Story and photos by John W. Cannon

UTAH FISHING & OUTDOORS - December 1, 1991

Imagine this if you will. You are hiking through the Rocky Mountain Wilderness of Utah. There on the trail in front of you is a large track. The huge print bears the distinct indentations of large long claws. The track is the signature of Ursus Arctos horribilis, which is the scientific, Latin, name for grizzly bear.

Your heart beats faster. Your ears strain for the slightest sound. You scan the woods for movement. Your senses are honed to razor-sharpness because you know that he is out there somewhere. You continue down the trail.

Suddenly a twig snaps in the bushes. The leaves swoosh and rustle. Your heart slams into your throat while a mega-dose of adrenaline blasts into your veins. Every hair on your body stands straight up as a beast races through the woods in your direction.

There it is right in front of you —— and it‘s a chipmunk. He races up a small bush a yard in front of your face scolding you for walking through his part of the woods. Never has a chipmunk elicited such an intense reaction. You are humbled by the encounter, yet exhilarated. It is good to be alive.

Somewhere out there is a large, powerful creature — the greatest land predator on the face of the earth. He is fast and strong. possessing a keen intellect with remarkable cunning and resourcefulness. He does not play by the rules of men. If he gets a hankering he might eat you for lunch.

It is this occasional propensity to eat people and their fat, helpless, tasty, domestic livestock that has gotten the bear into so much trouble.

Not that such incidents occur with any great frequency but when they do, we all hear about it over and over again. Hundreds of people die in America every week from auto accidents and no one even bats an eye. But if, say, one photographer gets too close to a grizzly and gets eaten it makes national headline news!

I have never heard of any groups of irate citizens fighting to get rid of automobiles because of the risk and hazard that they impose upon us. Yet there are groups whose stated goal has been to completely eradicate the big bears and other large predators. And for many years such attitudes were considered completely acceptable. The grizzly once occupied most of the Western US, with over 100,000 of the big bears once living in what is now the lower 48 states. Today less than 1,000 grizzly bears now live in that same areas. Their existence is so precarious that in many of these remaining areas they have been listed as “threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, thus mandating that the government take action to ensure the survival of the few remaining bears. As I have watched the debate rage over the remaining grizzlies in the Western U.S., I have thought to myself, “Why are there no grizzlies left in Utah? Should we bring the grizzly hear back to Utah?” This is indeed a loaded question and I will take responsibility for asking it.

Following are a number of interviews with various individuals, groups and government officials responding to the question, “Should we bring back grizzly bears to Utah?” None of these people, official or otherwise, have, to the best of my knowledge, actually proposed reintroducing the big brown bears to Utah. But, maybe it is time they, and we, consider such a question.

Some of you may gather from introduction my introduction thus far that I must be a left wing liberal environmentalist ecu-nut. But no so — I happen to be very right wing and extremely conservative. Having grown up on a farm I have personally raised many sheep, cattle and other livestock. I have also experienced first hand the anguish of losing my animals to predators. It is a horrible feeling to find the fruits of your labors dead in the field, killed by some wild creature.

I am not completely numb to the feeling of the livestock industry. My father, Welles Cannon, owns and operates a packing plant here in Utah, where they kill several hundred sheep a day. He is also on the Governor’s Council which represents the lamb industry. Most of my family earns their living directly from the livestock industry. I myself work part time at the plant loading butchered sheep carcasses onto semi-trucks when my revenue from writing runs low. Even as I write about bringing grizzly bears back to Utah, I am sitting in the offices of the packing plant. As I type on the computer I am looking out the window at the canals filled with sheep, only yards way.

It is with great trepidation that I write this story as my family and friends are extremely concerned. They try to reason with me, “What, are your crazy?" booms my brother, Jim. “We spent almost 100 years hunting down and getting rid of all the grizzly bears in Utah and now you want to bring them back?"

My father was more philosophical, “So what are we going to do when the bears eat the sheep?" he said. “I think the state is just too populated and the bears would cause too many problems.”

I talked to Ted Lee, Executive Secretary for the Utah Woolgrowers Association, and asked him what he thought about bringing grizzly bears to Utah. He found the question somewhat amusing.

“Oh sure, I’m all for it," said Ted, “just as long as we reintroduce some wild grizzlies to Liberty Park, City Creek Park and Pioneer Park! Those would be great places to reintroduce grizzlies."

“If we put them in downtown Salt Lake, I would have no objection. I mean that Salt Lake Valley used to be just as much grizzly habitat as the mountain tops. Why should the ranchers be the whipping boy for the urbanites? Let city folk experience first hand having bears in their back yards and see how they like it." “Oh sure," continued Ted, “They have altered the habitat in Salt Lake by having developed it into houses, businesses, etc, but we have altered the habitat of the open ranges and mountains, developing them into livestock producing areas. It is not fair that we should have to bare the brunt of these predator expansions and reintroductions.”

