As many as 70 to 80 grizzlies may inhabit the high plains east of the Rocky Mountain Front-
There is more about grizzlies moving east of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, out on the high plains. The article below appeared in New West.
Grizzlies On the Move, Back to the Wide-Open Prairie. By Jason D.B. Kauffman
On the Rocky Mountain Front, Montana. Copyright Ralph Maughan
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Great photo! Good article too. Makes one feel hopeful about the grizzles in Montana.
The Glacier ecosystem is a really special place.
Hopeful too for Idaho….c’mon griz, into the Bitterroot/Selway, the Frank, the Sawtooths, Whiteclouds, Pioneers, Smokey Mountains…can’t sue to keep them out if they walk in. Will I live long enough?
A grizzly was killed by a hunter over a bait pile in the Bitteroots a couple years back. I bet that was a real blow to recolonization there.
Hopefully there are a few more bears there. It seems to me it would be harder to spot them since there isn’t as much alpine and open mountain sides compared to Glacier and the mountains around Yellowstone.
Cutthroat, I think you will live long enough to see a token population. I do like that people cannot sure to keep them out of they colonize on their own.
A map of the areas of sightings on the prairie/front-lands beyond traditional range would be nice. Good article though…
Glacier is such a success story, especially with regard to these surrounding areas and the publics acceptance/tolerance of bears here. Such a shame that an ecosystem like the Bitterroot/Selway and adjacent wilderness areas of Idaho are left vacant of bears when there was momentum towards augmentation prior to then Gov. Kempthorne’s suit to block plan. Might have a token population by now if augmented then. Shame Idaho can’t follow Montana’s lead. If USFW waits for state leaders and community support they will most likely not make a run at augmentation again anytime soon. Afraid in this way wolves have been bad for bears in Idaho. Of course I don’t blame wolves but Idahoans. In retrospect, would probably have been better if bears would have been farther along (of course Kempthorne stopped this) in BSE before wolves re-introduced. Again, Idaho needs a generational change….and a change in administrations.
Shame too that public surrounding Yellowstone not more accepting/tolerant of bears out migration so this population could flourish/expand into former range.
This is amazing news, the great bear is going home.
I meant to say that people cannot sue to keep bears out.