Conservation of grizzly bears using access management

Grizzly bears avoid roads in some areas but select areas near roads in others. This is driven by mechanisms such as traffic patterns and food resources near roads. Understanding what mechanisms drive the relationship between grizzly bears and roads is of particular importance in Alberta where the majority of grizzly bear mortalities occur within 500 m of a road. We modelled a suite of potential mechanisms underlying grizzly bear selection or avoidance of roads and tested which of these best predicted grizzly bear habitat use and movement around roads. A combination of food, traffic, and large-scale landscape variables best predicted grizzly bear distribution. We used these results to simulate the impacts of road access changes as a result of road construction, reclamation, or gating. Our findings highlight the importance of examining the mechanisms driving habitat use and movement of large mammals in human altered landscapes. Access management, the closing of roads during certain times of the year, soon will be implemented in Alberta to conserve grizzly bear populations. Understanding the mechanisms behind grizzly bear use of roaded areas will be essential in choosing which roads to close and when to close them.