The Bitterroot Grizzly Bear Evaluation Area: A report to the Bitterroot Technical Review Team

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This report culminates a 5-year evaluation of a 1.4-million hectare area in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho and Montana, known as the Bitterroot Evaluation Area. The objectives of the evaluation were to determine (1) the present status of the grizzly bear population and (2) the space and habitat necessary to support a viable grizzly bear population in the Bitterroot Evaluation Area. We constructed a geographic information system containing 13 map layers: (1) evaluation area boundary, (2) Forest Service administrative units, (3) wilderness areas, (4) land ownership, (5) roads, (6) trails, (7) hydrology, (8) elevation, (9) aspect, (10) slope, (11) watershed basins, (12) potential spring habitat, and (13) land cover. We discussed the suitability of the Bitterroot Evaluation Area for grizzly bears based on 7 characteristics of required grizzly bear habitat: (1) space, (2) isolation, (3) sanitation, (4) food, (5) denning, (6) vegetation types, and (7) safety. We concluded that biological factors related to space, isolation, denning, vegetation types, and food are adequate. Grizzly bear recovery in the Bitterroot Evaluation Area will depend, however, on addressing potential human-caused mortality through education, enforcement, and regulatory changes.

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Electronic File - Zoology: Mammals

The Bitterroot Technical Review Team was in Denver CO.
In case need for CSE style: Davis was Forest Biologist, Clearwater NF, Orofino, ID; Butterfield was with Mountain West Ecology, Moscow, ID.