BOISE – When a Tennessee hunter mistakenly shot and killed a male grizzly bear in the remote, rugged terrain north of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness last month, it marked the first time that anyone had confirmed a grizzly in that part of Idaho in more than six decades.

But the presence of a grizzly roaming the mountains of north-central Idaho might prove to be more than a passing biological fancy.

Within days of the kill, the rules and expectations for hunting the region changed. Grizzly experts from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, along with state officials in Idaho and Montana, are already plotting excursions next summer to see if other grizzlies have taken up residence in the Bitterroot.

Then there is the list of potential long-term implications. For example, what does one bear’s presence mean for logging and ranching?

Or for plans to reintroduce grizzlies into the Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem – a 5,600-square-mile expanse spread across Idaho and Montana considered vital to restoring grizzlies in corridors stretching from Yellowstone National Park to the Yukon?

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