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<H1><FONT size=4>This bears repeating: A grizzly comeback?</FONT></H1>
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<P class=author><FONT size=1><!-- START WRITER CREDIT--><A
href="mailto:tstienstra@sfchronicle.com">Tom Stienstra</A></FONT></P>
<P class=date><FONT size=1>Sunday, November 20, 2005</FONT></P>
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<TD vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#cccccc><B><FONT
face=verdana,arial color=#990000 size=1>Tom
Stienstra</FONT></B> </TD></TR>
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<P><IMG height=7 alt="" hspace=0
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width=5 border=0><A
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/20/SPGS5FRF7A1.DTL">This
bears repeating: A grizzly comeback?</A><BR>11/20/2005
<P><IMG height=7 alt="" hspace=0
src="http://www.sfgate.com/templates/types/universal/graphics/redorangebox5x7.gif"
width=5 border=0><A
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/10/SPGRFFLKV81.DTL">THE
BEST GETAWAYS</A><BR>11/10/2005
<P><IMG height=7 alt="" hspace=0
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width=5 border=0><A
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/06/SPGCEFJV5H1.DTL">Elkhorn
Slough provides an exciting wildlife show</A><BR>11/06/2005
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class=althead><FONT size=2><STRONG>
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<P>Could it happen here in California? The grizzly bear returned to its native
home?
<P>Can you imagine being awakened at night, camping at Point Reyes National
Seashore, deep in your sleeping bag, and then hearing the bass-voiced growl and
the thump of footprints of a griz? You poke your head out your tent, shine a
flashlight and see something that looks like a Volkswagen with hair?
<P>The idea of reintroducing the grizzly bear in California is a fantasy for
some that was last seriously visited 20 years ago, when the Mountain Lion
Foundation proposed transplanting grizzlies in the Trinity Alps Wilderness in
Northern California.
<P>That daydream/nightmare is back. This past week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service floated a proposal to reclassify the grizzly in the greater Yellowstone
area as threatened rather than endangered. In response, some have privately
wondered if the stage could be set for reintroduction of the grizzly in
California. A few informal discussions took place this past week at a recreation
and tourism symposium at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, attended by the National
Park Service, State Department of Parks and many local and regional park
districts and water agencies.
<P>According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the population of grizzly
bears has nearly tripled at Yellowstone in the past 30 years, from roughly 200
to about 600. This wildlife victory comes in the aftermath of another recent
comeback: the bald eagle's status was endangered, now it's threatened.
<P>In fact, many species of wildlife are at 100-year highs, with some notorious
exceptions. This includes blacktail deer populations in California, down from 2
million to 600,000 in the past 50 years, and the fact that of 500 threatened or
endangered aquatic species, not one has been delisted; that's right,
zero-for-500, a perfect batting average for the feds.
<P>When it comes to the grizzly in California, the last ursus arctos
californicus is on the state flag. They've been extinct for more than 80 years
and near-gone since the gold rush days.
<P>In the diaries of the first explorers 200 years ago, there are accounts of
"countless troops of grizzly bears" in the Bay Area. The stories detail how the
giant bears would bound across the bluffs of the San Francisco Headlands and
gorge on washed-up whales, or roam the foothills and attack vast herds of elk.
In the San Gabriel Mountains north of L.A., there were so many grizzlies that
explorers were reluctant to set foot there and face an encounter.
<P>You see, grizzly bears, unlike other wildlife (except the buffalo), do not
have a reverse gear. When people arrived to the Bay Area and L.A., it forced
showdowns, bears vs. humans, and the bears got wiped out.
<P>Meanwhile, in remote wilderness areas, such as the Trinity Alps, one site
suggested for "reintroduction," the grizzlies never lived there. They avoided
the high mountain country, and instead dominated the coastal and valley
foothills near rivers where salmon and tule elk provided all-you-can-eat
buffets.
<P>So to reintroduce grizzly bears to their native habitat in California, you'd
have to plunk a few at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, along Lagunitas Creek
in Marin Country and at Point Reyes, at Sunol near Niles Canyon in the East Bay
foothills, among other places, and in Southern California, just north of
Pasadena in Angeles National Forest.
<P>In the ensuing backyard showdowns, a few folks would probably get chomped, of
course. Or you'd have to move all the people out to make room for the grizzlies.
<P>Hey, maybe that's not such a bad idea after all.
<P><I>E-mail Tom Stienstra at <A
href="mailto:tstienstra@sfchronicle.com">tstienstra@sfchronicle.com</A>.</I>
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