section and will include annual reviews. Ultimately this plan and approach will be re-evaluated in 10 

 years to provide for a complete review of its successes and/or failures. 



History of Bears and Bear Biology in Western Montana 



The Eurasian brown bear and the X'orth American grizzly are considered the same species {Ursiis arctos). 

 Current theory holds that this species developed its large size, aggressive temperament, flexible feeding 

 habits, and adaptive nature in response to habitats created by intermittent glaciation. It is believed that 

 ancestors of the grizzly bear migrated to North America from Siberia across a land bridge at the Bering 

 Strait at least 50,000 years ago. As the continental ice sheet receded about 10,000 years ago, the species 

 began to work its way south over post glacial North America. 



The grizzly bear originally inhabited a variety of habitats from the Great Plains to mountainous areas 

 throughout western North America, from central Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. European explorers 

 encountered grizzlies throughout most of the American West. It is not known exactly how many 

 grizzlies lived in the U.S. before 1700, but based on historical sightings and modem-day densities, it is 

 estimated that around 50,000-100,000 bears lived in parts of 17 states. 



Prior to 1800, grizzly bears were undoubtedly common in western Montana. With newly acquired access 

 to firearms by indigenous people and westward expansion of settlers, bears began to be impacted. With 

 no mechanisms to provide protection or management, almost without exception, bear numbers declined 

 where human and bear came together for any length of time. The decline of the grizzly bear took less 

 than 60 years, from the end of the trapping era in 1840 to the hirn of the century. The decline was due to 

 a number of factors including: a reduction of prey because of market hunting associated with gold 

 exploration and mining; subsistence hunting associated with gold exploration and mining; construction 

 of railroads, homesteading, and predator control; and loss of habitat related to ranching, farming, and 

 human settlement. Much of the killing was based on the feeling, and in some cases fact, that the grizzly 

 bear posed a threat to people and livestock. 



By the 1870s, grizzly bears had disappeared from West Coast beaches and by the 1880s they had been 

 extirpated from prairie river bottoms. In fact, by the turn of the century, they had disappeared from most 

 broad, open mountain valleys. Fifteen years later, most foothill country lacked grizzlies. 



Grizzlies were never eliminated from Montana, but their numbers probably reached their lowest levels in 

 the 1920s. At that time, changes were made out of concern for the future of the species including 

 designating grizzlies a "game animal" in 1923, the first such designation of the species in the lower 48 

 states. This change, along with the early prohibitions on the use of dogs to hunt bears, outlawing baiting 

 (both in 1921) and closing seasons, allowed grizzlies to survive in portions of western Montana. 



Since that time, the degree of protection and the sophistication of management pracHces have grown 

 steadily. In the 1940s, the importance of protecting fish and wildlife habitat began to emerge as a key 

 public issue in wildlife management. Through all of the previous years, wildlife conservation was the 

 goal, and was sought through the restriction and regulation of hunters and anglers. Although partially 

 effective, regulations and laws failed to address a more fundamental issue: the protection of fish and 

 wildlife habitat. 



Early concern by the people of Montana allowed the grizzly bear to survive when it was lost in manv 

 other places and is evidenced in the fact that the state contains all or portions of four of the six areas in the 



