David J. Mattson

This technical report provides not only a conceptual framework for understanding the effects of human infrastructure on brown and grizzly bears, but also a comprehensive review of relevant research. The scope of the report encompasses physical features such as roads, highways, residences, and recreational developments as well as effects attributabl...

This report provides an orientation to the problem of state wildlife management institutions from the perspective of those promoting animal protection, ecosystem function, ecosystem health, and more democratic and inclusive governance of wildlife. The analysis presented here is informed primarily by interviews conducted by a University of Montana g...

This report offers not only a critique of research produced by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) between 2006 and 2023, but also the practices that led to many critical failings. The ideal of scientific service to society is predictably betrayed to the extent that researchers deceive themselves by laying claim to objectivity and impar...

This report describes methods used for mapping vegetation habitat and cover types in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. These types were the basis for habitat productivity calculations in the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Cumulative Effects Model. The report also provides keys and detailed descriptions for each type.

For perhaps 30,000 years grizzly bears ranged throughout the mountains and riparian areas of what would eventually become the southwestern United States. But in a remarkably short 50-year period between 1860 and 1910 Anglo-Americans killed roughly 90% of the grizzly bears in 90% of the places they once lived. Most of the remaining grizzlies had bee...

In common with other natural resources issues, conservation of large carnivores is typified by complex dynamics contingent on specific contexts. We applied a pragmatic, contextual, and problem-oriented method centered on the policy sciences framework to analyze a case in east-central Arizona, USA, of conflict among stakeholders as well as intense c...

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) are a drought-adapted species of conservation concern throughout the arid and semi-arid southwestern United States (USA). Pronghorn are widely believed to need free water, although apparently in a manner inversely related to forage moisture content and reduced to nil when moisture content is >75%. Pronghorn consume...

1. The upland hydrologic regimes of arid to sub-humid regions throughout the world have been altered by humans through the construction of devises to collect and provision water to livestock and wildlife. These changes have potentially altered the structure of risks (predation) and rewards (water) for larger mammals, with implications for conservat...

We appraised the suitability of Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah, and southern Colorado for restoration of grizzly bears Ursus arctos horribilis by extending and integrating existing models of habitat capability and remoteness from humans, calibrated to historical grizzly bear locations in our Southwest study area. We applied previously published...

In this paper I provide an estimate of pre-European grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population sizes and distributions for the contiguous United States along with a rationale for this estimate based on relations between contemporary grizzly bear densities and coarse-grain environmental features. I also present a comprehensive database of density estima...

We investigated relations between estimated grizzly bear Ursus arctos horribilis densities in 12 Rocky Mountain study areas and several potentially predictive or explanatory variables that included tassled cap transformed Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery, the extent of whitebark pine Pinus albicaulis range, diet energy concentration, remotene...

This report features information relevant to understanding the past history, present conditions, and future prospects of grizzly bears and grizzly bear habitat in Idaho south of the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystems, with an emphasis on pivotal landscapes encompassed by the 16,109 km2 Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. The report unravels th...

Bear managers are increasingly using non-lethal methods to resolve human-bear conflicts—largely because the public is demanding that wildlife be treated more humanely and with greater regard for their intrinsic value. Hazing or a fixed infrastructure designed to inflict pain and discomfort are the most common non-lethal means employed by managers t...

This recently released report by The Grizzly Bear Recovery Project focuses on the likely effects of a grizzly bear sport hunt on both bears and people in the Northern Rockies. The report, entitled “Efficacies and Effects of Sport Hunting Grizzly Bears,” addresses a number of issues central to debates surrounding whether or not to start hunting griz...

Researchers have documented broadly similar patterns in how grizzly and brown bears respond to people on foot throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Yet there is also substantial documented variation that is plausibly attributable to differences in individual bears, human-bear history, bear-bear interactions, distributions and abundances of people, be...

This document was inspired by deep curiosity about the past, present circumstances, and future prospects of grizzly bears and grizzly bear habitat in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). I was also motivated by skepticism about official narratives that offer an implausibly simplistic and rosy picture of NCDE bears and the ecosystem the...

Our study focuses on movements and other behaviors of mountain lions, with the goal of providing information that can be used to increase human safety, decrease human impacts, and, overall, provide insight into the ecology of lions in this region.During 2003-2006, we captured six female and five male mountain lions in the Flagstaff Uplands, 10 of w...

