Beryl Spring Sow Grizzly - Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park

In he early 1800's, it was estimated roamed the lands between the Pacific Ocean and the Great Plains. With the encroachment of humans, today there is only 1200 - 1400 wild grizzly bears remaining in the Lower 48. Of 37 grizzly bear populations within this area, only seven remained by 1975.

In 1975, the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed the grizzly bear as a threatened species in the Lower 48 under the Endangered Species Act placing the bear under federal protection.

Areas that grizzly bears populate:

- North Cascades Ecosystem - (north central Washington)

9500 sq mi - (20 bears)

- Selkirk Ecosystem - (northeastern Washington, northern Idaho & southeastern B.C.)

2200 sq mi - (70 - 80 bears)

- Cabinet/Yaak Ecosystem - (northwest Montana, northern Idaho)

2600 sq mi - (765 bears)

- Bitterroot Ecosystem - (mountains of east central Idaho & western Montana)

5600 sq mi - (no bears)

- Yellowstone Ecosystem - (northwest Wyoming, southwest Montana)

9200 sq mi - (650 - 740 bears)

- San Juan Mountains - (Colorado)

(no bears since 1979)