Montana

Grizzly-human encounters picking up in Northwest Montana

Published

5 months ago

July 18, 2025

Grizzly-human encounters picking up in Northwest Montana

A mountain biker out for a ride after work last week used bear spray to repel what he believed was a grizzly bear approaching him on the Starry Goat Trail on Kootenai National Forestland outside of Troy.

The man, who was not identified, spoke to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and a video of the interview was shared on the agency’s YouTube channel.

The encounter occurred last Thursday on the trail which is located off of Callahan Creek Road.

“I saw what I thought was an awfully weird root ball that was blown over, so I looked up at it and when I made a noise, the bear had recognized that I was there and had turned around and decided to come toward me,” he said. “At that point, I had to quickly stop, get off the bike, unclip and pull the bear spray out.”

He said the bear closed the distance really quick and that’s when he thought the bruin was a grizzly bear because of the hump in the shoulders, the facial features and the feet.

“I thought, ‘yelling at this thing is not going to work and what am I in for,’ so I let the bear get pretty close and sprayed it at about 10 feet,” he said. “The bear started to reroute and leave and he basically ran past me in this direction up the hill and sat with his back toward me and started pawing at his face.”

FWP said the Starry Goat Trail remains open but users are urged to remain cautious of possible bear activity.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff set up cameras on the trail to try and identify the bear but did not see any activity and recently pulled the cameras.

Flathead Valley landowner shoots, kills grizzly

A grizzly bear charged a man near his residence along Foothill Road east of Kalispell on the night of July 10.

The landowner heard a disturbance outside and discovered the bear getting into a chicken coop. The bear approached him, and he shot and killed it. Fortunately, the man was uninjured in the encounter. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is investigating the incident.

Officials used the occurrences to remind people of how to be bear aware.

Montana is bear country. Avoiding conflicts with bears is easier than dealing with conflicts. Here are some precautions to help recreationists avoid negative bear encounters: 

– Carry bear spray in an accessible place and know how to use it.

– Stay alert and look for bear activity, especially where visibility or hearing is limited (woods, bushy areas, streams).

– Anyone traveling quickly (mountain biker, trail runner) can be at high risk of surprising a bear.

– Slow down and look ahead, especially in areas of dense vegetation, berry patches, and around blind corners.

– Ride or run in daylight and in groups.

– Make noise! Let bears hear you, especially where visibility is limited.

For more information and resources on bear safety, visit fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/bear. 

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Montana

Live Updates: Montana State leads SFA 7-0 in the first quarter

Published

11 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Live Updates: Montana State leads SFA 7-0 in the first quarter

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Montana

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

Published

23 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

A band of moderate snow has formed from the Cut Bank area, extending southeast across Chouteau, Fergus, and Judith Basin Counties. Be alert for low visibility and slick road conditions. Icy conditions continue in Lewis & Clark and Broadwater counties, where snow fell on top of ice after some freezing rain overnight. Up to a 1/4″ of ice has been reported on cars and sidewalks. Freezing rain may mix in again this morning as milder air begins to move back in.

Today’s Forecast:

Frigid Friday, several inches of snowfall in parts of the area-Friday, December 12

It will be a frigid today, with high temperatures in the 0s and lower 10s across central and eastern Montana, and mid to upper 30s in Helena.

The snow band will continue throughout the day, bringing several inches of snow to areas east of I-15. The band of snow will gradually push east tonight, impacting Blaine, Phillips, and Valley counties overnight. Snow showers taper off by Saturday morning.

MTN News

Expect difficult driving conditions through Saturday morning, especially east of I-15 and into the mountains.

Arctic air slowly retreats north on Saturday. Temperatures start off in the -10s to near 0 on the Hi-Line and in the 0s for central Montana, then climb to the 0s and 10s for the Hi-Line and 10s to 20s in central Montana by Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, it will be a pleasant weekend in Helena with temperatures in the low 40s. A gusty breeze develops on Sunday, as temperatures warm nicely into the low to mid 40s in central Montana and into the 30s in northeast Montana.

