SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.. – When a grizzly was last seen in California’s Sequoia National Park in 1924, who knew it would be the last time for over 100 years? Now, there are some fighting to have them returned to the Sierra Nevada and the rest of the region they once roamed.

Generations of grizzlies had roamed the state from Los Angeles through the Sierra Nevada. The grizzly vanished after years of persecution and hunting bounties. Prior to the Gold Rush in 1848, it’s estimated that California was home to as many as 10,000 grizzlies, and one even graces the state flag. Farmers in the 1800s lost many cattle to grizzlies and fought to remove them from the landscape. Within 75 years of gold being discovered, every grizzly had been tracked down and killed by gun or poison.

In 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the “Development of a Recovery Plan for the Grizzly Bear.” The grizzly bear was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1975, and the Center said the bear’s survival was dependent on the agency reintroducing grizzlies throughout its historic territory. When Europeans settled in America, it was estimated there were 100,000 grizzly bears in the country, and that number dropped to about 1,000 when they were added to the endangered species list. Now an estimated 1,900 live in the lower 48 states, most in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Lisa Landenburger, USGS – Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team. Public domain. Sources: IUCN, M. Proctor, Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team

In their 2014 request to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, CBD estimated 4,000 to 6,000 grizzlies could live in the 110,000 square miles of suitable habitat in Arizona and the Sierra. The following year, CBD petitioned the California state legislature to reintroduce the grizzly bear to the state.

That petition failed.

The California State Senate passed a resolution declaring 2024 the “Year of the Grizzly,” to recognize the importance of the animal to the state’s history and ecosystems, and now the California Grizzly Alliance has released a 200-page feasibility study on why the grizzly should be reintroduced into California.

The Alliance is made up of researchers, wildlife advocates, and tribal members, including Brendan Cummings of CBD, Rick Ridgeway, a mountaineer and former VP with Patagonia, the Tejon Tribe, and some university participants. The feasibility study they created says grizzlies can be recovered in California, and their return is spiritually, culturally, and historically important for future Californians. The study states, “The grizzly remains an honored, vital, and revered relative for many California Tribes.” It concludes that there are “no “insurmountable biological, ecological, economic, legal, or policy obstacles to returning California’s official animal to the state.”

“Whether or not we bring grizzly bears back to California is a choice, as there is no biological reason we couldn’t do it,” said Dr. Peter Alagona of the University of California, Santa Barbara, lead author of the study. “A decade of research informing this study demonstrates that grizzlies likely can thrive in California if we make the affirmative decision to bring them back.”

There are many who feel the grizzly, which can weigh 1,000 pounds, stand eight feet tall, and run 35 mph in short bursts, has a place back in the state. With a growing black bear population in California, they say grizzlies could keep them in check as a predator. The black bear is about 125-500 pounds, is typically 4-7 feet long, and 2-3 feet when standing on all fours. Black bears and grizzlies can coexist in some areas and habitats, like in Yellowstone National Park, though they generally keep a distance from each other. Black bears will generally retreat when faced with the larger grizzly.

Advocates want to bring the grizzly bear back, but there are currently no legislative efforts to do so, except for the release of the study earlier this month. The Alliance says the momentum and support for bringing back grizzly bears to California are growing,