Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks was awarded nearly $5 million by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The money will expand existing programs aimed at reducing conflicts between grizzly bears and landowners. Programs like electric fencing, carcass removals, bear-resistant containers and the use of range riders — people on horseback who closely follow livestock herds to deter bears.
These programs are all part of collaborative partnership between state and federal agencies, nonprofits and landowner groups to better address growing grizzly populations and their impacts on rural communities.
This funding will be pooled with another federal grant, for a total of $12 million to support cost-sharing for landowners interested in using these non-lethal techniques.
FWP is partnering with the Heart of the Rockies Initiative nonprofit to host community workshops across western Montana this winter and spring to connect landowners with this money.
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Northwest Montana has a below-average huckleberry crop this year. That means bears are now looking for alternative food sources and getting into trouble as a result. -
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced a proposal Tuesday to return the federal management of grizzly bears to state governments. While details of the new rule are unclear, environmental groups are preparing for changes. -
Heavily trafficked roads act just like a giant wall, blocking wildlife from safely moving across. Highways can cause fatal collisions for people and animals, and present conservation challenges as well.That’s a problem when you’re trying to get separate populations of grizzly bears to connect. Now, new research is identifying high-traffic roads that can make it impossible for bears to cross. -
Eight-hundred acres of western Montana habitat is now protected from future development. A new conservation easement helps anchor a safe passage for wildlife to move between valleys. -
There are now more grizzly bears in more places in and around Yellowstone National Park than at any time in over a century. But until this spring, the population lacked genetic diversity. Montana Public Radio’s Nick Mott reports on how fresh bear genes got into Yellowstone, and what it could mean for the bears' endangered species protections.
