Bear Smart Missoula
Help Missoula County and the City of Missoula become a Bear Smart community. Let us know your thoughts about a proposed change in the health code to require bear-resistant containers in an expanded bear buffer zone.
The Missoula City-County Health Board is proposing 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 limited to city properties. The expanded zone would encompass the upper Rattlesnake, Bonner, Pattee Canyon, Miller Creek, Big Flat, O'Keefe Creek, Butler Creek, Grant Creek and the Potomac area.
According to the bear hazard management plan, from 2018 to 2021, 49% of the recorded bear-human interactions centered around bears and garbage. The proposed rules would address this problem by requiring bear-resistant containers in the bear buffer zone. The requirement, if adopted, would roll out in three phases, with the first phase including the Rattlesnake and Grant Creek, the second phase including the University of Montana and Pattee Canyon and the third phase encompassing the rest of the bear buffer zone. This would give the garbage collection services time to acquire enough bar-resistant containers, while prioritizing those areas with the most bear conflicts.
Let us know your thoughts on this proposal under the "News Feed" article labeled "Proposed Health Code Changes." The Health Board approved this proposal at their meeting on Aug. 17, and recommended that both the Missoula County commissioners and city council adopt the health code changes, as well.
The commissioners opened this hearing at their public meeting on Sept. 14, and they will make a final decision at their public meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28. Residents are welcome to attend in the Sophie Moiese room of the Missoula County Courthouse annex, or virtually via Microsoft Teams. Find the agenda and link to join.
Stay tuned on the City of Missoula's meeting page to see the city's decisions on this item and join their meetings. The Public Safety, Health and Operations Committee met on Sept. 13, and the first hearing at city council will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, in the City Council Chambers as well as via Microsoft Teams, and the final decision will be made at the city council meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, also in the City Council Chambers and via Microsoft Teams.
The increase in human habitation into wildlands and the increase in the Missoula Valley’s population has led to increased human-bear conflicts. The County and City recognize that this creates a public safety hazard and leads to food-habituated bears having to be killed. City and County leaders are collaborating with the Bear Smart Working Group, made up of concerned residents, bear experts and agency representatives. The group has followed the Bear Smart Community program developed in British Columbia, Canada. The goal of this group is to address the root causes of human-bear conflicts, reduce the risks to human safety and private property and reduce the number of bears that must be killed or relocated each year.
Missoula can reduce these human-bear conflicts using a combination of public education, promotion, ordinance enforcement and public and private partnerships to remove bears’ access to garbage, birdfeeders, livestock and pet food, tree fruit and unsecured outdoor freezers. Learn more about how Missoula is working toward being Bear Smart in the hazard assessment, the hazard management plan and the Bear Smart resolution.
The resolution was approved by Missoula County and the City of Missoula to establish a Bear Smart policy to help staff implement best practices to protect residents and bears in the Missoula Valley. The Missoula County commissioners and the Missoula City Council heard this resolution at their joint public meeting on Oct. 3.
You can read over the resolution, the hazard assessment and the hazard management plan and take the quick, five-question survey to let staff know your thoughts on how to become a Bear Smart community. Please note this survey is not for research but for public comment purposes only.
Banner and project tile photo credit: Gwen Florio