Though there are issues associated with black bears (Ursus americanus), as a species they are not at risk. In contrast, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) are no longer found in 99% of their former habitat in the lower 48 states and Mexico. A 1990 COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) review of grizzly bear populations designated over 60% of grizzly bears as either vulnerable or threatened and all were considered at risk. Grizzly bears are notoriously difficult to census. Population estimates for British Columbia vary from 6,000 to 12,000 (about half the remaining population in Canada). Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks are used extensively by grizzly bears but most leave the park at times during their annual travels. These parks are too small to provide enough habitat for a viable population. Grizzly Bear Ecology Bears are the largest land based carnivores on the planet. However, due to their varied diet they are better characterized as omnivores. Typically, a grizzly bear's diet in the Columbia Mountains consists of less than 15% meat. The remainder is roots, herbs, berries, and insects. Locally, grizzlies make extensive use of avalanche chutes in search of foods such as sedges, grasses, cow parsnip and various bulb producing flowers. Aided by their long front claws and massive shoulder muscles, they rototill beds of glacier lilies and spring beauty to harvest nutritious bulbs and they excavate fat and protein rich Columbian ground squirrels from their burrows. In mid-summer, grizzlies often move to huckleberry patches in burned over forests to fatten on a diet rich in carbohydrates to prepare for winter. Bears are opportunists, always looking for something to eat. They protect prime sources of food and can be aggressive towards perceived competitors. Because they hibernate for half the year, bears have to eat enough in six months to last the whole year. Stores of body fat are especially crucial for nursing grizzlies. Females give birth to one to three cubs in early February while still in their winter dens and must wait three more months before they can emerge and eat again. Males are usually intolerant of other bears except at mating time. Protein rich foods are not abundant in the Columbia Mountains. Deep snow limits ungulate numbers and available carcasses. Dams built on the Columbia River in the 1930's eliminated autumn salmon runs. Berry plants are most productive in old burned areas but the control of forest fires has reduced the extent of these patches. People and Grizzly Bears Nothing better represents the current struggle to maintain a portion of the wild, natural world than issues associated with grizzly bears. Human caused mortality and habitat loss are linked to the loss of grizzly bears from much of western North America. Their requirement for large, ecologically intact areas challenges our unlimited use of natural resources. How we manage grizzly bears will likely foretell the fate of all large carnivores. In this region of British Columbia, the network of railways, highways, and logging roads has dramatically increased in the past century. Much of this development has happened in the past thirty years. Roads and railways may stress grizzly populations in several ways. Bears can be killed outright in collisions with cars, trucks, and trains or indirectly because of the increased access leading to both poaching and legal killings and conflict with other human uses. Less obviously, shy bears may be repelled from the noise and commotion of well used roads. There is concern that over time, some roads may fracture bear ranges and reduce the likelihood that grizzlies will persist over the long term. The only instance where grizzly bears lose their normal avoidance of people is when food is involved. We leave behind garbage, fruit tree windfalls, hunting gut piles, picnic baskets, all of which can attract bears. Intolerance of grizzly bears near communities results in many being killed by Conservation Officers and persons concerned for their safety or property. However in recent years in Revelstoke, a citizen based education program has greatly reduced local bear mortality. Preliminary results from the West Slopes Bear Research Project show that few bears are found in roaded valleys near communities, presumably the result of direct kills and displacement. This suggests that without concerted action, grizzly bears may be relegated to inaccessible areas only. This issue is likely to worsen in the Kootenays where human settlement and roads are increasing. The region surrounding Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks is near the front line of the shrinking grizzly range in North America. The pattern of local extinction within the grizzly's Canadian range may continue unless we make deliberate efforts to prevent it. Respect Bears! Save Them! Do Not Hunt Them! Thankyou!