"Grizzly Wars" is the saga of the "ghost bears" of the North Cascades

"Grizzly Wars: The Public Fight Over the Great Bear" by David Knibb Eastern Washington University Press, 296 pp., $29.95 As many as 100,000 grizzly bears once ranged across western North America from Mexico to the Yukon. From the beginning, the great bears commanded the attention of those who encountered them. On May 11, 1805, Captain William Clark wrote in his journal, "These bear being so hard to die rather intimidates us all. I must confess that I do not like the gentlemen." The feeling persisted among the waves of trappers, miners, ranchers and railroad men that followed. By 1975, when the grizzly was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, less than 2 percent of the original population remained. Bellevue conservation writer David Knibb ("Backyard Wilderness") presents a compelling and detailed investigation into the effort to preserve and recover this enigmatic species. Unlike most books on the subject, which focus on Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies, Knibb locates his case study on the remnant grizzly population in Washington's North Cascades...

From the Seattle Times.