Grizzly bear numbers in the lower 48 states haven't changed significantly since the early part of the 20th century. According to most estimates there are between 800 and 1,200 bears left in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington occupying a mere 2 percent of their former range.
Grizzlies have been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1975, when they were listed as a threatened species. In 1983, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee — an alliance of state and federal agencies — was formed to protect the animal in an area called the Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone, which includes six ecosystems.
The North Cascades ecosystem, located in Washington, currently has between 5 and 20 grizzlies. The Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems, located in Washington, Idaho and Montana, have 30 to 90 grizzlies between them. There are between 350 and 500 grizzlies in Montana's Northern Continental Divide ecosystem and between 400 and 600 in the Yellowstone ecosystem of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
The sixth recovery zone, the Selway-Bitterroot ecosystem of Idaho and Montana, has 15,000 acres of wilderness but not a single grizzly. A plan to reintroduce grizzlies to this area as a nonessential experimental population was approved in November 2000 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but withdrawn the following year. The reasoning was that recovery efforts and resources should be concentrated on existing grizzly bear populations before new ones are established.
Grizzlies are doing fairly well in Canada and Alaska, though their numbers are not at historic levels. Canada has between 15,000 and 25,000 grizzlies remaining, and most of these are found in British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory. Alaska is home to the largest grizzly bear population in North America with some 25,000 to 40,000 living in the state.
Illegal poaching and habitat destruction caused by logging, mining and human development continue to threaten the grizzly bear throughout its range. The best way to prevent grizzlies from going extinct in the lower 48 states and elsewhere is to learn more about them and to ask your representatives to support legislation protecting the bears and their habitat.
Heading for the Unknown
