Grizzlies occupy a variety of habitats including the desert's edge, boreal forests, sub-alpine meadows to the tundra above tree line. Grizzlies were common on the Great Plains prior to the arrival of European settlers and in the 1700ês grizzlies numbered 20,000 in California alone. Grizzly ranges overlap extensively, and there is no evidence they are territorial. Occasionally, bears may gather in large numbers at major food sources and form family foraging groups, but grizzlies are generally solitary.

The grizzly bear has the reputation of being the most dangerous animal in North America and although its ferocity is well documented the most dangerous animals are the ones that we think are not, like moose and bison. Although real danger of attack by a grizzly is minimal as grizzly bears attempt to avoid human contact and will not attack unless startled at close quarters with young, engrossed in a search for food or protecting a kill. Although grizzlies try to avoid contact with humans, when encountered they are unpredictable and should be given plenty of room. Because of their size and aggressiveness towards threats, grizzly bears have no natural enemies but man. Humans have killed them throughout history for food, sport, and self-preservation; cubs may be attacked by other bears, mountain lions, or wolves, although this is very rare.

The Grizzly may be active any time of the day, but generally forage for food in the morning and evening and sleep during the heat of the day. Grizzlies move with the seasons with bears sometimes traveling dozens of miles to reach areas of favorable food supplies, such as white pine nuts and berry patches. Grizzly bears are omnivorous, and will eat almost anything. Their diet changes with seasonal availability of different food sources. They eat a wide variety of plant foods, including grasses, sedges, roots, moss, and bulbs, fruits, nuts, berries, bulbs, and tubers. They consume insects, fungi, and roots all times of the year; they also dig mice, ground squirrels, marmots, and other animals out of their burrows. Gypsy moth larvae found in the talus slopes of the sub alpine regions of Yellowstone has been found to be especially important source of protein and fat when grizzlies are putting on fat in the fall. In the Rockies, grizzly bears are quite carnivorous, hunting moose, elk, mountain sheep, and mountain goats. Occasionally black bears become part of the diet. Grizzly bears have an excellent sense of smell and can follow the scent of a rotting carcass for more than two miles, and with a favorable wind much farther. Winter killed carrion is a primary food source when they first come out of their den in the spring

Grizzlies vary widely in body shape, color. The tundra grizzly is often yellowish on the back with brownish legs and belly. In the Rocky Mountains, the –silver-tip” is dominant. Adults Rocky Mountain Grizzlies average 350 pounds at maturity. The costal Grizzlies of Canada and Alaska and reach 1,100 pounds because of their abundant diet of salmon. Grizzlies move with a slow, lumbering walk, although they are capable of moving very quickly and can reach 35 miles per hour on short bursts.

Grizzly bears reach sexual maturity between 4-6 years old, but they continue to grow until they are ten years old. Bears have been known to live and reproduce in the Greater Yellowstone area until 25 years old and have a potential lifespan of 50 years. A grizzly sow often has two cubs that stay with grizzly sows for two and sometimes three years. Grizzly cubs are born blind and furless while the sow is hibernating during winter, weighing only three quarters of a pound to a pound and a half at birth they grow to an average weight of 60 pounds by six months old.

Grizzlies begin hibernation in October to December, and they come out of their den in March to May. Grizzlies dig their own dens and make a bed out of dry vegetation. Dens are usually located on a sheltered slope, either under a large stone or among the roots of a mature tree. Dens are sometimes used year after year.

Economic benefits of the grizzly include; trophy hunting, grizzly bears have been widely sought as big game trophies and are subject to regulated sport hunting throughout much of their Alaska and Canadian ranges; an economical benefit to the rural areas that are home to grizzlies and hunting outfitters. In Montanaês Glacier National Park and in the Yellowstone region grizzly bears contribute to the eco-tourism industry and have been a long time draw to the National Parks. Alaska and Canada also benefit from grizzly eco-tourism. Economic cost of the Grizzly includes; predation of livestock of rocky mountain ranchers and the millions of dollars spent to monitor and litigate on behalf of the grizzly.

Grizzly bear numbers have dropped dramatically since the turn of the twentieth century, since settlers moved into the American West, driving these bears out of much of their former range. Grizzlies now occupy two per cent of their former range. Logging, mining, road construction, resorts, subdivisions, golf courses, etc. have all encroached on suitable grizzly bear habitat, resulting in a decrease in numbers.

