Grizzly captured, released

By JIM MANN

The Daily Inter Lake

A grizzly bear has been captured near Marion, an area long considered in-between country for the species.

The young male was captured largely out of scientific curiosity.

"It was an opportunity to get a collar on a grizzly bear in an area where normally, we don't have any information on their movements," said Tim Manley, grizzly bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The Sept. 1 culvert-trap capture also was prompted by the bear's recent proximity to homes near Marion. A resident photographed the bear as it ambled down a driveway, and judging from the picture, Manley determined it was a grizzly bear. The bear was caught in a pasture between two homes, just south of Bitterroot Lake.

Although Manley never has captured a grizzly bear near Marion, he wasn't entirely surprised to find one there.

"We get reports of bears out there once in a while," he said. And he has worked on grizzly bears farther to the northwest, near Island Lake, and east towards Kalispell, in the Rhodes Draw and Star Meadows areas.

"We know there are grizzlies in the Salish Mountains," he said.

But the rough stretch of forest between Kalispell and Libby lies between the federal government's official recovery areas - the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem and the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem.

In this case, the bear was closer to the Cabinet Mountains than it was to the most westerly fringes of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, the Whitefish Range.

"We don't know where he came from," Manley said of the 200-pound bear. For that reason, it was released not far from where it was captured, near Meadow Peak northwest of Marion.

Jim Williams, regional wildlife manager for Montana FWP, predicts that grizzly will be increasingly found outside the recovery areas, "as grizzlies continue to expand their distribution west of the Continental Divide."

That's the view of many land and wildlife managers. But some bear advocates say there is nothing certain about growing or expanding grizzly populations, particularly in the Cabinet-Yaak recovery area.

A DNA-based population analysis is underway for the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, with a population estimate expected next year. A related study is aimed at monitoring long-term population trends, using birth and mortality information from monitoring radio-collared female bears.

Williams noted that a proposed grizzly bear management plan developed by the state will be the topic of upcoming public meetings. The meetings will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Sept. 19 at the Venture Inn in Libby, Sept. 20 at the Lincoln Electric meeting room in Eureka and Sept. 21 at FWP headquarters in Kalispell.

The bear caught near Marion was fitted with a global positioning satellite collar that will enable Manley to monitor its movements from Kalispell. So far, there aren't any indications that the bear has getting into food near homes.

"We may find now, with a collar, that he is a management-type bear," Manley said.

It is not uncommon for young bears, particularly males, to roam huge distances in search of a home range. And bears are tending to move more at this time of year, as food sources at higher elevations start to dry up.

Manley has seen a considerable spike in bear reports just over the last week.

"Just today, I've had five calls on black bears," he said. "In most cases, it's just people seeing them."

A hard frost had an impact on huckleberries at higher elevations, so some bears will move to lower country, seeking hawthorne berries and choke cherries along rivers.

Manley urges valley residents to bring in bird feeders and secure pet food, garbage and other food that might attract bears.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com