|
Overview
 The Selkirk Mountain Ecosystem includes approximately 2,200 square miles of northeastern Washington, northern Idaho and southern British Columbia, Canada. Approximately 1,040 square miles of this area is within British Columbia, Canada. Within the United States portion of the ecosystem, the Colville and Idaho Panhandle National Forests, and the Idaho Department of Lands administer public lands. The Selkirk ecosystem is fairly well defined by geographical boundaries, which includes the Selkirk Mountains bounded by Kootenay Lake and the Kootenai River on the north and east, and the Salmo and Pend Oreille Rivers on the west and south. There are currently believed to be at least 50-60 grizzly bears in the Selkirk Recovery Zone with numbers approximately equally divided between the Canadian and U.S. portions of the ecosystems.
The Cabinet–Yaak Ecosystem encompasses approximately 1,000 square miles in the Yaak  River drainage and 1,620 square miles in the Cabinet Mountains. The ecosystem is bisected by the Kootenai River, with the Cabinet Mountains to the south and the Yaak River area to the north. The degree of movement between these two portions is unknown, but no radio-collared bears have moved from one portion to the other. Approximately 90% of the area is public land administered by the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests. South of the Kootenai River, the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area encompasses 147 square miles of the ecosystem with elevations ranging from 3,000 feet to 8,738 feet atop Snowshoe Peak. There are currently believed to be at least 40 grizzly bears in the Cabinet-Yaak Recovery Zone.
 The area has a Pacific maritime climate characterized by short, warm summers and heavy, wet winter snowfalls. A variety of tree species, including ponderosa pine, grand and mountain firs, western red cedar, western hemlock, western larch, mountain hemlock, and spruces, can be found throughout the recovery zones. Stands of mixed deciduous trees intermingle with riparian shrubfields and wet meadows along major drainages. Huckleberry and mixed shrubfields are partly created as a result of wildfires and other disturbance events. While higher elevations and steeper slopes characterize the Cabinet Mountains, much of the topography in the Yaak and the Selkirk’s is varied, from rugged alpine peaks to the more rounded peaks that cover most of the remaining area.
The Selkirk/Cabinet-Yaak subcommittee meets biannually to coordinate grizzly bear recovery efforts. Management agencies, including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and Idaho Department of Fish & Game, in cooperation with many non-governmental organizations. The subcommittee continues to take action to increase public awareness of garbage and sanitation issues, black bear/grizzly bear identification, and to reduce human-caused grizzly bear mortality throughout both ecosystems.
DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (DSEIS)
2009 DSEIS approx 3.2 MB
2004 ROD approx 6.6 MB
2002 FEIS approx 11.2 MB
This Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) will not prescribe site-specific access management decisions within the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak Grizzly Bear Recovery Zones. This analysis examines the effects of setting various levels of human access within the Recovery Zones. The decision to change the status of a specific road or trail will be proposed through site-specific project level analyses and associated decisions. These site-specific proposals will require public notification at the time they are proposed.
|