Greater Yellowstone; A Grizzly Home

About 10 years ago a grizzly sow and her three cubs were seen by Paul Bruin as he was fishing the Snake just above Deadman's Bar in Grand Teton National Park, north of Jackson Wyoming. The following day these bears were tranquilized at the Bob Lucas Ranch south of Jackson. She either skirted Jackson or walked straight down the river through the property of many unsuspecting homeowners. In November, 2003 a 2-year-old female grizzly had been sleeping on people's porches and in garages for nearly a week in Driggs Idaho. In July 2004 JHMR ski patroller Kirk Speckhals was mountain biking on Togwotee Pass when a grizzly attacked him, it was driven off with pepper spray thanks to fellow mountain biker Tom Foley.

Between 1994 and 1996, 182 cattle were found dead on two grazing allotments in Togwotee Pass. 3.5 calves are lost to grizzly depredation for every confirmed calf kill. These ranchers gave up their grazing allotment that made their ranch a viable business.

Due to the success of the recovery of the grizzly, Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced plans to remove federal protection for Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzlies. When removed from the threatened species list the grizzly will still be protected within the 2.6 million acre Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park corridor. There are about 600 grizzly bears living in the GYE, up from only 200 or 250 grizzlies in the region in 1975. Dr. Chris Servheen the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's grizzly bear recovery coordinator supports delisting, saying –all established recovery parameters have been met or exceeded."

Tom France, Rockies Natural Resource Center Director of the National Wildlife Federation agrees:– The Yellowstoneês grizzly population is clearly a success for the Endangered Species Act and it shows how the act can work.”

The GYE and Montanaês Bob Marshall/Glacier National Park Wilderness Complex are home to grizzly populations considered sustainable. The next goal for many in the grizzly bear recovery field is the Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem. This would create a wildlife corridor that would enable bears to move between the three ecosystems, strengthening all three populations.

The long-range agendum behind the environmentalistês effort to move grizzlies into the Selway-Bitterroot ecosystem is a part of a movement to develop a corridor that could link populations of bears all the way from Alaska to the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The idea has been coined Y2Y (Yukon to Yellowstone.) The Y2Y movement is 140 environmental groups who propose a series of wildlife corridors to link populations of bear, wolves, and other large predators all the way from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to Canada's Yukon Territory on the border of Alaska. The entire area encompasses almost 500,000 square miles, using dedicated, animals-only overpasses and underpasses.

Federal and state grizzly management officials agree that it is time to delist the GYE grizzly, but predictably many environmental groups are against it. Former Earth First activist Louisa Willcox believes 2,000 to 3,000 bears should live in adjacent ecosystems prior to delisting of the grizzlies of the GYE. Biologists unbiased by radical environmentalism view the Endangered Species Act as "a temporary protection for species that are in peril. You save them then move onto the next project. Radical environmentalists believe that once endangered, always endangered hence never remove protection; they will always try to raise the bar, increase target numbers, and expand inclusive territory to earmark for protection hence never reaching a goal equating and acknowledging success.

The grizzly must be delisted and managed locally. Leanne Hayne who lives 35 miles north of Choteau MT stepped out of her home to investigate her dogês incessant barking. As she walked out onto the back porch, she saw a grizzly bear standing 10 yards away. The bear didnêt charge, but it didnêt run away either. Showing no fear, –Thatês when I realized that these huge beasts have to fear humans that maybe itês time to reconsider a hunting season.”

I imagine that most people living in Dubois, Salmon, and Mackay Idaho, Missoula, Bozeman, Hamilton, and Dillon Montana, Dubois, Jackson and Pinedale Wyoming, arenêt thrilled to be targets of a proposed grizzly bear migration corridor. We must celebrate the Grizzly recovery success by delisting it. I am thrilled that I live in close proximity to a few grizzlies, I am also glad I live on the outer most boundary of their territory. I am glad that we still have ranches to look at in our valley bottoms; I would like to see them stay in business so that these open spaces donêt become wall to wall ranchettes for urban escapees. I hope that I can continue camping in the mountains adjacent to my home absent of the paranoia I camp within Yellowstone. I hope that the front porch grizzlies of Driggs donêt expand their territory to other towns.

In July, 2006 I was riding horses with my 9-year-old son in the mountains north of our home in Irwin Idaho when I saw a grizzly where none are supposed to be. My wife will no longer let my son ride in the mountains with me.

I like having a good population of grizzlies in Yellowstone where we can go to try to see one, but I bet most of us living the Greater Yellowstone region would rather not have them in close proximity to our homes.