When Lewis and Clark explored the country, 50,000 to 100,000 grizzly bears roamed the wilderness of the West. As their habitat was destroyed by logging, mining, oil and gas drilling and land development, the powerful bears were threatened with extinction. Grizzly bears are an important symbol of wilderness and a key component of our unique Western wildlife heritage. Since grizzly bears are an umbrella species, the Endangered Species Act’s habitat protections for grizzlies also provides shelter for many other species of wildlife that share the bears’ home range. Today grizzly bears are recovering in areas such as Yellowstone and along the northern Continental Divide, yet still struggling in the Idaho panhandle, northwest Montana and the Cascades. In some places where bears are expanding, habitat loss and threats to key food sources have led to increased conflict with humans, and subsequently, additional grizzly bear mortality.