Caching of animal remains is common among carnivorous species of all sizes, yet the effects of caching on larger prey are unstudied. We conducted a summer field experiment designed to test the effects of simulated mountain lion (Puma concolor) caching on mass loss, relative temperature, and odor dissemination of 9 prey-like carcasses. We deployed a...

Progress report covering cougar research conducted in and around Capital Reef and Zion National Parks in southern Utah. We captured 9 cougars; 6 in our Zion study area and 3 in our Capitol Reef study area. The six females and three males averaged 3.4 years of age. A total of four animals died or disappeared under suspicious circumstances; two were...

This evaluation corroborates the conclusions of other observers, that successful management of grizzly bears or any other "ecosystem" resource will require high levels of communication and coordination across agency and jurisdictional boundaries, that go well beyond periodic meetings among higher-echelon managers. This truncation of bureaucratic li...

This package of materials constitutes my review of the Rule and related materials (hereafter the Rule) issued by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (the Service) covering a proposal to remove grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife protected under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Rule itsel...

We modeled the current and future breeding ranges of seven bird and five reptile species in the Southwestern United States with sets of landscape, biotic (plant), and climatic global circulation model (GCM) variables. Our modeling approach relied on conceptual models for each target species to inform selection of candidate explanatory variables and...

Little is known about how the diets and behaviors of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) reflect habitat conditions and how, in tum, diet and behavior affect the movement, size, condition, and reproduction of individual animals. No study has collected detailed information on all of these facets of grizzly bear ecology over a span of time and sp...

Topographic measures are frequently used in a variety of landscape ecology applications, in their simplest form as elevation, slope, and aspect, but increasingly more complex measures are being employed. We explore terrain metric similarity with changes in scale, both grain and extent, and examine how selecting the best measures is sensitive to cha...

Background Many studies of animal movement have focused on directed versus area-restricted movement, which rely on correlations between step-length and turn-angles and on stationarity through time to define behavioral states. Although these approaches might apply well to grazing in patchy landscapes, species that either feed for short periods on la...

Studies using global positioning system (GPS) telemetry rarely result in 100% fix success rates (FSR), which may bias datasets because data loss is systematic rather than a random process. Previous spatially explicit models developed to correct for sampling bias have been limited to small study areas, a small range of data loss, or were study-area...

The accuracy of global positioning system (GPS) locations obtained from study animals tagged with GPS monitoring devices has been a concern as to the degree it influences assessments of movement patterns, space use, and resource selection estimates. Many methods have been proposed for screening data to retain the most accurate positions for analysi...

This chapter provides an overview of the biophysical and socio-political dimensions of large carnivore conservation in North America. We describe common challenges and discuss myths, symbolism, values, political polarization, and other factors. To be successful, carnivore conservation requires well-designed public decision-making processes (governa...

Environmental studies and environmental sciences programs in American and Canadian colleges and universities seek to ameliorate environmental problems through empirical enquiry and analytic judgment. In a companion article (Part 1) we describe the environmental program movement (EPM) and discuss factors that have hindered its performance. Here, we...

Efforts this year consisted of monitoring mountain lions captured and collared during the last trapping effort during May-June of last year, recollaring of one study animal, and pursuit of additional study animals. Four study animals, NNSS4, NNSS5, NNSS6, and NNSS7, delivered ARGOS satellite GPS locations that were then used to identify clusters, l...

A field-based pilot study was conducted to test a newly developed method for investigating how an unprecedented decline of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is impacting the occurrence of Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), black bear (Ursus americanus) and the threatened Yellowstone grizzly bear (Ursu...

Incidents are relatively short periods of intensified discourse that arise from public responses to symbolically important actions by public officials, and an important part of the conflict that increasingly surrounds state wildlife management in the West. In an effort to better understand incidents as a facet of this conflict, we analyzed the disc...

The following information documents progress related to capture and radio-tracking of cougars (Puma concolor) on and near the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) during 2010-2012 as part of the DOE-funded project: Radio Tracking of Cougars on the Nevada Test [National Security] Site. A total of 40 days were spent trapping during May-June 2012. Fou...

