Montana

Child hospitalized after bear attacked her tent in Montana

Published

2 years ago

August 13, 2024

Child hospitalized after bear attacked her tent in Montana

A black bear attacked a child inside a tent in Montana on Aug. 11, according to state wildlife officials.

In a statement released on Aug. 13, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said the attack happened at a private campground south of Red Lodge, a city about an hour southwest of Billings.

Wildlife officials said they found “unsecured attractants, including garbage, a cooler, and human food, around and inside the tent where the attack occurred.”

NBC Montana reported the child was a 3-year-old girl, though Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks declined to confirm the victim’s age and gender to TODAY.com on Aug. 13.

The child was taken to a nearby hospital, officials said.

Game wardens and bear specialists from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks set a trap at the campsite on Sunday evening and worked with the campground owner to evacuate the campground by the morning of Aug. 12, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. After the campground was fully evacuated, they set up more traps and snares.

“The bear was captured on the afternoon of Aug. 12, and was shot and killed,” according to the statement from wildlife officials. “The black bear involved in the incident had no history of conflicts. However, the bear had likely become food-conditioned and human-habituated after accessing unsecured attractants in the area.”

“Evidence at the site matched the physical characteristics of the bear and FWP believes the bear killed was the bear involved in the attack.”

Why wild bears frequent human campgrounds

When a wild bear discovers it can eat out of a garbage can or cooler at a campsite, wildlife officials call that becoming habitualized. The bears often stop searching for acorns and other mast (the fruits and nuts of trees and shrubs) and instead go for the easier targets like campground garbage bins and open dumpsters.

A 2019 GPS tracker study of black bears in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee found that nearly all black bears left the safe confines of the park to go into nearby cities.

“The food-conditioned bears had the smallest home-ranges. Because they locked in on trash and other human sources of food, they didn’t have to travel as far,” study author Jessica Braunstein told Knoxville, Tennessee NBC affiliate WBIR.

Staying ‘bear aware’ in bear country

When venturing out into bear country, people should do their best to avoid encountering them, officials said in a release.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks offers the following suggestions:

Keep food and anything with a scent out of tents.
Dispose of garbage in bear resistant bins; otherwise, take it with you and dispose of it properly elsewhere. Do not bury or burn garbage.
Follow local land management agency food storage orders and properly store unattended food and anything else with a scent.

Some food storage options include bear boxes (large metal storage boxes often available at campgrounds) or hard-sided vehicles like a car or RV, though officials say not to leave food in your car for extended periods of time (like a backcountry trip for several days). Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks also suggests investing in a personal IGBC-certified bear resistant container or getting temporary electric fencing.

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

8 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

20 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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Montana

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.

The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.

MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.

MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74

MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.

Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.

Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.

But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.

As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.

Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana Western 65, Carroll 56

After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.

Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.

Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.

Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.

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