Administration - Statewide & regional planning

Servheen, C. D. (1982). Bitterroot Ecosystem Recovery Plan Chapter. Retrieved December 19, 2003, from http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/endspp/grizzly/FEIS2000/Ch6Ap14-15Pg130-161.pdf

Abstract

The Bitterroot Ecosystem (BE) is one of the largest contiguous blocks of Federal land remaining in the lower 48 United States. The core of the BE contains the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. Together these two wilderness areas make up the largest block of wilderness habitat in the Rocky Mountains. The BE also contains significant areas of multiple use lands where wildlife and fisheries values coexist with resource use and recreation. The BE formerly contained grizzly bears, but they are gone today due to excessive human-caused mortality. The demise of the grizzly from the BE was due to the actions of humans. Bears were actively killed for their fur, for sport, and to eliminate possible threats to humans and domestic livestock. The killing of bears for livestock protection reached its highest level in the early 1900's when domestic sheep grazing in what is now the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness reached its peak. The last bears were killed in the north end of the BE. Bud Moore, who was born in the Bitterroot Valley and was a former District Ranger for the Powell Ranger District of the Clearwater National Forest, has written an account of the last grizzlies of the BE (Moore, in press). He interviewed more than 25 old outfitters, hunters, trappers, and users of the ecosystem for his book. The last verified grizzly bears were seen in the 1940's. Since that time, there have been no verified sightings, verified tracks, accidental kills of grizzlies by black bear hunters, trapping of grizzlies by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game as part of their black bear research, sightings of grizzlies on annual aircraft wildlife surveys, or verified photos of grizzlies at baited cameras placed by management agencies.

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