Abstract 287 - Challenges Associated with Bear Viewing Opportunities on Public Land in Montana

Blakely Adkins, Greater Yellowstone Coalition ProfessionalSalon 8/9

Blakely Adkins

I spent 11 seasons guiding for a bear viewing company on the Central Coast of British Columbia
in a very remote location. More recently, I have been working in SW Montana and spend time
working with community members in the Tom Miner Basin outside of Yellowstone National
Park. The public frequents this community to view bears from the side of the county road every
fall as they forage on caraway. There is a lot of differences between bear viewing on the BC
coast, bear viewing in Yellowstone National Park, and bear viewing along side a community of
ranchers off a public road. My presentation would be focused on these differences with a
highlight on challenges the Tom Miner Basin community is faced with.
Caraway is an introduced species to the Tom Miner Basin of Montana. It is a desirable food
source for grizzlies in the fall and late summer, and over the years bears have learned to come
here to fatten up before hibernation. Some days you can watch 20 or more bears at a time
digging up caraway on the same properties. The back of the basin has four working ranches
where caraway is most abundant in the area. Recently, it is not uncommon to see close to 100
people watching bears in the evenings without any enforcement. People are going as far as to
set up grills for hamburger dinners on their tailgates as they wait for bears to come into view.
This behavior is a risk to attracting bears as well as a fire risk.
Bear behavior is also changing over time. Ranchers have noticed that some bears have become
more habituated to humans and are less likely to leave the area when they are fixing fence and
calling out “hey bear” as they were in the past which makes them worried. The community of
Tom Miner is working with agency and NGO partners to find solutions to these challenges and
more.

Thu 17:00 - 21:00
Human-Bear Conflict & Coexistence, Poster Presentation
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