Looking ahead to next week, mild and windy conditions kick off the workweek, followed by active weather returning midweek.

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Montana

Atmospheric river drives flooding in northwest Montana

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Atmospheric river drives flooding in northwest Montana

Warm temperatures and an “atmospheric river” of precipitation that flowed into northwestern Montana this week have generated a state of emergency in Montana’s northwesternmost county, Lincoln, as local waterways run unseasonably high.

Around 12 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service started issuing flooding watches as area snowpack sites reported 24-hour precipitation totals that were approaching record levels. NWS meteorologist Dan Borsum told Montana Free Press Thursday that the “rain-on-snow” nature of the recent precipitation has led to widespread flooding.

Borsum called the weather pattern “unusual” for mid-December, instead likening it to a warm April.

Zach Sherbo, the public health manager for the Lincoln County Health Department, said in a Thursday afternoon phone call that additional precipitation is expected through Thursday evening, so rivers could continue rising into Friday.

The Lincoln County communities of Libby and Troy have been hit the hardest by the deluge, which prompted emergency services personnel to issue a state of emergency Thursday afternoon. Residents are cautioned against unnecessary travel and those served by the Libby city water supply are under a boil-water order as a precaution in the event of water supply contamination. School has also been canceled for students in Libby and Troy, Sherbo said.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department has identified a handful of bridges that have been compromised or are washed out as a result of flooding. It suggests residents looking for information on road closures and bridge conditions review an interactive map that is available online and linked in a press release posted to the Lincoln County Health Department’s Facebook page.

“It’s going to take a long time to recoup from this, just structurally, just with the bridges we’ve lost already and the condition that they’re in and going toward,” Sherbo said. “It’s a pretty big combined local effort right now.”

Justun Juelfs, the Kalispell-area maintenance chief with the Montana Department of Transportation said three stretches of state-managed roadways were closed or under monitoring status as of 4 p.m. Thursday.

An approximately 80-foot section of the Farm to Market Road south of Libby has washed out as Libby Creek carved a new channel. MDT is also monitoring erosion that is occurring along a U.S. Highway 2 bridge southeast of Libby and along a section of Highway 56 near Bull Lake. Juelfs encouraged motorists to review MDT’s road conditions report for up-to-date information on impacts to state highways.

The Army Corps of Engineers is assisting with sandbag-filling and distributing efforts and the Red Cross has set up a shelter for those in need at the Assembly of God Church in Libby, according to Sherbo.

The Montana Disaster and Emergency Services agency is also lending a hand with the flood response. In an email to MTFP, Anette Ordahl with DES wrote that a district field officer and a recovery coordinator are on the ground in Libby to offer assistance.

In a Thursday afternoon press release, Gov. Greg Gianforte noted that Sanders and Flathead counties have also recognized the flooding by issuing emergency or disaster declarations. Up to four inches of additional rainfall are expected across western and south-central Montana, according to a disaster declaration Gianforte’s office included in a 3 p.m. press release.

The National Weather Service reported Thursday morning that the Bear Mountain snowpack monitoring site, located just across the border in Idaho, received 6.5 inches of precipitation as of this morning, making it the third-wettest 24-hour period for the site in its 44-year monitoring history. The six-day precipitation total for Dec. 6-11 is 13 inches.

Borsum, with the National Weather Service, said the recent, unseasonable warm spell in western Montana combined with the “super strong” atmospheric river to melt early season snowpack and drive flooding. A similar rain-on-snow event in early June of 2022 led to widespread flooding in parts of south-central Montana that required extensive repairs to roadways and bridges.

Thursday, the Yaak River near Troy surpassed its official flood stage, running at more than 7,500 cubic feet per second. Its usual volume for this time of the year is about 200 cfs.

The Fisher River near Libby was also nearing flood stage. As of Thursday afternoon, it was running at nearly 4,000 cfs, more than 20 times its usual volume for mid-December.

Zeke Lloyd and Jacob Olness contributed to this reporting.

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