Montana
Montana's Grizzly Bear Dilemma: New Tool Revealed For Public Awareness
We hear a lot in the headlines this time of the year about conflicts with people and grizzly bears in Montana.
Multiple incidents of run-ins with bears have been reported, some involving early-season hunters running into bears. Others were hikers who inadvertently started a bear on a foggy mountain on the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park.
Not all of those end in the deaths of a bear in a self-defense situation, or in cases where FWP has to euthanize a bear that’s become accustomed to getting its food from people while packing on calories for the upcoming hibernation.
Now, the state is trying something different, to not only give people a better accounting of the numbers of the grizzlies that are dying but also to educate people on details so they can be more “bear aware”.
READ MORE: Advice on Staying Bear Aware During Hunting Season
This week, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is rolling out a new tool where the public can keep track of grizzly mortality.
The Grizzly Bear Mortality Dashboard is a new, online tool showing information as to what leads to a grizzly death, whether in a self-defense situation or where a “problem bear” had to be destroyed. It covers the entire state, outside of tribal lands. The agency’s idea is to educate people on how to prevent conflicts. The link is on the state’s Grizzly Bear Management page.
How the Montana Grizzly Mortality site will be used
“This dashboard allows us to be transparent with the public on what kinds of mortality we’re seeing and what the causes are,” explained FWP Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala.”It will also help reinforce our consistent message of securing attractants and being bear aware to avoid conflicts.”
The site is also part of the state’s efforts to eventually take over management of the big bears if they are removed from the federal Endangered Species List. A final environmental impact statement explaining those plans was released earlier this month.