grizzly bears

U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt canceled a planned visit to Montana this week. Bernhardt had planned to meet with Montana ranchers and farmers about grizzly bear conflicts along the Rocky Mountain Front as part of his visit.

The controversy over the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail’s (PNT) route through grizzly bear habitat in the Yaak Valley is headed to court. The Yaak Valley Forest Council filed the lawsuit Friday claiming that the U.S. Forest Service failed to evaluate the impacts of the trail on grizzly populations.

The roughly 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest Trail, not to be confused with the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, would wind from Glacier National Park to the coast of Washington State.

A Montana bear safety organization has just released a new guide explaining how to properly deploy and use bear spray. The group says the new guide is the result of their "deep concern" that the general public is getting a lot of misinformation about bear spray. Not everyone agrees with that assessment.

The relocation of two grizzly bears in northwest Montana last week has the area on alert for increased bear activity heading into the fall.

A Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks release says the agency captured a two-year-old male just east of Kalispell last Tuesday, and a two- to three-year-old female southwest of Whitefish Wednesday.

The U.S. Interior Department announced changes Monday to how federal agencies will apply the Endangered Species Act (ESA). There is concern that the changes could affect Yellowstone grizzly bears' threatened status in the future.

The bears' status under the Endangered Species Act has been tied up in court for years.

A multi-year court battle over the Glacier Loon timber sale in the Swan Valley will continue. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is now asking the lower court to decide whether the project needs to be reassessed under different regulations protecting grizzly bears. 

Two backpackers reported shooting an adult female grizzly bear in self-defense in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness south of Troy on Friday. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are currently investigating the incident.