Management of pumas in the American West is typified by conflict among stakeholders plausibly rooted in life experiences and worldviews. We used a mail questionnaire to assess demographics, nature-views, puma-related life experiences and behaviors, and support for puma-related policies among residents of northern Arizona. Data from the questionnair...

Dignity seems to be something that virtually all people want. It is a seminal expression of the human experience that gains authority through the convergent demands of people worldwide. Even so, the human dignity concept is in unhelpful disarray. Dignity is variously viewed as an antecedent, a consequence, a value, a principle, and an experience, f...

The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) was created in 1993 to advance conservation in a 1.2million km2 portion of the North American Rocky Mountains. We assembled 21 people with influence over Y2Y in a workshop to elucidate perspectives on challenges and solutions for this organization at a key point in its evolution, and used Q met...

Food habits of grizzly bears were studied for 11 years in the Yellowstone area of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho by analyzing scats. Ungulate remains constituted a major portion of early-season scats, graminoids of May and June scats, and whitebark pine seeds of late-season scats. Berries composed a minor portion of scats during all months. The diet v...

Bears (Ursidae) were observed from fixed-wing aircraft on or near alpine talus in the Shoshone National Forest between 15 June and 15 September in 1981–1989. Bears fed on insect aggregations at 6 known and 12 suspected alpine talus sites, disproportionately more at elevations > 3350 m, on slopes > 30°, and on south- and west-facing aspects. While a...

We investigated the distribution, diet, and reproduction of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Yellowstone ecosystem that fed on cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) spawning in streams tributary to Yellowstone Lake. We hypothesized that availability of trout influenced all of these factors for bears in a large part of the Yellowstone grizzly bea...

Environmental studies and environmental sciences programs in American and Canadian colleges and universities seek to ameliorate environmental problems through empirical enquiry and analytic judgment. In a companion article (Part 1) we describe the environmental program movement (EPM) and discuss factors that have hindered its performance. Here, we...

The environmental sciences/studies movement, with more than 1000 programs at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, is unified by a common interest-ameliorating environmental problems through empirical enquiry and analytic judgment. Unfortunately, environmental programs have struggled in their efforts to integrate knowledge acro...

Since the 1980s wildlife managers in the United States and Canada have expressed increasing concern about the physical threat posed by cougars (Puma concolor) to humans. We developed a conceptual framework and analyzed 386 human– cougar encounters (29 fatal attacks, 171 instances of nonfatal contact, and 186 close-threatening encounters) to provide...

We used a broad-scale model based on observations of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) or their sign, calibrated to reported putative death rate, to appraise current habitat conditions in the Cabinet–Yaak region of Montana. Habitat capability (i.e., potential grizzly bear densities) and regional human population sizes had the greatest effects in this mo...

Caching of animal remains is common among carnivorous species of all sizes, yet the effects of caching on larger prey are unstudied. We conducted a summer field experiment designed to test the effects of simulated mountain lion (Puma concolor) caching on mass loss, relative temperature, and odor dissemination of 9 prey-like carcasses. We deployed a...

There is a long history of conflict in the western United States between humans and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) involving agricultural attractants. However, little is known about the spatial dimensions of this conflict and the relative importance of different attractants. This study was undertaken to better understand the spatial and functional co...

Pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.) are common foods of waterfowl throughout the Northern Hemisphere. However, consumption of pondweeds by bears has been noted only once, in Russia. We documented consumption of pondweed rhizomes by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Yellowstone region, 1977–96, during investigations of telemetry locations obtained from 1...

We assess the potential for American black bears (Ursus americanus) to limit the growth of colonizing or severely reduced grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations. Managers are faced with the challenge of increasing the size of small (N < 75) grizzly bear populations in the North Cascade, Selkirk, Cabinet–Yaak, and Bitterroot recovery areas of the U...

Previously published observations of bears consuming murid rodents have been limited to short anecdotes. Only 2 studies reported bears consuming rodent food caches. I investigated the consumption of voles (Microtus spp.) and vole food caches by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Yellowstone region, 1977–92, using data collected during a study of 1...

Conflict persists in southwestern deserts of the United States over management of human-constructed devices to provide wildlife with water. We appraised decision processes in this case relative to the goal of human dignity and by the standards of civility and common interest outcomes. Our analysis suggested that conflict was scientized, rooted in w...