"There is a real lack of responsibility on the part of those who want to reintroduce and increase predators numbers. If they would take financial responsibility for their actions it would be less objectionable."

Ted continued, “A number of these people say that since our sheep are grazing on public lands that we are stuck with taking our chances. That’s not fair, because many of Utah’s ranchers have been grazing these public lands for generations. The people who want to eliminate private control of these lands are envirosocialists."

“We (the Utah Woolgrowers Association) claim to be environmentalists. We are as concerned about the environment as anyone. What we object to are the envirosocialists. They represent a real danger to the American way of life," warned Ted.

"These people are socialists who want to eliminate the private control and ownership of property and they are using the environment as a vehicle to do that!" “As for reintroducing the grizzly bear to Utah,“ concluded Ted, "I would argue that we already have grizzly bears in Utah. It is my understanding that we still have grizzlies passing through the state from time to time!" Could that be possible? Could a wild, free-roaming grizzly be out there somewhere in the state even at this moment?

According to Dr. Jordan C. Pederson, Mammals Coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the last confirmed grizzly in Utah was killed in 1922. Known as “Old Ephraim“ the bear was killed in the Tony Grove area. That was almost 70 years ago.

But listen to this, in 1979 a grizzly bear died in Colorado after attacking a bow hunter in the San Juan Mountains. Everyone was totally amazed because it was generally accepted that the grizzly had been extinct in Colorado for thirty years. Just recently grizzlies have been sighted once again in the San Juan Mountains. Though still unconfirmed by scientists, there are those who firmly believe that the grizzly yet survives in Colorado. It should he noted that the San Juan mountains are not far from the southeastern border of Utah.

According to Pederson, the Ouray Indians tried to reintroduce the grizzly to their lands in the Book Cliffs area of Utah a little over 20 years ago. They were forced to back off when a horrendous public outcry was raised, mostly by the livestock people.

"It is possible that grizzly bears could be reintroduced into Utah, but with the current political climate in the state, I just don’t think that it will happen soon," said Pederson. "I think the general feeling is that biologically and environmentally it may be possible, but politically it’s not very popular."

“Personally, I would love to have them," said Pederson. “I would really like to see grizzly bears in Utah. If it was biologically possible and if people would go along with it —— but with the political climate the way it is right now — even in the Uintas we have sheep grazing."

"Grizzly bears would require a lot of management," added Pederson. "There is a whole system (of rangers and scientists) in Yellowstone that does nothing but bear work." "If grizzlies were to be reintroduced into Utah the whole thing would have to be thought through very carefully. It would require a lot of planning and it would cost money," continued Pederson. “It would probably cost several million dollars just to complete the required environmental assessments and public meetings.”

“If everything went easy with a minimum of backlash it would be at least a ten year program before any bears could be reintroduced. The grizzly bear is an animal with a lot of baggage and history, it is enriched in myth and lore — the bears certainly have a history."

"We know from early mountain man journals that there were once numerous big horn sheep and grizzly bears throughout Utah. These species were fairly common and the Indians used them quite a bit," said Pederson. “Hardly any mention is made by the early mountain men of deer and elk. These species were far less common than they are today.”

I also talked to Dough Chadwick, who, with a masters degree in wildlife biology, has studied and written about the grizzly bear for National Geographic.

"I think that there are a lot of places in Utah with sufficient habitat that could certainly support the bears,” said Chadwick. “I can’t see any reason biologically why the grizzly could not be reintroduced into Utah — the food and the habitat are there."

"What it comes down to is the sheep men and sheep grazing. Most people believe that sheep and bears are completely incompatible," said Chadwick. “And bears do eat sheep — that's the price of living with bears. However it is not a truism that bears and people can not coexist. Bears and people have learned to get along. I think that people would be surprised by the level of coexistence demonstrated by numerous human — bear relationships." “There are many bears that have become adept at living next to livestock peacefully. These bears have learned to adapt to people. I think that the bears can adapt, but it is people who can not or will not change,” said Chadwick. “There is a lot of public concern about the bears. Most of this comes from clueless people with no bear experience or worse, exposed only to the Hollywood experience which overly glorifies a violent and ferocious bear."

“Scientists have tracked radio collared bears in Alaska that would regularly hide in bushes and feed on cow parsnip only a few yards away from heavily peopled trails. People would hike by and not even know that they were only a few yards from a bear who continued casually munching cow parsnip,"added Chadwick.

“I personally think that your chances for survival are way up walking through grizzly country over walking through downtown big city USA. Once you get through the big city and into grizzly country you are finally safe!” said Chadwick.

“Since I live in grizzly bear country in Montana, I know what it's like to have the big bears around. The whole quality of existence is different," said Chadwick. “When I hike in a place like Utah that doesn’t have the big hears it is a very different experience. You just don't live at the same level as in bear country.”

