December 11, 2024
A New Vision for Grizzly Recovery
True recovery of grizzly bears requires a unified population with connected ecosystems
While federal protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act have helped foster a slow comeback for the grizzlies in the U.S. Northern Rockies, mounting human-caused threats imperil any lasting recovery.
2024 has emerged as the deadliest year for the bears since their listing.
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Female cub
Died: June 17, 2024
Cottonwood Creek, Wyo.Human-caused: Vehicle strike
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Adult male
Died: July 16, 2024
Cascade Creek, YNPHuman-caused: Electrocution
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Adult male
Died: July 18, 2024
Yellowstone River, Mont.Human-caused: Extreme habituation, food conditioning, property damage, human safety
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Adult female and two male cubs
Died: Aug. 27, 2024
Heart Mountain Canal, Wyo.Human-caused: Drowned in cement-sided canal
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Adult female
Died: Oct. 22, 2024
Snake River, Wyo.Human-caused: Vehicle strike
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Adult male
Died: Oct. 23, 2024
Gallatin River, Mont.Human-caused: Removal for property damage, human food conditioning
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Subadult female
Died: Oct. 24, 2024
Bennett Creek, Wyo.Human-caused: Removal for property damage, human food conditioning
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Adult female
Died: Nov. 18, 2024
Greybull River, Wyo.Human-caused: Removal for obtaining food rewards
Only a handful of those deaths are attributed to natural causes. The rest were killed during surprise encounters with hunters or were exterminated over encounters with livestock or after rummaging through unsecured household trash. Others were hit by cars or trains. Some were electrocuted. A mother bear and two cubs drowned in a concrete drainage ditch. Still more were killed at the hands of poachers.
Seventy-three grizzlies were killed in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem this year alone. Humans contributed to all but two of those deaths killed by humans.
At least 90 grizzly bear deaths in the Northern Rockies this year are attributable to human causes.
What’s Threatening Grizzly Bears
1. Isolation
Grizzly bear populations are vulnerable due to genetic and geographical isolation and small ‘island’ populations. This makes them more susceptible to population declines.
Solution:
Science-based management supporting natural connectivity and establishing interconnected populations of grizzly bears will increase genetic and demographic resilience.
2. Lethal State Policies
In the past decade, states in the U.S. Northern Rockies have adopted regressive anti-predator laws that are undoing wildlife recovery success stories.
Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana politicians have passed new deadly policies aimed at reducing wolves. Those include wolf hunting methods as well as trapping and neck snaring practices that harm many other wildlife species, even on public lands.
Solution:
The states must change course and adopt measures that reduce grizzly mortality risk and foster grizzly recovery.
3. Human Encounters
Human developments and increased recreation are pushing grizzlies out of their habitat.
Livestock conflicts, bear-hunter encounters, and vehicle collisions are among the leading direct causes of grizzly bear deaths.
Solution:
Better management practices such as assisting livestock producers with ways to avoid grizzly encounters, along with public outreach about bear safety when hunting and recreation are vital to reducing these outcomes.
4. Habitat Fragmentation
Human development including roads, logging, mining, and urbanization degrades and fragments grizzly bear habitats.
Solution:
Wildlife connectivity areas and careful management and habitat restoration on public lands are essential to counteract these effects and support population survival.
5. A Changing Climate
A rapidly heating environment has disrupted food distribution and availability for grizzly bears, sometimes forcing them to seek other sources for calories. Climate change impacts grizzly habitats and forces grizzlies to seek food in places where they face higher risks of human conflict.
Solution:
Incorporating the best-available science into grizzly recovery that includes assessing and addressing the impacts of a warming planet on grizzlies and their habitat is essential to their long-term recovery.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering stripping grizzly bears of their federal protections and turning over their management to the states, which would usher in a new era of grizzly extermination.
Petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Proposed updates to the 1993 Recovery Plan for grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies, including a metapopulation approach for lasting and sustainable recovery.
Ahead of this decision, Earthjustice and 14 partner groups together present a new vision for grizzly recovery. Citing new research from Dr. Christopher Servheen, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator, Earthjustice has petitioned the service to incorporate the best-available science to update the service’s outdated grizzly recovery plan.
The goal is to develop a plan with new policies and management practices that foster natural connectivity between currently isolated populations of bears.
Currently, the service manages grizzlies in five isolated ecosystems: the Greater Yellowstone, the Northern Continental Divide, the Selkirk, the Cabinet-Yaak, and the Bitterroot, the last of which has no resident population of grizzlies.
Science shows that true recovery of grizzly bears requires a unified population with natural movement and connection between ecosystems.
Grizzly Bear Populations in the U.S. Lower-48
Historical range of grizzlies
Estimated occupied grizzly range in 1975 when granted ESA protections
Current estimated occupied grizzly range
Potential connectivity between grizzly populations
Potential grizzly range with revised recovery plan
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
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1850s 1975 Today Future
In addition to adopting this new management plan, the lasting recovery of grizzlies is dependent upon commitments from the states and land management agencies to adopt safeguards for the bears and their habitat, now and beyond delisting.
Until grizzly bears achieve natural connectivity and the states agree to lasting protections, grizzlies should remain listed under the Endangered Species Act.
To live in Grizzly Country is a gift, but one that requires care and commitment to preserve it.
The choice will be up to us: to continue our unceasing march of development relegating grizzlies to tiny zoo populations, or to assure a future in which grizzly bears thrive for generations to come.
Photo Credits: Mist rises from grizzly's warm breath (Jim Peaco / NPS). Grizzly watches gray wolf (Kimberly Shields / NPS). Grizzly bear crossing road in Hayden Valley (Eric Johnston / NPS). Grizzly near Swan Lake (Neal Herbert / NPS). Grizzly sow and cubs near Roaring Mountain (Eric Johnston / NPS). Grizzly near Wapiti Lake (Eric Johnston / NPS).
Grizzly Mortality Data: Inset slideshow data sourced from Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team’s record of grizzly bear mortality in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in 2024. Additionally, known grizzly mortalities in Montana can be found on the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks website and grizzly mortalities in the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s website.
Map Data: Historical grizzly bear range (IUCN). 1975 grizzly bear range (National Academy of Sciences). Current occupied grizzly bear range (U.S. FWS ECOS). Grizzly bear recovery zones (U.S. FWS). Basemap © CARTO / © OpenStreetMap.
Established in 1993, Earthjustice's Northern Rockies Office, located in Bozeman, Mont., protects the region's irreplaceable natural resources by safeguarding sensitive wildlife species and their habitats and challenging harmful coal and industrial gas developments.