4 ms·

I wonder why only the Selkirk Recovery Zone crosses borders, especially when BC and Alberta are listed among the partner agencies. I think all of the recent (l

I wonder why only the Selkirk Recovery Zone crosses borders, especially when BC and Alberta are listed among the partner agencies. I think all of the recent (last 15 or so years) grizzly sightings in the North Cascades are speculated to be visiting bears from Canada.

codeduck 1y ago
I think one of those bears just dined on the parent poster. Rest in peace, RandallBrown
jjulius 1y ago
This is why the whole discussion around reintroducing them into the North Cascades in Washington has fascinated me (I take no sides, though as a backpacker in that area, I'd kinda prefer not to have to deal with them - black bears trend afraid of us, I've never minded spotting them!). British Columbia has them, and the border doesn't prevent them from making their way down here. I've yet to understand why that is the case - what keeps them from actually coming into the Washington Cascades and making themselves at home?
- dogman144 1y ago
  Layman’s understanding, but the only real prevention is time and if there’s an existing grizzly pop down there. Reason grizzs are expanding is the males have very large roaming territory, and each new adolescent male needs to find its own or face conflict. If you’re backpacking in an area with a pop, good odds there’s 1x grizz per 6 square miles. Hunting and environmental damage could play a role, but I don’t think modern hunting/F&G policies could do much. They are very adaptable creatures and eat a variety of stuff, so I speculate you’d have to have real ecosystem collapse to cause them to bow out of an area. End of the day for me - grizzlies ranged the entire country in 1776 times, and then by the 1970’s got boxed into Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming basically. If that bear disappeared/disappears, it’d be a tragedy. Meet a bear or see one skinned and they’re pretty darn close to human-looking. The Montana pop in glacier is about to join with the Wyoming pop in Yellowstone, they’re now in the bighorns in WY, and get spotted in eastern plains Montana now. If you’re not hunting and dressing game, as most hikers are not, the main danger comes from surprising them, so just keep head on a swivel and carry bear spray. Carry a 10mm or .44 and up for if you get stalked by one. NOLS Lander has a good YouTube video on grizzly safety. After long enough accounting for this, I realized I wasn’t really “hiking” in non-bear areas much as marching around woods acting like I was, and I haven’t looked at the non-bear areas the same.

codeduck 1y ago

I think one of those bears just dined on the parent poster. Rest in peace, RandallBrown

jjulius 1y ago

This is why the whole discussion around reintroducing them into the North Cascades in Washington has fascinated me (I take no sides, though as a backpacker in that area, I'd kinda prefer not to have to deal with them - black bears trend afraid of us, I've never minded spotting them!). British Columbia has them, and the border doesn't prevent them from making their way down here. I've yet to understand why that is the case - what keeps them from actually coming into the Washington Cascades and making themselves at home?

dogman144 1y ago
Layman’s understanding, but the only real prevention is time and if there’s an existing grizzly pop down there. Reason grizzs are expanding is the males have very large roaming territory, and each new adolescent male needs to find its own or face conflict. If you’re backpacking in an area with a pop, good odds there’s 1x grizz per 6 square miles. Hunting and environmental damage could play a role, but I don’t think modern hunting/F&G policies could do much. They are very adaptable creatures and eat a variety of stuff, so I speculate you’d have to have real ecosystem collapse to cause them to bow out of an area. End of the day for me - grizzlies ranged the entire country in 1776 times, and then by the 1970’s got boxed into Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming basically. If that bear disappeared/disappears, it’d be a tragedy. Meet a bear or see one skinned and they’re pretty darn close to human-looking. The Montana pop in glacier is about to join with the Wyoming pop in Yellowstone, they’re now in the bighorns in WY, and get spotted in eastern plains Montana now. If you’re not hunting and dressing game, as most hikers are not, the main danger comes from surprising them, so just keep head on a swivel and carry bear spray. Carry a 10mm or .44 and up for if you get stalked by one. NOLS Lander has a good YouTube video on grizzly safety. After long enough accounting for this, I realized I wasn’t really “hiking” in non-bear areas much as marching around woods acting like I was, and I haven’t looked at the non-bear areas the same.