'Grizzlies and us'

Two hundred years ago, grizzly bears ruled the West. Today, people have taken that throne and relegated Ursus arctos horribilis to a fraction of its former range. But the bears—backed by legal protection and decades of recovery efforts—have begun reasserting themselves, in some cases appearing in areas where they hadn’t been seen for nearly a century. And as the line between what is human versus bear territory blurs, a subsequent increase in conflicts has created challenges for residents, wildlife managers and politicians alike. In this 10-part series produced over the past year by outdoor reporters and photojournalists across Montana and Wyoming, the many issues surrounding the uneasy coexistence of grizzlies and humans are examined in full.

How a fiscally conservative state with a wildlife-oriented culture has emerged as a leader in efforts to make roads safer for animals and motorists. 

Boise-based The McCall Associates is proposing RedRidge Preserve, a 135-lot subdivision along Blackhawk Lake, which is also known as Hait Reservoir. It would sit next to Blackhawk, another one of the applicant’s major developments, and near Red Ridge Ranch, a large tract of land previously listed for sale by the Wilks Brothers.

PacifiCorp continues to operate unit 2 at the Jim Bridger coal-fired power plant despite running afoul of a federal regional haze permit—an infraction some believed would force a Jan. 1 shutdown. 

“We thought suburbia wasn’t as vulnerable,” University of Colorado fire scientist Jennifer Balch said. The Marshall fire showed “we are sitting ducks to the repercussions of the climate that we have to deal with year-round.”