Should Griz Return?

Wildlife management

Some wildlife activists say it’s time to bring back the grizzly to California, where the silvertip has been extinct for 70 years.

“Right now, we’re having enough problems with the black bears,” said Bob Stafford, black bear coordinator for the California Dept. of Fish and Game.

While Yosemite has been suggested as a potential reintroduction site, Dave Graber of the National Biological Service said grizzlies prefer grassland and foothill areas to the Sierra Nevada habitat.

“I just can’t picture any place in California big enough and empty enough to support a viable population of grizzlies,” he said.