Here’s an interesting article just put up on the web. I quote a couple of paragraphs to give its flavor. It describes a technique that’ll be very much used if BF’s existence is confirmed and official science has to start figuring out how many BF there are, whether they migrate, how much they’re “threatened,” why they’re so elusive, etc.

The Electronic Grizzly: Can new 4-D mapping techniques keep these majestic creatures alive?

http://www.discover.com/sep_03/featgrizzly.html

“The idea behind GIS is simple: It combines a database with a mapping program to build up digital maps layer by layer. A map of Yellowstone, for instance, might start with state lines, park borders, and other municipal boundaries. Snap on an elevation layer—contour lines—and the landscape jumps into relief. Add trails, roads, and forests and a more complex map begins to emerge. The ability to create such maps on demand is already an enormous boon to biologists, but it's just a start.
“To estimate how many bears an area can support, for instance, biologists can use GIS to map all the animals' potential food sources—from pine nuts to cutthroat trout—and their availability at different times of year. They can layer on the angle of the sun in autumn, where the bears hole up in the winter, where the sedges grow, and how deep the snow cover lies. What was a two-dimensional map now becomes a three-dimensional world, or even a four-dimensional one, in maps that show how the landscape changes over time.”

nick46

Previouisly, I wanted to do this type of study for my Anthropology major required senior thesis, but resulted in much opposition from Professors/academic Department and I had to cancel proposal.