Honor 399’s legacy with crossings

For two decades, readers followed the story of Grizzly 399 in these pages. In September 2004, researchers used new GPS technology to begin tracking the 350-pound bear and discovered that 399 took a six-hour nap in a thick maze of willows after gorging on yampa. Two years later she and her cubs first caused a roadside spectacle in Grand Teton National Park, which became an annual rite of summer in and around Pilgrim Creek.

Since then millions of park visitors have glimpsed or photographed the matriarch bruin and her brood, some 18 cubs that went on to have cubs of their own. Wildlife watchers were thrilled and amazed at the consistent sightings, and even biologists were wowed when 399 pulled off the “cub swap” in 2011 with one of her offspring, Grizzly 610. Perhaps most impressive of all, 399 guided four cubs through the valley to south of Hoback Junction in 2021 and back to Teton park to den. The five bears strolled past Jackson Town Hall one night, perhaps the first time grizzlies had roamed the site in 150 years or more.

Along the way this extraordinary bear gave humans a rare glimpse into the life of one of the wildest animals on Earth, Ursus arctos horribilis. She gained a following around the world and helped people better appreciate wildness and the need to protect wild places.

Understandably, upon the grizzly’s death last week near the same spot she ventured in 2021, readers have been saddened, upset and looking for a way to honor the bear. There’s no better way to celebrate 399’s legacy than by supporting the construction of wildlife crossings in Teton County and around the state. Remarkably, 399 and cubs survived all these years in close proximity to roads, but her death is yet another reminder of the danger highways pose to animals.

If we are to do a better job of coexisting with wildlife, crossings are essential. Each year there are 200 documented collisions between motorists and large mammals in Teton County, and biologists say the actual figure could be up to four times higher because many go unreported.

Teton County has been planning a crossing over Highway 89 north of Jackson by the National Elk Refuge and needs to raise $1.5 million in philanthropy to secure a federal grant for construction. This is in addition to specific purpose excise tax revenue that voters already have approved. The county has partnered with the nonprofit WYldlife for Tomorrow to accept donations to raise the necessary match.

Given the size of Grizzly 399’s following and the resources in this community, raising the $1.5 million in memory of the bear should be as easy as plucking huckleberries and snacking on pine nuts. Let’s channel grief over her death into a lasting legacy of protecting wildlife for decades to come.