Bringing grizzlies back to California has long been considered a lofty — but unrealistic — idea. Now that state’s Legislature is considering a plan that could involve relocating Yellowstone grizzlies.
California State Sen. Laura Richardson, a Democrat, introduced Senate Bill 1305, which calls for a “roadmap” of how it might be possible to return grizzlies to California after 101 years.
The bill cites a study published in Oxford's Journal of Heredity in 2025, which claims a “genetic similarity” between California’s lost grizzlies and bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
"The overall genetic similarity between the California and Yellowstone populations, and the strong pattern of isolation-by-distance we observe, all suggest that no closer living relatives are likely to be found,” according to the study.
"If genetic background is to be a consideration for reintroduction efforts in California, brown bears from Yellowstone might serve as a source population," the study states.
A reintroduction plan would have to be completed and approved before any grizzlies could be transplanted to California. The bill calls for that roadmap to be submitted by June 30, 2028.
Who Would Make The Call On Wyoming Grizzlies?
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department redirected questions about the possible use of Yellowstone bears to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which did not respond by publication time.
If and when California grizzly reintroduction gets underway, Wyoming and the other Yellowstone states might not agree to send grizzlies there, as indicated by a past request for Wyoming wolves.
As Colorado geared up for its first round of wolf reintroductions in December 2023, Gov. Mark Gordon flatly refused to send wolves there.
Montana and Idaho also said no, but Oregon finally agreed to provide the first batch of 10 wolves.
Things could also hinge on the status of grizzlies, which are still under federal Endangered Species protection, putting them under the primary jurisdiction of the FWS, and not state agencies.
There are ongoing efforts to delist grizzlies and put them under state control.
However, if grizzlies are still primarily under federal jurisdiction if and when California comes calling for Yellowstone grizzlies, that decision would probably be up the feds, and not the states.
In that case, a Wyoming governor could not refuse, as Gordon did with wolves, which are under state jurisdiction.
The Idea ‘Comes Up Every Few Years'
In a text message Thursday, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Spokesman Peter Tira stated that his agency can’t comment on matters involving pending legislation.
“However, the idea of grizzly reintroduction comes up every few years and we’ve addressed it a number of times in the past,” he added.
California has an image of a grizzly on its state flag. And the state once had thousands of grizzlies, which many now regard as having been a unique subspecies of coastal brown bear.
The last documented sighting of a grizzly bear in California was in 1924 in Sequoia National Park.
The Canada Connection
California grizzly reintroduction could be modeled after efforts to restore grizzlies in southwest British Columbia, Canada, Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of the Grizzly Bear Foundation, told Cowboy State Daily.
Scapillati, a British Columbia resident, has been involved in grizzly recovery efforts both there and in California.
The key could be working with Native American tribes, he said.
“We run a First Nations roundtable” that considers grizzly recovery from an Indigenous perspective, he said.
“The folks in California took notice of that, and they’re figuring out a way to work with tribes on grizzly reintroduction there,” he said.
Scapillati has helped facilitate meetings between representatives of tribes in California and British Columbia. The tribes in California helped sponsor the bill, he said.
In British Columbia, “like in the Yellowstone area, the grizzlies are expanding their range,” he said.
California tribes and state officials could take lessons from that, particularly when it comes to mitigating human-bear conflicts.
"It (SB 1305) is not promising that the bear is going to come back. But there’s lots of work to still do, especially around co-existence,” between humans and grizzlies, he said.
There’s been some success with relocating orphaned cubs of the year to the grizzly recovery zone in British Columbia, he said.
That involves keeping young cubs who have lost their mothers in captivity until they’re old enough to strike out on their own, around age 2 or so.
A similar approach might be used to bring grizzlies back to California, he said.
‘Not Feasible’
Retired federal ecologist and grizzly advocate Chuck Neal of Cody said he loves the idea of grizzlies returning to California but doesn’t think it’s realistic.
“I don’t think it’s feasible,” he said. "There’s 40 million people in California."
"We have enough trouble keeping bears and people separated here in the Northern Rockies, with a lot fewer people,” he added.
The focus should be instead what he thinks is the key to full recovery of grizzlies in the Rockies — connectivity between the Greater Yellowstone population, and the Montana’s Northern Continental Divide grizzlies, centered in Glacier National Park.
The key to that is repopulating the remote wild areas in central Idaho with grizzlies, Neal said.
“I want a viable population here in the Northern Rockies,” he said. "Then we can talk about these other areas."
‘We Lost That DNA’
Wildlife tour guide and photographer Jeffrey Soulliere of Jackson said he can recall talk of reintroducing grizzlies to California going back decades.
He’s a staunch advocate for grizzlies and said the extinction of the California coastal bears was terrible.
“What a disaster. We lost that DNA. Those were extremely unique bears,” he said.
Though he likes the idea of grizzlies returning to California, he doesn't have much hope that it will happen.
“I figured grizzlies were just going to go down into Washington state from Canada, whether they wanted them there or not, but California was a different ballgame,” he said.
SB 1305 might offer a glimmer of hope for California grizzlies in the future, Soulliere said.
“It’s something that would excite me to no end,” he said. "It’s going to take responsibility to do it right."
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
