Grizzly Bear Conflicts Hit 59 Cases in Montana as State Launches New Tracking System

HELENA — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has launched a new online dashboard to track grizzly bear conflicts across the state as bear populations continue to expand into areas they haven’t occupied in more than a century.

The Grizzly Bear Conflict Dashboard provides real-time information on where FWP staff are responding to bear incidents and the types of problems people are experiencing. The dashboard tracks incidents where bears damage property, threaten livestock, raid garbage or bird feeders, or pose safety concerns to people, documenting both the location and nature of each response by FWP staff.

The dashboard has recorded 59 conflicts statewide since it launched in mid-June, including incidents dating back to April. The most common incidents involved bears killing livestock (21 cases), followed by encounters with unnatural food sources like garbage or bird feeders (17 cases) and direct human interactions (16 cases). Other incidents included agricultural damage (5 cases), property damage (7 cases), and livestock injuries (2 cases).

The Seeley Lake area has recorded four separate unnatural food conflicts since late May, while the Swan Peak region has seen multiple incidents ranging from property damage to human interactions. Some incidents involved multiple bears, including one property damage case in the Swan Peak area involving five bears. The resource is part of FWP’s broader effort to help people and communities stay safe and avoid conflicts as grizzly bears expand in both number and distribution.

“Managing grizzly bear conflicts continues to be a priority for our staff and the workload is increasing every year,” said FWP Director Christy Clark. “This dashboard will help inform the public about just what kinds of conflicts Montanans are dealing with and where they’re happening.”

FWP staff will enter conflict information from prior to the dashboard’s launch as time allows and committed to providing updated information within seven days after final action is taken to resolve each incident

The dashboard represents only those conflicts FWP staff have responded to, and some incidents may not appear on the map due to requests from private landowners involved. The data are displayed using quarter-quarter latitude and longitude blocks to protect specific location details while still providing useful geographic information.

Grizzly bear populations have expanded along both sides of the Continental Divide and in the Greater Yellowstone area. With this expansion comes increased focus by FWP to help people and communities stay safe through conflict response, prevention tools for landowners, and public education on safety measures.

The conflict dashboard joins FWP’s existing Grizzly Bear Mortality dashboard, which was released last year to meet high public interest in grizzly bear management. FWP is also working on a relocation dashboard that will show grizzly and black bear relocation information, set for release later this summer. Until then, relocation information remains available on the FWP website.

Grizzly bears remain federally protected in the Lower 48 under the Endangered Species Act, despite populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem growing well past recovery goals. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to delist grizzly bears and return management to state authorities.

In June, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum committed to support delisting efforts and acknowledged that grizzly populations have exceeded recovery targets “by more than double.”

For landowners and communities dealing with grizzly bear conflicts, FWP provides contact information for bear management specialists through its website. The agency also maintains web-based resources for communities, landowners and recreationists.