I read about this a few years back and did some research on the last California Grizzly today. There are some efforts to reintroduce them to California, including Sequoia and Mineral King. Just wanted to know what people's thoughts are on this.
California used to have over 10,000 Grizzly Bears. They were wiped out by hunters, trappers, ranchers, etc. The gold rush was a really bad time for them as the people looking for gold always carried several weapons in case of a Grizzly. They were put into rodeo like settings with Bulls and Lions and were subjected to torture events much like Bull fighting, where several men on horses would rope and spear them from all different sides. The Indians were frightened of them and wouldn't eat them because they thought they were inhabitied by evil spirits. One of the worst curses and Indian could give another was "I hope you get eaten by a Grizzly Bear".
California has a very bad history with the Grizzly Bear, especially in light of the fact that it is on California's state flag. Just not sure if this would be successful.
California Grizzly Bear Reintroduction Team
"Turtles, Frogs & other Environmental Sculpture"