Book Links Future Of Grizzly Bears, Yellowstone

Veteran grizzly bear researcher John Craighead and two associates argue in a new book that feeding grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park may be the only way to keep them alive in future decades.

Government researchers say the idea would be a step backward.

“The Grizzly Bears of Yellowstone,” a new compilation of grizzly research, argues that grizzlies have evolved over thousands of years with “ecocenters,” places that provide large amounts of high-quality food.

Historically, those centers have included mammoth and mastodon carcasses, beached whales along the coast and runs of spawning fish. Some ecocenters, like buffalo jumps piled high with carcasses and offal, were created by man.

Until they were closed in 1970, the garbage dumps in Yellowstone served the same role, the book argues. After closure, hungry bears spread out, got in trouble with people and were killed in large numbers, including dozens of “problem” bears shot by the National Park Service.

“We see no convincing evidence that the postclosure grizzly bear population has bridged the nutritional gap created when the ecocenters (dumps) were destroyed,” the book says.

While bears have learned to use some natural foods more effectively, “at best, the population has only partially recovered.”

The best solution for grizzly survival lies in protecting vast acreages for the bears and changing the things people do in bear country, the book argues. It says a “visionary” multi-state wilderness bill in Congress would help do that, but political realities make the bill a dubious prospect.

That makes feeding the bears an important option, the book argues.

Under tightly regulated and monitored circumstances, bears could be fed human garbage, elk or bison carcasses, grain or grain products.

Government bear researchers disputed Craighead’s notion.

John Varley, head of Yellowstone’s Center for Resources and a 23-year park veteran, said bears have proven their resilience and ability to survive on natural foods.

“There are natural ecocenters here now and there’s no need for Purina bear chow,” Varley said.

Even though those natural food sources fail in some years, Varley said, “what surprises us almost every year is how flexible bears are in accommodating for the failure of one or more of all these things.”

Keith Aune of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, another veteran bear researcher, said artificial feeding would be “a step backward.”

“The bottom line is, he (Craighead) is living in another decade,” Aune said.

Craighead and his brother, Frank, are pioneers in the field of bear research. Among other major accomplishments, they developed ways to radio-collar and track grizzlies, methods that are used today to study species ranging from elk to fish.

They conducted almost all the significant bear research in Yellowstone until the dumps closed. The brothers had argued strongly that the dumps should be closed gradually. The National Park Service refused, the debate intensified and the Craighead team was blocked from doing further work in the park, a decision that caused a bitter and well-publicized rift at the time.

John Craighead now operates the Craighead Wildlife-Wildlands Institute in Missoula. His co-authors are associated with the institute.

Current bear recovery plans won’t make the grade, the book maintains.

“We have reviewed the government’s recovery plan and found it inadequate to the task,” the book says. It is “logically and empirically flawed.”

xxxx