Advocates seek to re-introduce grizzlies

HELENA (AP) - An advocacy group has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce grizzly bears into the Selway-Bitterroot area of Idaho and Montana.

The Center for Biological Diversity said Thursday that it hopes to revive a stalled recovery plan for the animals that was finalized in 2000.

The group said having bears in the Selway-Bitterroot would help connect grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park with other populations of the animals in Montana and Idaho. It says the 16-million-acre area could support 300 to 600 bears.

An earlier petition from the group called for grizzly recovery across a seven-state area that included the Selway-Bitterroot. Center for Biological Diversity attorney Andrea Santarsiere said the group is considering legal action after that petition was denied.