Bitterroot Ecosystem News Today

A new plan will release up to seven grizzly bears a year into the North Cascades Ecosystem over the next 10 years—Some hunting groups are crying foul

A new plan will release up to seven grizzly bears a year into the North Cascades Ecosystem over the next 10 years.

After decades of extirpation, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have announced plans to start reintroducing grizzly bears to Washington's Northern Cascades.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is mulling ideas for grizzly bears in the Bitterroot Ecosystem following a public scoping period that closed last month.

A report from January 2024 by a couple of conservation groups estimates female grizzly bears could reach the Bitterroot Ecosystem in as few as 3.7 years given the number of cubs they have every year, distances between recovery zones, denning habitats, and location of routes with berries bears like to eat.

On paper, the federal government is trying to figure out whether to restore grizzly bears to the Bitterroot Ecosystem, but the bears appear to have their own plans. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is mulling ideas for grizzly bears in the Bitterroot Ecosystem following a public scoping period that closed last month. The ecosystem […] The post Report: Female grizzly bears could be in Bitterroot Ecosystem in four years appeared first on Daily Montanan.

Report: Female grizzly bears could be in Bitterroot Ecosystem in four years

There seems to be little support for artificially reintroducing grizzly bears into the Bitterroot Ecosystem (BE), the vast area of roadless wildlands in north-central Idaho and western Montana. The Helena

Environmental groups have submitted an alternative for grizzly reintroduction in the Bitterroot as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the impacts of bringing the species back to the ecosystem.

The settlement stems from litigation over Idaho’s petition for grizzly bear delisting that was submitted in March 2022 and denied by the Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2023.