitat in our national parks, national forests and wilderness areas:
Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem
Greater Yellowstone EcosystemSo far, only one of these populations has met the criteria for delisting under the federal recovery plan. Through years of cooperative management and investment, the Yellowstone population slowly grew from fewer than 200 to at least 600 bears (Servheen 2006), and was delisted in March 2007.
However, the decision remains controversial owing to concerns about threats to habitat and Yellowstone's isolation from other ecosystems. As the population expands, secure habitat outside protected parks and wilderness areas will become increasingly important.
The Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem (number 4 on the above map) straddling the Montana-Idaho border is designated as a sixth recovery zone. Although grizzlies were once widespread and abundant in the region, for 60 years there was no verified evidence of the Great Bear in the Selway-Bitterroot. That changed in 2007 when a grizzly was mistakenly shot by a black-bear hunter in the northern Bitterroot Mountains. DNA analysis revealed that this bear had traveled from the Selkirk Mountains, more than 140 air miles northwest of the Bitterroots, spotlighting the potential for grizzlies to reclaim historic range and the urgent need to protect habitat links between populations.
Despite a core of protected lands in each of these ecosystems, the long-term persistence of the grizzly depends on plenty of room to roam across both public and private lands. Connections between ecosystems and with populations in Canada are vital to the bear's survival.
Today, some of the most productive seasonal feeding habitats and linkage zones lie on private ground. Lands along streams, valley bottoms, and in lower elevations provide essential spring and summer range and corridors for movement. Yet people also love these special places for their stunning beauty, abundant wildlife, and recreational opportunities. Development is consuming lowland wildlife habitats at a breathtaking rate, isolating grizzly ecosystems from one another and jeopardizing the enduring survival of these populations.
Alaska remains the U.S. stronghold for the Great Bear, with an estimated 25,000 to 39,000 brown bears—about 95% of the U.S. population (Miller and Schoen 1999.) Yet as the state continues to develop, humans and bears come into increasing conflict over vital habitat. Even Alaska's wilds are not limitless, and habitat conservation is becoming ever more important for brown bears to continue to thrive in the land of the midnight sun.