Tag Archives: Mission Valley

Grizzlies in the corn

Grizzly bear sow with three cubs - NPS photo
Grizzly bear sow with three cubs – NPS photo

The Missoulian has an interesting story about how a farmer in the Mission Valley is dealing with bear conflicts . . .

Standing in a hollowed-out section in the middle of his 80-acre cornfield, Greg Schock bends over and picks up one of dozens of corn cobs scattered about. It’s been picked clean of every kernel.

On the dark black ground just barely moistened by Thursday night’s welcome rain, there are grizzly bear tracks and fresh scat dotted with kernels of corn.

From where he’s standing, the longtime Mission Valley dairyman’s view past the edge of the clearing is obscured by the thick rows of corn that will sometime soon become the silage that his cows will depend on to eat through the winter months.

Read more . . .

Largest Mission Valley easement protects wildlife corridor

Some encouraging news regarding habitat connectivity . . .

Animals from grizzly bears to dairy cows will benefit from the largest-ever conservation easement in the Mission Valley, according to the people who signed it.

Five Valleys Land Trust announced this week that almost 2,300 acres east of Charlo will be protected for both wildlife and agricultural purposes after a conservation easement was entered into on the property.

Grasslands on the Moiese Valley Ranch – better known locally as Hillside Farms – buffer Crow Creek, a critical corridor used by grizzlies and other wildlife to travel between the Mission Mountains and the Flathead River.

Read more . . .