Author Bryce Andrews had been a ranch hand until he decided he would rather work with wildlife than the commercial meat chain.

He switched careers and became a biologist.

His work took him to the Mission Valley of western Montana on the Flathead/Salish reservation. The surrounding Mission Mountains are rugged and beautiful; they also have a high population of wildlife, including grizzly bears. When the bears leave the mountain slopes and come into the valley, they are inevitably the losers in human/grizzly encounters, even though the Confederated Tribes that own a great part of the land in the valley, revere the great bears.

Andrews began by addressing the problem of bears destroying a local dairyman’s corn crop, a necessity for the energy needs of the dairy cows. He researched and then devised a new way of configuring the standard electric fencing to better discourage the bears.

During this time, he became very familiar with one female grizzly who had been shot in the face with a shotgun as she came too close to humans. Over the course of several months he had to watch this poor bear become a walking skeleton that was unable to care for her cubs.

It is a truly sad story; although Andrews’ new method of bear-discouraging fencing showed a lot of promise, saving the dairyman’s corn crop was not enough to save the dairyman’s future on his land. Ultimately the land would be subdivided, perpetuating a guarantee of more grizzly/human conflict.

I’ve lived in the Mission Valley (my son was born there) and thought the author’s descriptions of the beautiful places, the people and the conflicts were very well done.

My only gripe was that the audiobook reader consistently mispronounced several of the place names. Nothing says "I don't really care" like mispronouncing place names. ( )

places spiral bookring, In current day, the grizzly bears are indeed coming down from the mountain, searching for easy food, such as a farmer's corn field. The pictures of the Mission Valley, although black and white, helped the reader to visualize what Bryce was doing to try to deter the bears in order to save them.
Unfortunately Millie could not be deterred, nor saved. She tangled with someone who shot her with bird shot, then was able to outwit Bryce's electric fence, ultimately needing to be put down due to infection from the birdshot. She had kicked out her cubs, hoping they would survive on their own, but they were too young and wound up in a zoo enclosure. A reminder that when the farmette's cut into the large predator areas, it doesn't come out well for either side. ( )

Bryce Andrews is a Montana rancher and conservationist. He loves grizzlies and has been monitoring them for years. Here, he follows Millie and her two cubs as they face the many challenges of survival, on his land and off. He is a very good writer and really keeps the narrative flowing, as we cheer these bears on. ( )

nonfiction ecology/biology
a little long-winded but still engrossing story for people who admire bears. ( )

A balanced and respectful look at the life of endangered grizzly bears and the many challenges of modern humans and large wild mammals peacefully coexisting--even in a place as large as Montana. Bryce's extensive background as both a rancher and a nonprofit conservationist brings a much-needed voice to the land management discussion. Top shelf nature writing and some nice B&W pics--definitely pack a copy before you head to Yellowstone or the Tetons or before you plant any corn in Montana. ( )