Reducing current conflict over large carnivore conservation and designing effective strategies that enjoy broad public support depend on a better understanding of the values, beliefs, and demands of those who are involved or affected. We conducted a workshop attended by diverse participants involved in conservation of large carnivores in the northe...

We used multiple logistic regression to model how different landscape conditions contributed to the probability of human–grizzly bear conflicts on private agricultural ranch lands. We used locations of livestock pastures, traditional livestock carcass disposal areas (boneyards), beehives, and wetland-riparian associated vegetation to model the loca...

Predation rates and prey composition are relevant to judging effects of cougars (Puma concolor) on ecosystems. Radiocollars that frequently obtain and satellite-transmit GPS locations provide researchers with unprecedented opportunities to collect sustained reliable information on cougar predation. We fitted 7 cougars (3 adult males and 4 adult fem...

We review literature relevant to the conservation of Yellowstone's grizzly hear population and appraise the bear's long-term viability. We conclude that the population is isolated and vulnerable to epidemic perturbation and that the carrying capacity of the habitat is likely to shift downward under conditions of climate change. Viability analyses b...

I investigated the exploitation of pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the Yellowstone region of the United States with the use of data collected during a study of radiomarked bears in 1977-1992. My analysis focused on the importance of pocket gophers as a source of energy and nutrients, effects of weat...

We used a broad-scale model based on observations of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) or their sign, calibrated to reported putative death rate, to appraise current habitat conditions in the Cabinet-Yaak region of Montana. Habitat capability (i.e., potential grizzly bear densities) and regional human population sizes had the greatest effects in this mo...

This report describes methods for calculating coefficients used to depict habitat productivity for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem (see Appendix 1 for scientific names). Calculations based on these coefficients are used in the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Cumulative Effects Model (CEM) to map the distribution of habitat productivity and acco...

Tree rubbing or marking by bears has been observed throughout the northern hemisphere. Even so, this behaviour has rarely been studied. We documented 93 sites where grizzly bears Ursus arctos horribilis rubbed on 116 trees during 1986-1992, in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. We used logistic regression and information-based estimation and selection crit...

We appraised the extent of potential core and source areas in a 162, 300-km2 study area centered on the current range of Yellowstone's grizzly bears (about 37, 600 km2). We modeled habitat productivity based on habitat types defined by differences in grizzly bear foraging behavior and associated coefficients of productivity. We coupled habitat prod...

I used measurements of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) from the Yellowstone region, USA, to investigate relationships between widths of foot pads and widths of tracks, foot loading and pad size, incidence of tracks and type of activity, and widths of front-foot pads and gender and age-class. Track width was affected by substrates and increa...

We investigated factors associated with the distribution of grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos horribilis) in 1850 and their extirpation during 1850–1920 and 1920–1970 in the contiguous United States. We used autologistic regression to describe relations between grizzly bear range in 1850, 1920, and 1970 and potential explanatory factors specified for a...

I investigated the consumption of wasps and bees by grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region, 1977-1992, using data collected during a study of radio-marked bears. Although wasps and bees were not a major source of energy, Yellowstone grizzly bears are among only a few populations of their species in North America known to consume these insects in s...

Population viability analysis programs are being used increasingly in research and management applications, but there has not been a systematic study of the congruence of different program predictions based on a single data set. We performed such an analysis using four population viability analysis computer programs: GAPPS, INMAT, RAMAS/AGE, and VO...

The science and management of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the Rocky Mountains of North America have spawned considerable conflict and controversy. Much of this can be attributed to divergent public values, but the narrow perceptions and incomplete and fragmented problem definitions of those involved have exacerbated an inherently dif...

Humans have affected grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) by direct mortality, competition for space and resources, and introduction of exotic species. Exotic organisms that have affected grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Area include common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), nonnative clovers (Trifolium spp.), domesticated livestock, bovi...

I used data collected during a study of radio-marked grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the Yellowstone region from 1977 to 1992 to investigate myrmecophagy by this population. Although generally not an important source of energy for the bears (averaging <5% of fecal volume at peak consumption), ants may have been an important source of pro...

There are very few records, primarily from Eurasia, of bears consuming earthworms (class Oligocheata). Sign of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) eating earthworms was observed at 20 sites during a radiotelemetry study of the Yellowstone population, 1977-92, and on 14 additional occasions during direct observations, 1985-96. Relative frequency...

