Grizzly Bears and Their Management in the Western Bitterroot Ecosystem

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) were extirpated from central Idaho’s Bitterroot Ecosystem (BE) by 1946. After a failed attempt to reintroduce grizzlies to the BE in the 1990s, individual grizzlies have been documented in the region since 2007, dispersing from other established populations to the north. To explore BE residents’ tolerance towards grizzlies and their management and who they trust and do not trust for grizzly management, this research uses interviews and focus groups to collect data that can inform proactive conservation and management efforts amidst potential natural recovery. Results indicate: (1) distrust of management agencies and conservation organizations that stems from general perceptions of untrustworthiness and the wolf reintroduction that occurred in central Idaho in the mid-1990s, (2) trust-building preferences, including accessible staff and participatory opportunities, and ways for agencies and organizations to increase perceptions of trustworthiness, (3) intolerance towards management that stems from perceptions of an inequitable constitutive process that excludes BE residents from decision-making, potential threats from Endangered Species Act regulations, and a lack of clarity about current and future management plans, (4) preferred actions to increase tolerance towards management, including a decentralized decision-making process, educational outreach about grizzlies, and a hunting season, (5) intolerance towards grizzlies that stems from safety, economic, and cultural concerns, and (6) tolerance towards grizzlies that stems from appreciation and the belief in their right to exist. These findings suggest that improved communication efforts about management intentions and a more equitable constitutive process may address issues of social injustice and some of the material and non-material costs of grizzly presence to improve BE residents’ tolerance and foster more trusting relationships.masters, M.S., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2022-0