The grizzly bear has many strikes against it. It is the second-slowest reproducing mammal in North America, making it extremely difficult to compensate for bear mortality. As human populations expand in the West, it becomes harder for grizzlies to avoid people and human-bear conflicts often result in bear deaths. New biological information suggests the grizzly's future will always be uncertain unless the isolated mountain ranges it clings to can be linked again to other ecosystems and other grizzlies. And even those last few remaining wild places that the grizzly relies on for its survival are under attack.
Habitat protection is the key to the grizzly's future.
In the 20 years since it was listed as a threatened species, habitat critical to its survival has been steadily eroded through timber cutting, forest road building, oil and gas drilling and private land development. Timber cutting and road building displace bears and fragment their habitat. It means reduced cover, reduced food sources and increased interaction with humans. Roads create the largest single threat facing grizzly bears today. Roads being built into the core roadless areas critical to grizzly bear survival result in greater human access and increased bear mortality.