Conserving Vital Ground for Grizzlies

Last month's shooting of a male grizzly bear along Highway 83 north of Seeley Lake is just one example of how catastrophic a season it's been for bears in the Northwest.

The drought-stricken region from British Columbia, Canada and throughout the last-remaining grizzly bear strongholds in the northern Rockies brought a plethora of grizzlies and black bears into harm's way as they searched for alternative foods after berries and vegetation dried up earlier than normal.

As a result, bears wandered into communities searching for apples, bird seed and garbage -- any food they could find to stave o...