Brianna Lipp, Sarah Sells, Alexander Metcalf

As human development continues to expand into bear habitat, encounters and conflicts between people and bears are increasing. Unsecured human-related attractants, such as household garbage, fruit trees, and livestock carcasses, are a major contributor to these conflicts. However, determining which attractants to prioritize for mitigation efforts is complex due to the diversity of attractant types, community-specific contexts, and variation in residents’ motivations and constraints. We developed an attractant prioritization framework that integrates principles from Community-Based Social Marketing with Structured Decision Making to identify mitigation actions with the greatest potential to reduce conflict. We piloted this approach in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana using surveys of local bear conflict mitigation professionals. The framework evaluates attractants based on three main factors: (1) their relative contribution to human-bear conflicts, (2) existing rates of securement, and (3) the feasibility of behavior change among community members. By jointly assessing these factors, the framework offers a systematic and evidence-based approach to setting attractant management priorities. We demonstrate how this tool can support conservationists and communities in allocating limited resources more strategically, reducing human–bear conflicts, and improving long-term bear management efforts.