Year of Award
2025
Document Type
Professional Paper
Degree Type
Master of Science (MS)
Degree Name
Geography (Community and Environmental Planning Option)
Department or School/College
W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation
Committee Chair
Sarah J. Halvorson
Commitee Members
Anna Klene, Sarah Sells
Keywords
Western Montana, Human-bear conflicts, Bear Smart Communities, community-based conflict prevention strategies
Subject Categories
Animal Studies | Nature and Society Relations
Abstract
Human-bear conflicts (conflicts) are rising across North America, largely due to the expansion of the wildland-urban interface into bear habitat. These conflicts are driven by ecological and human factors, including habitat fragmentation, loss of natural food sources and the widespread availability of human-related attractants such as garbage, fruit trees, and bird feeders. While studies increasingly examine the ecological and spatial predictors of conflicts, fewer have explored how attractant types, land cover changes, and local geography shape conflict trends. Montana communities have long managed bear conflicts, but recent increases in incidents and human-caused bear mortalities—alongside expanding grizzly bear populations—have prompted growing interest in Bear Smart Community initiatives modeled after the 2002 framework developed in British Columbia.
This professional paper examines two dimensions of human-bear conflict in western Montana. First, it investigates the spatial and temporal distribution of human-black bear conflicts in Missoula and Ravalli Counties using data from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 2 (2017– 2022). While land cover change and housing growth were not significant during this period, conflicts consistently clustered near roads, streams, and forest edges—particularly in Ravalli County. These findings support establishing “bear buffer zones” along riparian corridors to help reduce conflict risk in developing wildland-urban interface areas.
Secondly, the paper reviews community-level strategies used to prevent conflicts across western Montana from 2002 to 2024, summarizing efforts at watershed, county, and town scales. Despite varied approaches, one common challenge persists. This challenge has to do with unsecured garbage, which remains the leading attractant and is often the hardest to manage, especially in communities lacking enforcement capacity. This issue mirrors findings from communities in British Columbia that have adopted the Bear Smart Community framework. The research highlights that long-term success of Bear Smart Community initiatives depend not only on infrastructure and policy, but also on understanding community values, social norms, and barriers to behavior change. Community buy-in and social acceptance are critical to shifting norms around attractant management.
This work informs future land use and wildlife management planning, emphasizing the need to integrate conflict mitigation with community-focused strategies to support coexistence in Montana’s expanding wildland-urban interface—particularly as grizzly bear populations expand beyond core recovery zones.
Recommended Citation
Reyes, Jessica Nichole, "HUMAN-BEAR CONFLICTS IN WESTERN MONTANA: MAPPING ATTRACTANTS AND PREVENTION EFFORTS" (2025). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12567.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12567
© Copyright 2025 Jessica Nichole Reyes