The Grizzly in the Driveway : The Return of Bears to a Crowded American West

Confronts the unintended consequences of a conservation success storyFour decades ago, the areas around Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks sheltered the last few hundred surviving grizzlies in the Lower 48 states. Protected by the Endangered Species Act, their population has surged to more than 1,500, and this burgeoning number of grizzlies now collides with the increasingly populated landscape of the twenty-first-century American West. While humans and bears have long shared space, today's grizzlies navigate a shrinking amount of wilderness: cars whiz like bullets through their habitats, tourists check Facebook to pinpoint locations for a quick selfie with a grizzly, and hunters seek trophy prey. People, too, must learn to live and work within a potential predator's territory they have chosen to call home.Mixing fast-paced storytelling with rich details about the hidden lives of grizzly bears, Montana journalist Robert Chaney chronicles the resurgence of this charismatic species against the backdrop of the country's long history with the bear. Chaney captures the clash between groups with radically different visions: ranchers frustrated at losing livestock, environmental advocates, hunters, and conservation and historic preservation officers of tribal nations. Underneath, he probes the balance between our demands on nature and our tolerance for risk. "The problems caused by a conservation triumph Does the US have too many grizzly bears? The question would have been unimaginable in the early 1970s, when a little over six hundred North American brown bears remained in the lower 48 states and the federal government listed them as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. But the population has surged. There are now more than 1700, mostly living in Montana, Idaho, and the Yellowstone and Teton areas of Wyoming. Thanks to this triumph of wildlife conservation, the burgeoning number of grizzlies now collides with the increasingly populated landscape of the 21st century west. While humans and bears have long shared space, today's grizzlies navigate a shrinking amount of wilderness. Cars whiz like bullets through their habitats, tourists check Facebook for pinpoint locations so they can drive out for a quick selfie with a grizzly, and hunters again seek trophy prey. And some people who live in the northern Rockies respond with dread, as they learn to live and work within a potential predator's expanding territory. Montana journalist Robert Chaney chronicles the grizzly bear resurgence, painting rich portraits of the scientists and advocates involved as well as the west's longer history with the bear. He unpacks this success story to scrutinize the issues involved in wildlife management-the tensions between demands on nature and what people are willing to give up to make that happen, and the ways our mind-boggling leaps in technology has outpaced our collective wisdom about how to use that power. Chaney has covered this story for more than two decades, and draws on original interviews with rangers, ranchers, hunters, scientists, environmental advocates, conservation professionals of tribal nations, and bear-watchers from every walk of life. The book is rich with stories about grizzly encounters-mundane, scientific, sublime, terrifying, and sometimes a mix of each.Throughout, Chaney shows how myths of the grizzly bear shape our interactions with them. And how, refracted in that myth, we can also see a story about humans and the tensions between our technological prowess, our hubristic belief in our ability to master the physical environment, and theever-uncontrollable wonders of the natural world"-- Provided by publisher "Four decades ago, the areas around Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks sheltered the last few hundred surviving grizzlies in the Lower 48 states. Protected by the Endangered Species Act, their population has surged to more than 1,500, and this burgeoning number of grizzlies now collides with the increasingly populated landscape of the twenty-first-century American West. While humans and bears have long shared space, today's grizzlies navigate a shrinking amount of wilderness: cars whiz like bullets through their habitats, tourists check Facebook to pinpoint locations for a quick selfie with a grizzly, and hunters seek trophy prey. People, too, must learn to live and work within a potential predator's territory they have chosen to call home. Mixing fast-paced storytelling with rich details about the hidden lives of grizzly bears, Montana journalist Robert Chaney chronicles the resurgence of this charismatic species against the backdrop of the country's long history with the bear. Chaney captures the clash between groups with radically different visions: ranchers frustrated at losing livestock, environmental advocates, hunters, and conservation and historic preservation officers of tribal nations. Underneath, he probes the balance between our demands on nature and our tolerance for risk."-- Provided by publisher