Tag Archives: Montana FWP

Human-bear conflicts kept local grizzly specialists busy this year

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Grizzly bear near Trail Creek in North Fork Flathead region, Montana. April 11, 2017 - by Diane Boyd
Grizzly bear near Trail Creek in North Fork Flathead region, Montana. April 11, 2017 – by Diane Boyd

Local grizzly specialist Justine Vallieres is featured in this excellent article on human-bear conflict management efforts this year. A couple of North Forkers and the Bear Smart program get a mention, too .  .  .

Even though grizzly specialist Justine Vallieres responded to fewer human-bear conflict calls in northwest Montana this year compared to last, she filled what little downtime that afforded her by ramping up her education and outreach curriculum.

“We’re pushing preventative measures and trying to set as few traps as possible,” Vallieres, a wildlife conflict management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), told members of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC), who gathered for their annual winter meeting on Dec. 3 and 4 in Choteau. “I can set trap after trap after trap, but if the unsecured attractants are still there, the problem will keep recurring.”

For Vallieres, pushing preventative measues meant installing more electric fences, observing that residents seem more willing to entertain the idea of non-lethal conflict prevention as a means to secure their livestock and grain. She also delivered 18 talks and attended six educational events, all the while keeping up with a steady stream of conflict calls related to grizzly and black bears.

Continue reading . . .

Montana unveils its plan for managing grizzly bears

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Grizzly Bear - Montana FWP
Grizzly Bear – Montana FWP

Good overview of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park’s proposed grizzly bear management plan . . .

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has finalized its plan for managing grizzly bears, described by the agency as among Montana’s most “conservation-reliant” and “conflict-prone” species.

Late last month, FWP Director Dustin Temple formally adopted a 326-page outline for how the state will address conflicts between bears and people, approach an eventual trophy hunt and respond to the state’s growing — and dispersing — grizzly population.

The Statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan represents the agency’s attempt to thread a narrow needle. With this plan, FWP is striving to reassure federal wildlife managers that it will be a responsible steward of a species that was hunted nearly to extinction in the not-too-distant past while also demonstrating its responsiveness to the concerns of Montanans living with grizzlies — some more willingly than others.

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Montana FWP soliciting public comments on wolf management plan EIS

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Gray Wolf - Adam Messer-Montana FWP
Gray Wolf – Adam Messer-Montana FWP

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is soliciting public comment on revisions to their wolf plan environmental impact statement (EIS) . . .

FWP is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) and conducting public scoping on a proposed action to revise the existing Montana Gray Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, which was developed in 2003.

The 2003 Wolf Plan and associated EIS were developed 20 years ago. Since then, new and improved research, management tools and methods have been developed and incorporated into Montana’s gray wolf management strategy; however, they are not described in the 2003 Wolf Plan. Gov. Greg Gianforte asked FWP to update the 2003 Wolf Plan with broad public engagement due to the interest in wolf management across the state . . .

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NFPA submits comments to Montana FWP concerning their proposed statewide grizzly bear management plan

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Grizzly bear in early fall - Montana FWP
Grizzly bear in early fall – Montana FWP

On January 29, NFPA submitted a set of detailed, science-based comments to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks concerning their proposed statewide grizzly bear management plan. There’s a lot of work and research distilled into these six pages, folks! Read ’em here…

Letter to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks commenting on the Montana Statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan 2022, dated January 29, 2023. (PDF format)

Justine Vallieres is new Region 1 Wildlife Conflict Specialist for Montana FWP

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Justine Valieres
Justine Valieres, Wildlife Conflict Specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Region 1)

Recently announced  on Facebook by Tim Manley . . .

Congratulations to Justine Vallieres! She is the new Wildlife Conflict Specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Region 1) based out of Kalispell.

I retired at the end of 2021. Justine was one of several qualified individuals that applied for the job and was selected by the interview committee. I know Justine will do a great job!

Dead grizzly reported in North Fork

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Sounds like someone killed a grizzly bear somewhere up the Moran Creek drainage off Hay creek Road . . .

Montana Game Wardens and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agents are seeking information on a grizzly bear that was shot and killed recently.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks received an initial report from a hunter on Nov. 12 that the dead bear was in the Hay/Moran Creek area in the North Fork of the Flathead Drainage.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for killing this grizzly bear. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the USFWS at 406-761-2286; or 1-800-TIPMONT. Callers may remain anonymous.

Read more . . .

Montana FWP: Feds getting ready to delist grizzlies

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More press about removing grizzlies from the endangered species list in the Northern Rockies . . .

The head of Montana’s wildlife agency said Thursday federal officials will seek to lift federal protections from some threatened grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies in the next two years.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks director Jeff Hagener told lawmakers he expects the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to propose rules that could remove two populations of grizzlies from the Endangered Species list.

One rule could lift protections for bears in and around Yellowstone Park in 2015, Hagener said. The other rule ending protections would be for grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide region by 2016, he said.

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New FWP rules allow landowners to kill wolves

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Landowners can now kill wolves without a license under certain circumstances . . .

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted new administrative rules for killing wolves that pose a threat to landowners’ safety on Thursday.

The rule change stemmed from a bill the Legislature passed in the 2013 session allowing landowners to kill wolves without first getting a license if they threaten human safety, livestock or dogs. But it also gave the agency a chance to clear up some confusing parts of the state administrative law book, according to FWP wildlife management section chief Quentin Kujala.

“It’s not the easiest thing to read,” Kujala said. “We took more than 1,300 public comments on this.”

The new rules also change the definition of a breeding pair of wolves – a crucial part of the federal oversight of sustainable wolf populations…

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Crunch time begins for deer and elk

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Montana FWP talks about this critical time of the year for deer and elk populations . . .

Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering crunch time.

That time of the year when spring and winter play a tug of war, and depending on how it goes, deer and elk could be the losers.

Members of the deer family that go into winter in good shape have the energy reserves and body fat to survive those December and February subzero spells. But a long winter that continues through March and April will start to tip over the smallest and weakest.

And if we humans are not careful, we’ll cause some of the bigger animals to tip over.

Already some of our large game species could use a break. January was nice, with a handful of 50 degree days. But February plunged us back into winter, which after all is the season we’re in.

Now the real test for wildlife begins.

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States seeking to halt mule deer population decline

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State agencies are trying to figure out what’s going on with mule deer populations over recent decades . . .

Wildlife management agencies, hunters and wildlife organizations have done a lot of research, habitat work and plain old head scratching in recent years over what is causing a decline in the number of mule deer across parts of the West.

A recent report by Western wildlife agencies found mule deer declining in four states, including Wyoming, and one Canadian province. Montana’s population was reported as stable, although certain regional populations have seen some dramatic declines.

“Certainly numbers are still down,” said Quentin Kujala, Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife management section chief, but whether that constitutes a downward trend or simply a temporary pause he could not say.

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