In the summer of 2007, a telephone survey asked 502 residents of Lincoln and Sanders Counties, Montana, about their opinions and knowledge of grizzly bears in the Cabinet Mountains and Yaak River Valley.    Residents of Libby, Troy, Yaak, Heron, Noxon, Trout Creek and Thompson Falls were randomly selected by telephone number, and of the individuals contacted, 85% agreed to participate in the survey.  Participants were asked questions about their knowledge of grizzly bears, their opinions on grizzly bear recovery efforts in the CYE and management activities.

The survey effort began in 2006 and was spearheaded by the Community Forest Watch program of the Yaak Valley Forest Council, to further outreach and education efforts in the local communities.  YVFC developed the survey questionnaire cooperatively with state and federal agencies, other non-profit groups and members of the public, all with an interest in grizzly bear recovery in the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem (CYE).

The information gathered through the survey will help inform managers about current public opinion on grizzly bear management actions.  It also serves to identify areas of misinformation that the local public has about grizzly bear behavior and recovery, which can be used to tailor a grizzly bear outreach program to local concerns.

• Of the 502 residents who took the survey, 70% felt that grizzly bears belong in the CYE and should be preserved for future generations.
• Fear appeared to be a primary reason why some residents were opposed to having grizzly bears in the CYE.
• The majority of respondents were unaware of how many people are actually attacked or killed by grizzly bears in the lower 48 states each year.  In the past 30 years there has never been a documented grizzly bear attack in the CYE.
• 90% felt that people can prevent most conflicts with grizzly bears.
• 62% would accept changes to garbage disposal methods if it would help prevent problems with grizzly bears.
• 57% supported grizzly bear recovery efforts in the CYE, however support decreased to 44% when asked about reaching the recovery goal of 100 grizzly bears in the CYE, a population goal set forth in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Grizzly Bear Recovery plan (1993).
• Support for grizzly bear recovery increased from 57% to 75% if it could be done without using the practice of augmentation (moving of grizzly bears into the CYE from backcountry locations in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem).
• 32% were unaware of the current motorized access restrictions in place on National Forest lands due in part to grizzly bear management. Of those who were aware of the current motorized access restrictions, 49% were in support and 42% were opposed to them.

Overall the majority of those who took the survey indicated that they generally supported grizzly bear recovery in the CYE. However, levels of support and opposition varied over the use of specific management actions (sustainable population goals, augmentation and road restrictions) in order to achieve the recovery of the CYE grizzly bear population.

A 2-page summary of the results and a copy of the full report, can be downloaded for free at the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) website.

Individuals, groups and organizations interested in the results of this survey can contact one of the following authors:

Sarah Canepa, Troy, MT cabinetyaaksurvey@gmail.com 295-9906

Kim Annis, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Libby, MT  kannis@mt.gov 293-4161

Wayne Kasworm, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Libby, MT  wayne_kasworm@fws.gov 293-4161.