This is a video of one of the clashes that I am talking about. The Grizzley bear population in 1975 ( in the lower 48 states) was just 700-800 (this excludes Alaska, where the current figure is 30,000) . The lower 48 states population has grown to around 1000 or an almost 50% increase.
There is a problem with this. Both in and out of Alaska (as well as Canada) these bears need space, and so are colonizing land that they previously roamed. Unfortunately, people rapidly forget how to live with animals like grizzly bears, so it is taking some significant work to live alongside these large animals once again.
The problem is, that when those encounters spike, generally authorities panic, and this generally leads to them looking to allow hunting once again. THIS IS DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE POPULATION IS NO-WHERE NEAR RECOVERED AT THE CURRENT TIME.
Still states in areas where these bears are found are calling for the right to manage the bears as they see fit. Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are all pushing for an end of federal controls, so that they can choose how to control the population. When Donald Trump delisted the wolf, the result was a rapid drop in the population and local extinctions in various areas – we do not want the same thing to happen to the grizzly bear once again.
It is true, that bears need to fear humans, but most hunting does not make bears afraid, as they are too successful – there is no time to learn from experiences, if you are dead. A growing population of bears, will take changes to behaviour, if they are to be lived with.
However, this can work – in 1975, the European bear population was estimated at 400-600, but this has recovered to a healthy 17,000 (though it should be noted that 2/3 of this population is restricted to Romania, Sweden and Finland, so the recovery has been very patchy).
Black bears are less aggressive and far easier to live with, but due to their hunting skills, grizzly bears, along with wolves, have impacts on the ecosystem, which are needed, and the USA will benefit from. It is true that the Grizzly bear has been saved from extinction, but now, people in the USA must learn to live alongside it, so that both can thrive.