About the Author

BIOLOGIST AND AUTHOR STEVE NADEAU grew up in Northern Maine on the Canadian border exploring the North Maine woods. He graduated from High School in 1975, the same year grizzly bears were listed under the Endangered Species Act. Bears became his totem following an encounter that set the direction of his career. He worked on the Maine black bear project and moved west to work with and study grizzly bears in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, British Columbia, and Alaska. He earned a B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine, and an M.S. in wildlife biology from the University of Montana, resulting in a thesis focused on grizzly bear-human conflicts in Glacier National Park, Montana. Nadeau held a number of wildlife positions in his early career including bear management in Glacier National Park, and wolf research in central Idaho. Those were followed by 30 years with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game – enforcing laws and managing habitat and wildlife. Nadeau was the Fish and Game’s first large carnivore manager overseeing the state’s wolf, grizzly, black bear, and cougar populations.  He focused 20 of those years working on grizzly bear recovery in the Bitterroot Mountains of Central Idaho. Steve was awarded “employee of the year” at Idaho Fish and Game for his work with grizzly bears and wolves and was also awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee for his work on the Bitterroot Ecosystem grizzly bear recovery effort.  The book “Journey of the Bitterroot Grizzly Bear” was nominated for book of the year at the national Wildlife Society book awards.  Steve retired from IDFG in 2017 but remains active in the Bitterroot grizzly bear recovery effort.  He lives with his wife, Kara, their horses, and several pets in Boise, Idaho.

A quote from Steve: “My career revolved around large carnivores and all the conflict, politics, and passion they are burdened with while simply trying to make a living on a landscape dominated by humans. Grizzly bears, in particular, come with baggage. People tend to emphasize their fearsome reputation when thinking about them. Their size, strength, and unapologetic attitude reminds us that we may not be on top of the food chain when in grizzly bear country; and that single trait, unfortunately, has dominated human history with the great bear.”

My audience targeted for this book is not only the scientist and student, but those who are fascinated with bears but may not truly understand them. We as humans have the tendency to draw conclusions based on emotion more often than facts, and then seek out facts to support our conclusions. I created the story of BB, the Bitterroot Bear, to demystify grizzly bears to the reader as BB learns how to survive as he encounters the obstacles threatening him and all grizzly bears. People fear grizzly bears because people don’t truly understand them. The story of BB is biologically factual, that is, all events that occur to him on his journey are documented events that have impacted young grizzly bears. But his journey is a creation based on what one would likely encounter migrating from the Canadian border to where he was discovered in northcentral Idaho, some 200 miles distant. This story places the reader in the bear’s tracks as he encounters life in Idaho. The science, policy, and procedures of endangered species recovery can be at times overwhelming, but the life of a grizzly bear is intrinsically interesting. Combining the two in allegory form, may just lead to a better understanding of the gauntlet placed before not only bears, but biologists and agencies attempting to jump start a new population of grizzly bears.

The story of the Bitterroot grizzly bear recovery effort is not over. It is only beginning. A few grizzly bears are finding their own way through the gauntlet to central Idaho and attempting to form a new population in the “wildest heart” of America’s west. Despite the rising potential for natural recovery, the state of Idaho is attempting to prevent recovery of grizzly bears in central Idaho by litigating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove bears from federal protection, even where they are just beginning to recover. Join us as we continue to work toward understanding grizzly bears and the reasons why they need to be protected.

Book cover and banner/header photo by Ian McAllister