Bitterroot Bear Aware Collaborative PROJECT BRIEF

Prime habitat that hasn’t hosted a resident grizzly population in many decades, the sprawling Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem of central Idaho has the potential to unite isolated bears from points north (Cabinet-Yaak, Selkirk and Northern Continental Divide ecosystems) and south (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem). To reach the Selway-Bitterroot from the NCDE, wildlife must cross Montana’s developed Bitterroot Valley, a new hotspot for grizzly coexistence with a recent uptick in confirmed sightings of the Great Bear.

The Bitterroot Bear Aware Collaborative is a new stakeholder group working to bring bear-proof sanitation and other bear-aware consultation and education to private landowners and the general public in this key connectivity area. We’re proud to support their efforts, knowing that any day now, they could help a grizzly cross into Idaho and meet a fellow wanderer roaming north from Greater Yellowstone.