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KALISPELL - When a hunter shot and killed a male grizzly bear last month in the Bitterroot Mountains, mistaking it for a black bear, he eliminated the first grizzly known in those hills since 1946.

Not far to the west, however, grizzly populations are far stronger - strong enough, in fact, to withstand dozens of accidental deaths each year.

Since emerging from dens last spring, 18 grizzlies have been killed in what biologists call the “Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.” It's a vast expanse - from Highway 200 up to the Canadian border, and from U.S. Highway 89 on the eastern Front over to U.S. Highway 93 - with the Divide snaking through its center like a limestone spine.

At least one of those 18 bears was killed by wildlife officials after finding trouble with people. The others were killed in various fashions - struck by trains, hit by cars, shot by hunters and, perhaps, poached, despite the protections of the Endangered Species Act.

No one knows exactly how many grizzlies roam the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, but the number is safely in the many hundreds, a population thought large enough to sustain itself despite so many accidental deaths.

In fact, Chris Servheen, who's in charge of grizzly bear recovery for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says it's been a fairly good year, 18 dead bears notwithstanding.

“In terms of our long-term averages,” he said, “that's actually down a little bit.“

It's not the best year to date, Servheen said, but neither is it the worst.

“We've had years where we've lost 30 or 40 bears,” Servheen said.

Opinions differ as to how those annual losses might affect the overall population, and scientists continue to use DNA markers to estimate total grizzly population for the region. That data is being combined with hands-on radio-collar tracking, adding up births and deaths among the study group with the hope of pinning down the broader population trends.

That multi-year monitoring program was given new life this week, when U.S. Forest Service officials announced they had put together enough money to keep biologists in the field another five years.

Without that data, scientists said, there is no way of knowing whether the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem population is bouncing back, or headed toward the lonely fate of the Bitterroot bear.

Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com

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