By Nick Engelfried
Grizzly bears are the largest land omnivore in North America, weighing up to 800 pounds. When standing upright, adult males may reach a height of eight feet. For many people, grizzly bears represent a symbol of untamed wilderness–but their numbers have plummeted to a tiny fraction of what they were prior to Euro-American colonization.

Few animals evoke more powerful emotions in as many people as the grizzly bear, which is also one of the most persecuted and misunderstood mammals on the North American continent. Now, with some policymakers seemingly set on their eradication, the future of these majestic animals is hanging in the balance. It’s in some ways more important than ever that we rethink our relationship with grizzlies.

Before the surge of Euro-American westward expansion in the 1800s, grizzly bears ranged over much of the western half of the North American continent, where they could be found from Alaska to northern Mexico, and in environments as diverse as the Great Plains of the Dakotas, the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevadas of California. Prior to the nineteenth century an estimated 50,000 grizzlies thrived throughout this vast geographic area, making them one of the most successful and widely distributed large mammals on the continent.

Grizzly bears co-existed with the Indigenous peoples of North America for thousands of years–and in fact, the bears occupy an important place in many Indigenous cultures, some of whom traditionally regard the grizzly as a relative. Though some Indigenous nations hunted grizzlies, the species lived peacefully alongside humans for millennia. Unfortunately, that changed with the arrival of colonists.

Grizzlies are an important part of the food web in the ecosystems where they live. Inland grizzlies feed largely on plant matter and insects, aerating the soil with their long claws as they forage for food. They also eat small mammals and occasionally larger prey. Coastal grizzlies in Alaska are famously fond of salmon, which they consume in vast numbers as the fish return to their upstream spawning grounds.

Although grizzlies pose little threat to people, the pioneers and other settlers who followed them regarded bears and other large predators as pests or “vermin” to be exterminated. Grizzlies were hunted and trapped mercilessly, with the federal and state governments actively encouraging the slaughter. By the mid-twentieth century they had been reduced to a tiny fraction of their historic range.

Help arrived in the form of the Endangered Species Act, which was passed in Congress in 1973, at a time when scientists and the public were beginning to pay more attention to the important roles predators play in ecosystems. Grizzlies were listed under the Act as a protected species in 1975, which ended legal hunting of grizzles and obligated the federal government to create a conservation plan for them. Even so, today grizzlies remain confined to a small fraction of their historic range.

Around 2,000 grizzly bears are believed to now exist in the contiguous United States, with almost all confined to just three states: Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. In 1993, scientists released a list of six grizzly bear “recovery areas,” or places believed to have a large enough area of undisturbed habitat to support healthy grizzly populations. One of these, in Washington’s North Cascades ecosystem, would extend a substantial grizzly population to a fourth state–however, so far no grizzlies have been reintroduced to the North Cascades, and meanwhile the species struggles to hang on even in other recovery areas where grizzles are already present.

In fact, most of the existing grizzlies in the contiguous United States are confined to just two recovery areas: Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem (which includes Glacier National Park). Even these populations remain fragile; however, state lawmakers in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho are currently pushing to allow them to be hunted, a step that threatens to set back conservation efforts. Last year, in anticipation of a possible January decision by the federal government to remove Endangered Species Act protections for grizzlies, all three states announced plans to allow grizzly hunting in the event that their management reverts fully to state decision makers.

As it turned out, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declined to delist grizzlies earlier this year, maintaining their threatened status under the Endangered Species Act along with the protections this designation entails. However, by the end of the month the new Trump administration had announced intentions to re-examine that decision, raising the possibility that federal protections for grizzlies may soon be abolished after all.

In 2020, the previous Trump administration halted plans to reintroduce grizzlies to the North Cascades ecosystem. The plan moved forward again under the Biden administration, but seems likely to be placed on hold again.

Meanwhile, in Alaska–where grizzlies are not protected under the Endangered Species Act–hunting the species is already allowed, enticing wealthy trophy hunters to come to the 49th state in hopes of shooting and killing one of the majestic animals. Alaska also kills grizzlies and other predator animals as a matter of state policy, supposedly meant to “protect” game animals coveted by human hunters. In 2023 alone, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game ordered an aerial hunt in which 94 defenseless grizzlies were shot dead from helicopters.

Alaska’s current attitude toward grizzly management is in some ways reminiscent of U.S. government policy before the mid-twentieth century, when bears and other predators were regarded as mere vermin. It could also be a preview of how grizzlies in other parts of the country may be treated if Endangered Species Act protections are removed.

With future legal protections for grizzly bears in doubt, it is more important than ever for the public to understand the importance of these animals who have lived alongside humans on the North American continent since time immemorial. From the verge of extinction, grizzlies in the contiguous United States have made a comeback in at least some parts of their range–and their continued protection is paramount if the species is to have a future.

As for animal lovers who want to help grizzly bears survive for decades to come, one of the most powerful actions we can take is to spread awareness of the plight of these animals and their need for continued legal protection. Also consider contacting your members of Congress–especially if you live in a state home to grizzly bears–and urging them to support preservation of grizzly bear protections. At this time of peril for North America’s largest land omnivore, the voices of people who care about grizzlies may be what saves these long-persecuted animals from extermination.

Photo credit: Pixabay

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Nick Engelfried Writes About Animals, the Environment, and Conservation for the ForceChange network