Montana Public Radio

grizzly bears

Study: Grand Teton Elk Hunt Not A Major Draw For Grizzlies

By • Jan 7, 2020
Elk at a feed ground in Wyoming.
USGS (PD)

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — An annual elk hunt in Grand Teton National Park doesn't draw in and concentrate large numbers of grizzly bears, scientists have concluded.

The November to December hunt probably takes place too late in the year for grizzly bears to seek out animal remains that hunters leave behind, according to researchers with the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.

Wildlife Managers Downplay Concerns Over Grizzly Bear Deaths

By • Dec 18, 2019
Frank Van Manen, team leader at the United States Geological Survey's Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, presents at an annual meeting of bear managers in Missoula, MT, December 17, 2019.
Nick Mott / Montana Public Radio

Bear managers pushed back on recent concerns over grizzly bear deaths during a meeting of state and federal wildlife officials in Missoula Tuesday.

Lawsuit Over Logging Road Closures In Grizzly Habitat Could Impact Timber Projects

By • Dec 11, 2019
Grizzly bear track.
Jim Peaco (PD) / National Park Service

A legal battle over whether temporary logging roads in grizzly bear habitat are effectively being closed may put a damper on logging projects in three national forests. The case may be headed for an appeal.

Feds Ordered To Issue Grizzly Bear Status Report

By • Dec 9, 2019
A grizzly bear mother and cub in Yellowstone Park.
iStock

A federal court in Missoula ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Monday to issue an overdue report assessing how threatened grizzly bears in the Lower 48 are doing. The order stems from a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity in U.S. District Court this summer.

Grizzly Bear Advisory Council Struggles With ‘Herculean’ Challenge In Missoula

By Alex Sakariassen & Montana Free Press • Dec 6, 2019
Grizzly Bear Citizen Advisory Council members Caroline Byrd, left, and Trina Jo Bradley, right, listen as council member Chad Bauer addresses Gov. Steve Bullock at an advisory council meeting in Missoula Dec. 5.
Alex Sakariassen / Montana Free Press

MISSOULA — Chad Bauer, a member of Gov. Steve Bullock’s Grizzly Bear Citizen Advisory Council, expressed a sense of urgency and unease on the second morning of the council’s Dec. 4-5 meeting in Missoula. Bauer and Bullock sat across from each other in a crowded conference room on the University of Montana campus. Bullock had recently announced the end of his presidential campaign, and Bauer, who works as a municipal market manager for Missoula waste hauler Republic Services, was three months into his role on the council. Bullock has given the council the task of delivering recommendations on the future of state grizzly bear management by the end of next summer.

After Year Of Record Grizzly Bear Deaths, Managers Talk Human-Bear Conflict Reduction

By • Dec 4, 2019
A slide showing grizzly bear morality rates shown during Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, Dec. 3, 2019.
Nick Mott / Montana Public Radio

The last two years have been the deadliest on record for grizzlies in and around Glacier National Park. There have been at least 48 grizzly mortalities this year in the area, called the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). As grizzly mortalities mount, bear managers in northwest Montana are trying to tackle the sources of rising deaths.

FWP Crafting New Statewide Grizzly Management Plan

By • Dec 4, 2019
Grizzly bear recovery zones, distributions, and distinct population segments.
Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced Tuesday that it’s crafting a new statewide management plan for grizzly bears.

Selway-Bitterroot Grizzly Returns To Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem

By • Dec 4, 2019
Grizzly bear track.
Jim Peaco (PD) / National Park Service

A young male grizzly that made his way into the national Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness near the Montana-Idaho border this year has made the trek back to the Libby area to den for the winter. The journey showed that grizzly bear movement into the unpopulated Bitterroot ecosystem is possible.

Grizzly Bear Mortalities Reach Record High In NW Montana

By • Nov 27, 2019
Grizzly bear with cubs.
(PD)

A record number of grizzly bears were killed this year in and around Glacier National Park. It’s the second year in a row of record deaths for the threatened species in the area, which is home to more grizzlies than anywhere in the lower 48 states.

But there’s disagreement over whether two years of record bear deaths should raise alarm bells.

FWP Relocates Garbage-Eating Grizzly Captured Near Columbia Falls

By • Nov 22, 2019
Grizzly bear. Stock photo.
(PD)

Montana wildlife officials recently captured a grizzly bear near Columbia Falls and moved it to a remote location in the North Fork of the Flathead River Drainage.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) says the 240-pound subadult male was eating from fruit trees and garbage on private property north of U.S Highway 2.

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