hum...just dealt a little bit with this today. What I do know: GBears are in Jefferson, Fremont and Teton counties. There have been a number of sightings west and south of these counties, in Idaho, outside of Yellowstone. The BLM will make this statement public in a land planning document. We have an ID F&G person on our planning team...this is not news.

The sightings have apparently included areas west of I-15...meaning, if true, they are across probably their biggest human-made bear-e-er (pun intended)on their way westward. Sightings and population counts are entirely different, which is why the "west of I-15" info is F&G's job to determine, and make public, fact. That said...it's a bit of a hike from Gbear habitats east of I-15 to Gbear habitats west of 15 but it's doable.

so...home range 200 mi2 (chicks) 550 mi2 (dudes). GBear are known to move several 100 miles over a year and/or over a lifetime, which can be 15-25+ years if they aren't hunted or poached first. oh...and they love whitebark pine nuts.... yeh...from those whitebark pines dying like crazy everywhere....

Bear don't "do" humans...but once you're west of 15, you, as a bear, could conceivably end up in the sawtooths without encountered much in the way of human threat. And i bet a number of folk on this board could come up with directions for a bear to do so, right?

What else i know...Bad Bear

K...there are "bad" bear...including grizzly's. Generally bear are watched and cared about by wildlife folk. When they think they have a problem bear, they don't wait until the bear proves they are before they try to do something about it. They get relocated...so where....hum. This is where i think it's gets interesting and leaves "what i know."

I routinely harass the FS wildlife guy about "bear jail." A great place for bear jail is (has been - from my point of view) jefferson, teton, and fremont counties. He tries to tell me i'm wrong, but i'm wearing him down. In the time i've lived here the population in my bear jail area has really seemed to have grown. So entertain this...what do you do when bear jail gets full...and it's getting harder and harder to find dinner? Like if you're a bear. You leave. Anyone stopping you? No. Not only do i think it's entirely possible, i think it's probable. high numbers, no, not yet.

So now be the wildlife person. are there rules about where you can relocate bear? not that i know of...and that's the point...slap a collar on one and put it anywhere you want...where there's still some whitebark pine left. hum. so why not the sawtooths? you want them to "make it," right? Put a couple out there and test the waters...then you know you could put others there...just typing out loud.

I'm not pandering to the locals, but i think what they are saying could be possible. Beats any other ideas i can come up with why they would be so adamant.

Now that the Gbear is on the threatened list again, maybe we'll hear more about them and what's really going on. oh yea...i think there's other bear jails.

so one more thought...for the boise folk. download the gbear ringtone (center for biological diversity). take it with you in wolf country and if you're in a bind...you have one more tool. maybe. post if it works, ok?

GBears are great in Yellowstone. Would rather not have them in my neighborhood.

A grizzly was shot on Peck Mtn in Council Idaho a few years back. Unit 22 is permit only and a Meridian hunter had a permit. He asked the game warden if there were any grizzlies in the area and the warden said "absolutely no grizzlies in the area, 100% no way jose". So the hunter shot the big bear, drove through the check station and all hell broke loose. He was tried in the federal courthouse and found innocent, even got to keep the bear which is unheard of. I know 2 archers who swear they have seen grizzlies on Cuddy Mtn and also Rapid River. You can dismiss those sightings but not the one that was killed.

from:
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cdc/cdc_pdf/U87GRO03.pdf

Salmon National Forest: Only one sighting of a grizzly bear was
located on the Salmon National Forest (Report No. 110). This
observation occurred on the West Fork of Hughes Creek near the
Montana border in 1977 (Fig. 4).

Payette National Forest: Two accounts of grizzly bears were
located on the Payette National Forest, and both occurred
within the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (Nos.
153, 168). Diggings by a grizzly bear were observed on
California Creek in about 1976 and tracks were seen on Wolf
Fang Creek in 1983 (Fig. 4).

Boise National Forest: Four sightings of grizzly bears were
made on the Boise National Forest between 1976 and 1986 (Nos.
88, 90, 111, 154). These sightings occurred near Shellrock Lake
in 1976, Alexander Flats in 1976, Warm Springs Landing Strip in
1983, and Silver Creek Lookout in 1986 (Fig. 4).

Challis National Forest: Three sightings of grizzly bears were
observed on the Challis National Forest between 1976 and 1985
(Nos. 87, 91, 101). These sightings were located on Willow
Creek Summit in 1976 (actually on BLM land), the Yankee Fork in
1984, and Cape Horn Creek in 1985 (Fig. 4).

I would like to see proof of this, since there has never been any season or permits given to kill grizzly bears in the state. http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/grizzlies/
Yes, you do need a controlled hunt tag to hunt "Black" bears in Unit 22, but if the guy couldn't identify the difference between a black bear and a grizzly bear (should there happen to have ever been one in that area), he shouldn't be hunting bears anyway.