Sign of grizzly bears (Ursus arttos horribilis) consuming fungal sporocarps (mushrooms and truffles) was observed on 68 occasions during a study of radiomarked bears in the Yellowstone region, 1977-96. Sporocarps also were detected in 96 grizzly bear feces. Most fungi consumed by Yellowstone's grizzly bears were members of the Boletaceae (Suillus s...

We undertook a demographic analysis of the Yellowstone grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) to identify critical environmental factors controlling grizzly bear vital rates, and thereby to help evaluate the effectiveness of past management and to identify future conservation issues. We concluded that, within the limits of uncertainty implied by the availabl...

Informed management of large carnivores depends on the timely and useful presentation of relevant information. We describe an approach to evaluating carnivore habitat that uses pre-existing qualitative and quantitative information on humans and carnivores to generate coarse-scale maps of habitat suitability, habitat productivity, potential reserves...

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaalis) habitats are important to Yellowstone grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) as refugia and sources of food. Ecological relationships between whitebark pine, red squirrels (Tamiasciunis hiidsonicus), and grizzly bear use of pine seeds on Mt. Washburn in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, were examined during 1984-86. Follow...

Records of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) deaths are currently used by managers to indicate trends in actual grizzly bear mortality and to judge the effectiveness of management. Two assumptions underlie these current uses: first, that recorded mortality is an unbiased indicator of actual mortality, and second, that changes in mortality after implement...

I examined the relationship of diets to skull morphology of extant northern bears and used this information to speculate on diets of the recently extinct cave (Ursus spelaeus) and short-faced (Arctodus simus) bears. Analyses relied upon published skull measurements and food habits of Asiatic (U. thibetanus) and American (U. americanus) black bears,...

1. Whitebark pine seeds Pinus albicaulis are an important food of grizzly Ursus arctos horribilis bears wherever whitebark pine is abundant in the contiguous United States of America; availability of seeds affects the distribution of bears, and the level of conflict between bears and humans. Almost all of the seeds consumed by bears are excavated f...

Previous results of fecal analysis from the Yellowstone area and the known abilities of grizzly bears Ursus arctos to acquire and digest tissue from vertebrates suggested that grizzlies in this ecosystem obtained substantial energy from ungulates. This issue was addressed using observations from radio-marked grizzly bears, 1977–1992. Ungulates pote...

Unduplicated counts of female grizzly bears Ursus arctos horribilis with cubs-of-the-year are currently used to estimate minimum population sizes used, in turn, to calculate allowable (assumed to equal sustainable) mortality for grizzly bear populations in the contiguous United States of America. This calculation assumes that unduplicated counts ar...

this chapter is devoted to two major topics: ( 1) the spatial dimensions of human-grizzly bear relationships and factors that influence their dynamics, and (2) a conceptual model for protected-area design that does not just reflect grizzly be-ar behavior and related features of the biophysical environment but also considers human behavior and the c...

We analyzed variation in counts of white bark pine (Pinus alblcaulis) cones from permanent transects and grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horrlbllis) use of whitebark pine seeds from radio-telemetry and line-transect samples. Cone production varied among years and sites during the 11 years of study, with typically 4· to 9-year intervals between the two l...

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) seeds are an im· portant high-quality food for bear populations that occupy ecosystems with continental climates south of the United States-Canada border. Availability of pine seeds affects levels of human-bear conflict and bear mortality. In most areas bears acquire white bark pine seeds by excavating red squirrel...

This paper is organized into four sections. The first constitutes a review and summary of literature pertaining to the responses of grizzly bears to humans. The second provides a rationale and parameters for what I call "rnicro ~scale " security areas - areas that are functional at the scale of individual foraging bouts. The third section provides...

Executive Summary: Cumulative Effects Analysis (CEA) for Yellowstone's isolated and threatened grizzly bear population ideally consists of (1) an estimation of the number of animals required for long-term survival of the population; (2) an estimation of the capability of protected habitat to support this necessary number, taking into account human...

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) studied bear habitat use in the Cooke City area during 1990 and 1991 to provide baseline data and as a basis for inferring potential impacts associated with existing and planned human developments. Specific objectives of this study included: 1. Determine levels of grizzly and black bear activity in th...