Background on The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Grizzly Compensation Trust

The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Grizzly Compensation Trust is a model of the incentives that might be offered to private landholders for supporting threatened and endangered species. Through this program, Defenders offers payments for verified livestock losses caused by grizzly bears.

In July 1997 Defenders assumed responsibility for the grizzly bear compensation program previously administered by the Great Bear Foundation. Defenders expanded the program to cover the entire Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, including Glacier National Park, adjoining national forest lands, and the Blackfeet and Flathead Indian Reservations.

In response to requests from landowners, livestock organizations and conservation officials, Defenders further increased the scope of the grizzly compensation program to cover the Yellowstone ecosystem in 1999 and the Washington portions of the North Cascades Ecosystem in 2006. (The fund does not include Wyoming, however, because the state administers its own program.)

In 1999, Defenders of Wildlife's Board of Directors voted to formally create the Grizzly Compensation Trust -- a dedicated fund of $100,000 to address future depredations. In the fall of 2000, The Bailey Wildlife Foundation made a generous contribution to Defenders wolf and grizzly bear compensation trusts and they were renamed to acknowledge this significant contribution.

By taking responsibility for the occasional problems that grizzly bears cause, Defenders hopes to increase landowner tolerance for bears, reduce mortality and improve recovery prospects.