Tag Archives: monitoring

Glacier Park grizzly bear monitoring continues

May 3, 2016Environmental Issues, NewsGlacier National Park, grizzly bear research, monitoringnfpa

Curious bears investigate a bear trap in Glacier National Park - courtesy National Park Service — Curious bears investigate a bear trap in Glacier National Park – courtesy National Park Service

Here’s the annual announcement of the ongoing grizzly monitoring project in Glacier Park. It came with a really cool photo this time . . .

A long-term program to monitor grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem continues this summer in Glacier National Park. Park officials said Wednesday that wildlife managers will begin work next week to deploy bait stations, trail cameras and traps to capture grizzly bears.

The bait stations and trap sites will be marked with brightly colored warnings and closure signs. Visitors are asked to respect the posted signs and stay out of the bait station sites. The trapping efforts will continue into October.

The grizzly bear monitoring program began in 2004 and is led by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Three grizzly bears captured as part of the NCDE monitoring effort; other grizzly bear news

June 15, 2011Environmental Issues, Newsgrizzly bears, monitoring, North Fork Flathead, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystemnfpa

This Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks press release, posted today on the Flathead Beacon web site, is a North Fork-specific follow-up on the grizzly bear monitoring effort announced three weeks ago:

Grizzly bear population capture efforts for monitoring in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) have concluded in the North Fork Drainage. Three bears were captured and fitted with radio transmitters during the effort. FWP Biologists will closely follow the bears’ movements.

FWP Biologist Rick Mace notes that the successful capture operation will enable FWP to monitor the survival and reproduction of grizzly bears in this important area of the NCDE. It was recently concluded that the grizzly bear population in the NCDE is growing at a rate of 3 percent per year, based on an analysis and publication by Mace and his colleagues in an upcoming edition of The Journal of Wildlife Management. Grizzly bear monitoring capture efforts now move to other areas of the NCDE. The project is primarily funded by FWP and the U. S. Forest Service.

In other grizzly bear news, an adult female grizzly and her yearling were captured in the Blankenship Bridge area of the North Fork of the Flathead Drainage on June 13. The two grizzlies were released today in the Coal Creek area. The bears were grazing on green grass at private residences. The move was a pre-emptive measure to avoid conflicts with residents.

Biologists to begin grizzly bear capturing for research and management

May 25, 2011Environmental Issues, Newsgrizzly bears, monitoring, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystemnfpa

Yet another sign of spring is this recent press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks . . .

As part of ongoing efforts required under the Endangered Species Act to monitor the population of grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE), Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the US Fish & Wildlife Service and Tribal wildlife managers are working to inform the public that pre-baiting and scientific capture operations are once again about to begin in parts of western Montana.

Biologists will begin to work this month in the Blackfoot Valley, many areas along the Rocky Mountain Front, and Swan, Clearwater, Mission, Jocko and Flathead River Valleys. Capturing will continue intermittently through the end of October. Traps will also be set periodically on private lands where bear/human conflicts are occurring.

All areas where work is being conducted will have warning signs posted along the major access points to the trapping site. It is critical that all members of the public heed these signs.

Monitoring of grizzly bear distribution and other activities are vital to ongoing recovery of grizzlies in the NCDE. In order to attract bears, biologists utilize natural food sources such as fresh road–killed deer and elk. Potential trapping sites are baited with these natural foods and if indications are that grizzly bears are in the area, snares or culvert traps will be used to capture the bears. Once trapped, the bears are sedated, studied, and released in accordance with strict protocols.

For more information regarding grizzly bear trapping efforts call FWP in Missoula at 406-542-5500 or FWP in Kalispell at 406-752-5501.