Regional Assessment of Remote Forests and Blach Bear Habitat from Forest Resource Surveys

We dcvelopt~l a spatially explicit modeling approaclr, using a county-scaled rem01 e forest (i.e., forested area reserved frown or having no direct human interference) assessment derived from l! 184-90 forest resonrce inventory data arid a 1984 trlack bear (Urszrs americancts) range map for 12 states in the southern United States. We defined minirtiinn suitable and optimal black bear habitat criteria and gc o-referenced remote forest classificatiori with csxisting black bear range. Using a suitable habitat criterion, we classified 97.2% of occupied arid 97% of rmoccupied range (38.9% of the south. U.S. region’s area). I sing optimal habitat criteria, we classified 60.8% of occnpied and 60.1% of uncrccupied range (63.3% of the r :gion’s area), interpreted occupied ram+* withoiit optimal habitat wt su ioptimal areas (9.9% of the regior ‘s area), ant1 unoccupied range with optimal Irabitat as areas with repopulation potential (26.8% of the r-g ,gion’s area). There was a lack of high-density (~34%) optimal habitat linkages among existing black bear populations, which we construed as a limitaticrn on interpopulation gene flow. We recommend expansion of fr ture regional land surveys to (1) address Iargc, carnivore mammal habitat and broad home ranges of other species that may conflict with humails or tlonlcbtic animals, (2) include field inventories of woodland and reserved areas, (3) use standard measures to assess remote forests, and (4) organize available data in a geographic information