Bear Smart Missoula

The buffer zone is currently in effect for Phase 1 — the Grant Creek and Rattlesnake areas — and Phase 2 is underway to add areas south of the Rattlesnake to Pattee Canyon and part of Farviews in on April 30, 2025. Read more information under the "News Feed" below. Missoula County and the City of Missoula adopted the expanded Bear Buffer Zone in the fall of 2023. View frequently asked questions about the expanded Bear Buffer Zone under "FAQs" on the righthand side.

Missoula and Potomac now have new Bear Buffer/Mitigation Zones where all garbage must be kept away from bears. The original Bear Buffer Zone was established in 2010 and was limited to city properties. The expanded zone now encompasses the upper Rattlesnake, Bonner, Pattee Canyon, Miller Creek, Big Flat, O'Keefe Creek, Butler Creek, Grant Creek and the Potomac area. The commissioners and city council voted to adopt these regulations in fall of 2023.

According to the Bear Hazard Management Plan, from 2018 to 2021, 49% of the recorded bear-human interactions centered around bears and garbage. The new rules aim to address this issue by requiring bear-resistant containers in the Bear Buffer Zone. The requirement is being rolled out in three phases:

This phased approach gives garbage haulers time to purchase and distribute the number of bear-resistant containers needed to serve the entire area, while prioritizing locations with the most bear conflicts.

The Health Board approved this proposal at their meeting on Aug. 17, 2023, and recommended that both the Missoula County commissioners and City Council adopt the health code changes as well.

The commissioners opened the hearing at their public meeting on Sept. 14, 2023, and made a final decision at their public meeting on Sept. 28.

The Public Safety, Health and Operations Committee at the City met on Sept. 13, 2023. The first hearing at City Council took place on Oct. 2, and the final decision was made on Oct. 16.

The increase in human habitation into wildlands and the overall population growth in the Missoula Valley has led to more human-bear conflicts. The County and City recognize this as a public safety hazard and a cause of food-habituated bears needing 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 is following the Bear Smart Community program developed in British Columbia, Canada. The goal 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 through a combination of public education, promotion, ordinance enforcement and public-private partnerships to eliminate bear 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 to establish a Bear Smart policy was approved by Missoula County and the City of Missoula to help staff implement best practices that protect residents and bears in the Missoula Valley. The Missoula County commissioners and Missoula City Council reviewed and approved the resolution at their joint public meeting on Oct. 3, 2023.

You can read the full resolution, the hazard assessment and the hazard management plan.