Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area Closed Due To Grizzly Danger

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The Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area, 38 miles northeast of Missoula, is closed to all access due to grizzly bear danger, according to Bill Thomas, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks information officer in Missoula.  FWP officials believe a hunter found dead on the WMA on Wednesday was mauled by a grizzly bear. 

The WMA was posted as closed and officials set traps Wednesday night The WMA will remain closed as state and federal wildlife officials work to locate or trap the bear. If a bear is successfully trapped, experts on site will attempt to positively determine if that bear killed the hunter before dispatching the animal. If the suspect bear returns to the site and cannot be trapped it will be destroyed, officials said.

"Our sympathy goes out to the family and friends of the victim in this tragedy," said Thomas.

Thomas cautioned all hunters to be careful in grizzly bear habitat throughout western Montana, along the Rocky Mountain Front and in southwestern Montana.  Grizzly bears are more dispersed and at lower elevations, in part, due to drought conditions, Thomas said.