Final Environmental Impact Statement: Grizzly Bear Recovery in the Bitterroot Ecosystem

In the 2000 Final Environmental Impact Statement for Grizzly Bear Recovery in the Bitterroot Ecosystem, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service selected Alternative 1, as modified by public comment, as the preferred alternative and proposed to implement an experimental population rule and reintroduce grizzly bears into the Bitterroot Ecosystem in east central Idaho.  The rule allowed liberal management of grizzly bears by government agencies and the public to minimize conflict over uses of public lands, effects on domestic animals and livestock, and impacts on ungulate populations.  Under this alternative, a Citizens Management Committee would be tasked with management implementation responsibility for the experimental population and would be tasked with implementing the Bitterroot Chapter of the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.  Reintroduction could result in grizzly bear recovery in the Bitterroot Ecosystem (achievement of the tentative recovery goal of approximately 280 grizzly bears occupying suitable habitat) in a minimum of 50 years( 4 percent growth rate), but would likely take more than 110 years (2 percent growth rate) after bears were released.