“You don‘t have the same alertness or sensitivity. When I hike through Utah I feel like someone gave me a Valium to dull all my senses. It is not the same at all without the grizzly," continued Chadwick. “Sure you have protected areas like the High Uintas, but they don’t have the real power of nature. The full dimensions of untamed nature are pared down without the grizzly bear!"

"Without the bear you don’t have to be humble. You don't have to hoist your food into tall trees at night when you camp. You don’t have to pay attention — and paying attention, that is what the bear is all about,” concluded Chadwick. “Even in Alaska there is a lot of development which is causing habitat fragmentation. The species is not secure. If we could restore them to Utah it would be terrific,” said Chadwick.

I also talked to Gary McFarlane who is the Conservation Director for the Utah Wilderness Association. “I think that reintroducing grizzly bears to Utah would be a wonderful long term goal. Right now we don't have the social climate to tolerate the bears. I don’t think that people are willing to let it live with us in Utah," said McFarlane. “Society really needs to accept the bear, but the western mentality is not able to do that yet," concluded McFarlane.

I also talked to Karen Denton who is the state lobbyist for the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club. "We would offer cautious support," said Denton when asked about reintroducing grizzlies to Utah.

"There would have to be a really good plan. I think that there would be tremendous opposition from livestock people. Such a plan would have to adequately address the concems of the woolgrowers. This would require very careful planning," said Denton. "It would be nice to have grizzlies back in Utah but I would have a lot of questions about how this would be implemented," concluded Denton. How would management of such an animal be implemented? Obviously if you had bears, like any other predator, sooner or later one is bound to eat somebodies sheep. So I called my good friend, Layne Bangerter. For six years Layne was an Animal Damage Control specialist in Utah. Animal Damage Control is administered under the US. Department of Agriculture. In other words Layne is a government trapper, a professional coyote hunter. I have spent literally hundreds and hundreds of hours with Layne hunting coyotes and a few cougars in the mountains and deserts of Utah as he battled to protect the lamb growers. Currently the state of Utah has more than twenty full time government hunters and trappers who spend most of their time dealing with coyotes. They also respond to black bear and cougar problems. Currently this Utah program costs about 1.4 million dollars a year with most of the money coming from a small tax per head on Utah's livestock.

Anyway, Layne is currently District Supervisor for Animal Damage Control in Idaho. Since he has moved to Idaho, he now has grizzly bears to deal with. If a marauding grizzly is causing a problem. Layne and his men are called in to solve the problem. This may include capture and removal of the bear if deemed necessary. In this capacity Layne is a member of the Northwest Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Management Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGEC) which has been set up by the federal government to study and implement recovery of the grizzly bear in the lower 48 states as mandated by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The IGBC is made up of representatives from the various federal and state agencies which have jurisdiction over the bear or its habitat. The IGBC includes many of the nations top bear scientists and experts. Every six months or so members of the IGBC meet to discuss various aspects of the grizzly bear recovery. At each of these meetings Layne is required to give a report detailing any grizzly bear problems since the last meeting. Layne invited me to attend the IGBC meeting in November as an observer. Generally the public and press are not openly invited to these meetings and so I jumped at the chance to see what’s going on.

Held in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, I witnessed the gathering together in one room of some fifty or so of the top grizzly bear minds in the country. It gave me chills to see so many dedicated people working for the preservation of one species.

One of the highlights of the meeting were the presentations given by scientists who had just completed five year studies of the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho and the North Cascades of Washington. Both areas were studied extensively to determine if sufficient habitat remained to support viable grizzly bear populations, and to determine if grizzlies still existed in these areas.

The scientists concluded that each of the areas held suitable habitat for grizzly bear recovery. Grizzlies were positively identified in the North Cascades, while no hard evidence could be found in the Bitterroots despite numerous reported sightings by sportsmen and hikers. The scientists recommended population sizes of several hundred bears in each area. The IGBC will decide at its next meeting weather or not to initiate and implement recovery of the grizzly in these areas.

During a break in the meeting I talked to Jay Gore who is the Chairman of the IGBC. I asked Jay what he thought of reintroducing grizzly bears into Utah. According to Gore there are, at present, no recovery studies under way in Utah. However he did say that a recovery study and plan are being considered for the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. And since the San Juan area is not far from the Utah boarder, recovery of the bears in that area might precipitate some migration of the bears into Utah. As part of a San Juan recovery plan, studies might be conducted in Utah to deal with migration. However, Gore was not sure of the status of such studies.

Layne stressed that the IGBC recently voted unanimously to support hunting of grizzly bears as a viable management tool. "The last thing we want is to be in a situation where we cannot control the bears," said Layne. "Some of the environmental and anti-hunting groups are doing harm to the bears recovery by trying to outlaw hunting to control numbers."