NEWS RELEASE

June 9, 2023

For Immediate Release

Contacts: Shannon Therriault, Environmental Health Director, 406-258-4988

James Jonkel, Bear Conflict Specialist, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks,
406-542-5500
Chris Servheen, IUCN Bear Specialist Group Co-Chair, 406-240-6506

Missoula Health Officials ask Health Board to Approve New Regulations

to Reduce Bears’ Access to Garbage

The Missoula City-County Health Department has proposed new regulations that would expand
the Bear Buffer Zone in the Missoula Valley and require garbage be stored in bear-resistant
containers or enclosures throughout it.

The current Bear Buffer Zone was established in 2010 and is currently limited properties within
city limits. The expanded zone would encompass the upper Rattlesnake, Bonner, Pattee
Canyon, Miller Creek, Big Flat, O’Keefe Creek, Butler Creek and Grant Creek.

“The current Bear Buffer Zone is not large enough to keep bears from getting into garbage and
causing public safety issues,” said Shannon Therriault, director of the Environmental Health
Division of the Missoula City-County Health Department. “It really needs to extend beyond the
city limits to the urban wildland interface.”

Therriault is part of a working group that came together to address increasing bear-human
interactions in the Missoula area. The group, which consists of bear experts, agency
representatives and concerned citizens, first put together the Missoula Bear Hazard
Assessment, followed by a Human-Bear Conflict Management plan in 2022. The management
plan notes that from 2018 to 2021, 49% of the recorded bear-human interactions centered
around bears and garbage.

The proposed rules address this problem by requiring bear-resistant containers in the Bear
Buffer Zone. This requirement would be phased in to give garbage collection services time to
acquire enough bear-resistant containers while prioritizing areas with the most known bear
conflicts.

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In 2022, the Missoula City Council and the Missoula Board of County Commissioners adopted a
joint resolution committing Missoula to address the root causes of human-bear conflicts, in part
through local rules. The goals are to reduce the risks to human safety and private property, as
well as the number of bears that have to be killed or relocated.

The issue of bears in Missoula is becoming more critical. Last year, Missoula Fish, Wildlife and
Parks responded to approximately 1,000 black bear incidents in the Missoula Valley, according
to Jamie Jonkel, bear conflict specialist for FWP Region 2.

“The majority of the calls involved bears accessing unsecured garbage,” Jonkel said. “It’s not
that the valley has too many bears, but that residents in Missoula and the surrounding rural
areas are leaving several hundred tons of food-related garbage adjacent to their homes,
churches, daycares and schools.”

In addition to increased interactions with black bears in 2022, grizzly bears are now part of the
picture. Grizzly bears tore up structures in the North Hills searching for food and were sighted in
the Bonner and Lolo areas in 2022.

“As Missoula and the surrounding area grows, so do the number of human-bear conflicts,” said
grizzly bear expert Chris Servheen. “Grizzly bears are all around Missoula now, so we need to
do our best to secure attractants like household garbage.”

Bears that become accustomed to foraging in garbage cans cause a number of problems. They
scatter trash, damage property in the search for food and cause public safety concerns. If the
bear is removed (relocated or killed), another bear is likely to take its place if unsecured
garbage is still available. Jonkel noted that “the current reactive approach to human-bear
conflicts in Missoula is ineffective and is a deadly cycle for bears.”

The proposed rules, proposed Bear Buffer Zone maps, and other materials are available on
Missoula County Voice, https://missoulacountyvoice.com/bear-smart-missoula. The Health
Board will take public comments on the proposed changes at their meeting on Thursday, June
15. The public hearing will start at 12:30 p.m. in Room 210 at the Missoula City-County Health
Department at 301 W. Alder St. in Missoula. The public can attend in person or join through
Microsoft Teams. The meeting link is available on Missoula County Voice. Written comments
may be registered on Missoula County Voice by Wednesday, June 14.

If approved by the Health Board, the Board of County Commissioners and City Council would
need to adopt the proposed rules before they go into effect.

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