Grizzly Bears Make Stand In Montana

By The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 17, 2008

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WASHINGTON --

The majestic grizzly bear, once king of the Western wilderness but threatened with extinction for a third of a century, has roared back in Montana.

The finding, from a $4.8 million, five-year study of grizzly bear DNA mocked by Republican presidential candidate John McCain as pork barrel spending, could help ease restrictions on oil and gas drilling and logging.

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey announced Tuesday that there are about 765 bears in northwestern Montana. That's the largest population of grizzly bears documented there in more than 30 years, and a sign that the species could be at long last recovering.

The scientific census shattered earlier estimates that said there were at least 250-350 bears roaming from north of Missoula to the Canadian border.

The Associated Press