{"id":680866,"date":"2026-06-03T00:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680866\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T00:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:44:10","slug":"mass-grizzly-bear-reintroduction-in-california-moves-step-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680866\/","title":{"rendered":"Mass grizzly bear reintroduction in California moves step closer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grizzly bears have taken one lumbering step closer to roaming California again.<\/a><\/p>\n

California\u2019s State Senate voted 29-9 on party lines last week to approve a roadmap to evaluate whether it is possible to reintroduce the apex predator, which is featured on the state flag.<\/p>\n

The bill now moves to California\u2019s State Assembly, where it has been read and held at the desk. It can next be assigned to a committee or take another path at lawmakers\u2019 discretion.<\/p>\n

SB 1305 has faced changes since The California Post reported<\/a> on it in March. The bill has considerably softened its language toward bringing grizzly bears back to California after concerns from ranchers that bringing another apex predator into the state could threaten livestock.<\/p>\n

Grizzly bears have taken one lumbering step closer to roaming California again. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The bill has shifted its language from painting the grizzly bear reintroduction to California as an inevitable outcome to a possibility. Its title was changed from the California Grizzly\u00a0Restoration\u00a0Act to the California Grizzly Recovery Assessment Act.<\/p>\n

Several parts of the bill have been struck or changed to add protections for potential grizzly bears, including a section protecting livestock owners<\/a> from bears by allowing them to kill the bears if they are hunting livestock.<\/p>\n

A critical section of the bill outlining its intent has changed. The original bill text suggested that the state wished to restore the bear to California. But the amended text clarified that the bill sought just to see if the bear\u2019s reintroduction \u201cis biologically feasible and whether areas of the state exist in which the conditions necessary for long-term coexistence and stewardship can be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several parts of the bill have been struck or changed to add protections for potential grizzly bears, including a section protecting livestock owners from bears by allowing them to kill the bears if they are hunting livestock. Getty Images<\/p>\n

A deadline for the roadmap has been extended from June 30, 2028, to June 30, 2030. Legislators\u2019 reasoning for bringing back the bear remains in the bill, which is that it holds significance \u201cfor many California Native American tribes\u201d and deserves a second chance in California\u2019s ecosystem after hunting drove the bears out of the state.<\/p>\n

If the roadmap is approved by the California State Assembly and signed by the governor, legislators would still likely need to formally take steps to reintroduce the bear to the state. Grizzlies have been extinct in the state since 1924.<\/p>\n

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Peter Tira, a spokesperson for California\u2019s Department of Fish and Wildlife, told The California Post that the department\u2019s policy was to not comment on legislation. Officials noted it was an ongoing issue that came up \u201cevery few years\u201d with \u201cviewpoints all over the map\u201d on whether the bears should be reintroduced to California.<\/p>\n

Chris Servheen, who worked as the Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 35 years until his retirement in 2016, told The Post that any reintroduction \u201cis not a simple matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be careful consideration of where they\u2019re going to be placed because you\u2019ve got to match habitats and food with the target habitats and food,\u201d he said. \u201cYou would have to get a source for the bears, and that\u2019s not a trivial matter because there\u2019s not a lot of extra bears sitting around.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that people managing the bears and their potential interactions with people would be required.<\/p>\n

Chris Servheen worked as the Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 35 years until his retirement in 2016. NBC Montana<\/p>\n

Servheen said 50 to 100 people in the Northern Rocky Mountains manage grizzly bears across four states.<\/p>\n

If bears don\u2019t adjust to their new habitat, they could die, Servheen said. <\/p>\n

But if they do thrive, they could pose a danger to people.<\/p>\n

Servheen said they\u2019re known for being more aggressive than the common black bear, particularly females protecting their cubs. He says most encounters are by surprise, when hikers and bears happen on each other while on trails, and it commonly ends with the bear running over the hiker and fleeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrizzly bears have a little bit more potential for conflict than black bears. But it\u2019s all based on encounter frequency,\u201d he said, noting black bears are much more common in California.<\/p>\n

Grizzly bear attacks are generally rare, Servheen noted. But a catholic deacon was mauled to death by a member of the bear species last month<\/a> in Montana\u2019s Glacier National Park.<\/p>\n

Servheen believes a \u201cbalanced approach\u201d is needed to reintroduce the bears but advises against sensationalizing bear attacks. Cavan \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Servheen believes a \u201cbalanced approach\u201d is needed to reintroduce the bears but advises against sensationalizing bear attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the times that a grizzly bear wasn\u2019t attacking a person or people did lots of recreation and didn\u2019t have any problems in grizzly bear habitat, or all the cows that live and are never attacked,\u201d he said. \u201cThose don\u2019t make news stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

California ranchers previously expressed their concern that the apex predator could turn to hunting their cattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia is already struggling to take care of the apex predators that we have now, and what\u2019s happened with the wolves has woken people up to the fact that we don\u2019t have enough prey for the predators that we have, and we don\u2019t have the staff for (the department of fish and wildlife) to manage them,\u201d Rick Roberti, a Sierra Valley rancher and president of the California Cattlemen\u2019s Association,\u00a0told\u00a0SF Gate<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd wolves are nothing compared to the grizzly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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