My fascination with the grizzly bear goes back to an adventure climb in the Selkirk Mountains. What started as a terrifying close encounter with what I believed to be a grizzly would culminate years later into a methodical search for this feared bear, once again in Selkirk range.
I recall that climb being memorable in many ways, but certainly encountering a bear is at the top of the list. After my buddy Chris Celentano and I ascended the mountain, we returned to the base of the climb exhausted. While packing up to leave, we watched a large bear exit the tree line below us. The bear paused when it reached the trail, stood on its hind legs and sniffed the air. Not finding anything of interest, it dropped back onto all fours and continued towards the opposing tree line.
Chris and I stared at each other for a second in disbelief. We waited a few minutes for the bear to continue moving down river, made sure our firearms were readily available and dropped down into the meadow ourselves. Walking through the meadow, with looming tree lines on each side, I experienced a guttural fear.
I’m going to tell you that the bear was a grizzly, but I’m not sure. I had only ever seen one other bear in the mountains prior to this. I will never forget seeing that bear stand on its hind legs sniffing the wind to identify the two of us who were maybe 200 feet from it on some rocks eating peanut butter sandwiches.
In the many years since that day, I have adventured in the Selkirks in every manner I could; hiking, rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, canyoneering and even paragliding in the very spot we saw the bear. I have never seen another grizzly, though I have seen a few black bears off in the distance. I’ve always wondered if I was barely missing them as I hiked the high ridges and along the creek bottoms. Turns out I was, as I would later learn.
Interest grows
Last year, as summer began winding down into fall, I began noticing a lot of interest in grizzly bears, primarily on the east side of the Rockies where populations have rebounded. Much like the discussion surrounding wolves, the discussions regarding grizzly bears are often passionate.
I was interested to know more. At one point in my life, I worked for several years as a technician on Sturgeon projects in our region. I have always loved understanding how things worked, especially the many ways in which nature works, which we do not fully understand.
As fall descended into winter, I began reading more and more about grizzly bears and their current protected status. Then I started making phone calls.
Throughout the winter I called multiple wildlife agencies to ask for further information and to the possibility of joining some field work. This was not easily due to the often-contentious nature about grizzly bears.
While I was often shut down, I usually received suggestions on who I could contact that may be able to help. This went on for some time until I finally reached Wayne Kasworm, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bear Recovery Manager.
Wayne was able to answer many of the questions I had and supplied me with many great stories about field work he has conducted in his long career working with bears. At the end of the conversation, I built up the courage to ask if I could participate in field work during in the upcoming season, specifically in the Selkirk and Cabinet Mountains where I was very familiar. Wayne agreed to let me join his DNA sampling crew in the early summer.
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Searching for grizzlies
Summer arrived and the time for field work had come. After weeks of emails, I was on my way north to the Pack River to meet up with Jake Owens. I would be joining his DNA sampling crew for the day.
We met at the bottom of the Pack River Road and discussed the project goals. We would travel far up into the Selkirk crest, hiking into locations where barbed wire had been wrapped around trees that had previously been found with bear hair on them. These “rubs” are how bears communicate with other bears that they are in the area.
At one location, we would hike into a sampling site called a “corral,” where a special mixture of pig’s blood, fish and other awful ingredients is poured onto a pile of sticks, creating a pungent smell that draws in bears. The corral’s perimeter is ringed with barbed wire, and game cameras are placed to capture imagines of the bears visiting the site. This type of work is the basis for establishing bear populations in areas.
The DNA is used to identify different bears, whether populations are genetically isolated, how many breeding females are in the area, etc. The camera footage helps corroborate this critical data.
Throughout the day we visited locations that were in one manner very surprising in that they were alongside trails that I have repeatedly hiked to very well-known destinations in the Pack River drainage. The corral we visited was the most unexpected. We parked in a pullout where I have repeatedly camped when visiting the very spot where I believe I saw a grizzly years ago with Chris.
I was asked not to take photos of what was found on the game camera at this particular site, but I can confirm that grizzlies are in the Selkirks.
Endangered species
In 1975, Grizzly Bears were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Six ecosystems were named under the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan, where population and health studies would be conducted. Two of those areas stretch into North Idaho. The Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem and the Selkirk Ecosystem.
The Selkirk Ecosystem, with an area of about 2,539 square miles ranges from Nelson BC, and south to the Pack River Drainage, and west into Northeast Washington. In 2012, there were an estimated 83 bears in this ecosystem. In comparison, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with an area of about 9,209 square miles, had an estimated 965 bears in 2022.
In 2023, when I began to take interest in grizzly bears, there was a lot of discussion regarding grizzlies being removed from the Endangered Species List. There were a lot of opinions on both sides of the argument.
I asked Wayne Kasworm what the real potential for removal from the list was. What he told me, and what I had not gathered from my research, was that only one ecosystem was even being considered for removal from the list. That one is the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which continues to do very well regarding bear recovery efforts. In the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem, recovery efforts will continue.
Staying safe
While the research indicates that the populations in these ecosystems are still recovering, there is always a chance that you will encounter a grizzly bear while adventuring in the many mountains North Idaho has to offer. There are things you can do to minimize that potential and the most important would be not to surprise a bear.
In 2014, I worked to the east of Denali in Alaska on the Susitna River. I spent several weeks conducting stream surveys in locations only accessible by helicopter. During this time, I saw more than 15 grizzlies from either helicopter or float plane as we searched out locations. Often, we would see them as we approached our target area and then spend the day working with the knowledge that they were in the immediate vicinity.
Once we located a suitable area, we would bushwhack up the various creeks, measuring the length of river features such as “riffle, run, pool and glide.” Each group had a bear guard watching us while we worked. The guards each carried several cans of bear spray and a shotgun loaded with bullets in this order; first rubber pellets, then a rubber slug and then a lead slug. The thought was to first use bear spray to deter the bears, with the deterrent increasing in severity should the shotgun be needed.
We were instructed to yell out as we hiked through the dense riparian brush alongside the creeks. Should we be hiking on an established game trail and encounter a grizzly, we should make noise and step far off the trail, allowing the bear to pass, while taking a defensive stance with bear spray and shotgun. Grizzlies do not like to be surprised or blocked from getting to where they are going.
In the entire length of the project, which ran all summer, there had not been a single encounter with a grizzly bear.
In the fall as the summer crowds leave the mountains, grizzly bears will begin to pack on weight in preparation for their winter hibernation. They may be particularly aggressive as they search out food, potentially wandering into towns and areas outside of areas where you would normally expect to see them.
Be cautious, make noise, carry bear spray and know how to use it. The grizzlies are there. They want to avoid you as much as you want to avoid them, and they are likely more aware of your existence than you are of theirs. Chance encounters where you surprise them can be a dangerous encounter.
I’m glad to live in an area where there is still some “wild” left to be had. North Idaho and Eastern Washington have some amazing terrain where few people still go. Those are the places I am drawn to. If you are like me and spend your weekends looking for and exploring these places, just know and be prepared for what you may find. N
By: Jason Wilmoth
As seen in the 2025 Winter/Spring edition