Conservation Northwest updates
6 Summer 2016 conservationnw.org
Restoring grizzly bears
One of the most common questions we get about
grizzly bears is whether the North Cascades has the right
habitat and food for them. Conservation Northwest reached
out to Bill Gaines, Ph.D., bear ecologist and director of the
Washington Conservation Science Institute, for his take on
why the North Cascades is, as in the Goldilocks tale, "just
right" for grizzlies.
What was the historical presence of grizzly bears in the
North Cascades?
We know from trapping records kept by the Hudson's Bay
Company from forts that were in and around the North Cas-
cades that grizzly bears were present. For example, between the
years of 1827 to 1859, Hudson's Bay Company records show
that 3,788 grizzly bear hides were shipped from three forts
in or near the North Cascades. Likely not all of these came
from the North Cascades but this probably had a considerable
impact on the grizzly bear population in the North Cascades.
Additional information is available from historical accounts
of government trappers, hunters, and explorers. For example,
while surveying the U.S.–Canada border in the 1850s, Custer
documented observations of several grizzly bears above the
North Fork of the Nooksack River. Other grizzly bears were
killed or trapped such as the grizzly bear killed by government
trapper Pete Peterson in the 1920s near Mazama. In 1967
the last legally killed grizzly bear was taken from an area near
Washington Pass (grizzly bears were listed in 1973). Collec-
tively, this information suggests that there once was a relatively
large population of grizzly bears that occurred throughout the
North Cascades.
When people think about grizzly food, they oen think
elk calves or salmon. But I understand that in areas like the
North Cascades and Yellowstone, the average grizzly diet
is mostly vegetation. What types of plants are found in the
North Cascades that would make up a grizzly's diet ?
Yes, bear diets can vary quite a bit by season and on the eco-
system they live in. But generally 75-85% of their annual diet
is composed of vegetation. When we were evaluating poten-
tial food sources for bears in the North Cascades, we looked at
the available research on bear diets and developed a list of 124
plant species they feed on. We then compared that list to the
data we collected on plants in the North Cascades based on
1,726 vegetation plots. We found that 100 of the 124 species
of plants that are bear foods occur in the North Cascades. In
fact, when compared to some of the other ecosystems where
bears live, we have a wide diversity and abundance of plants
for bears to eat. Some of the really important plants will be
grizzly bear habitat
the North Cascades: Just right for
grizzlies
Chase Gunnell Deputy Communications Director,
chase@conservationnw.org
The avalanche chutes, alpine meadows and subalpine forests of
areas like the Glacier Peak Wilderness provide prime grizzly bear
habitat. Photo: Chase Gunnell
"The combination of really high quality
habitats in really remote areas makes
the North Cascades relatively unique
in the lower 48 states and is a primary
reason that grizzly bear recovery is being
pursued here." –Bill Gaines, Washington
Conservation Science Institute
