In an effort to keep wildlife from becoming conditioned to garbage as a food source, businesses, agencies and organizations have been working together to place wildlife-resistant dumpsters at key locations around the Missoula area.
Most recently, Allied Waste Systems, the largest garbage disposal company in Misssoula County, placed three dumpsters last week—one at the Clark Fork School in the Rattlesnake neighborhood and two at Ninemile Steak House near Huson.
The placement of these dumpsters throughout Missoula and other counties has involved a cost-share partnership between many organizations including the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), National Forest Foundation (NFF), Defenders of Wildlife, Missoula Neighborhoods Project, Allied Waste, Brown Bear Resources, SeaWorld & Busch Gardens, Y2Y Conservation Initiative, Bear Trust International, Ninemile Wildlife Workgroup, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP).
The dumpsters recently placed at Clark Fork School and elsewhere in the Rattlesnake and Ninemile areas were part of an effort coordinated by the National Wildlife Federation that also placed bear resistant containers up the Rock Creek drainage, along the Hwy 12 corridor to Idaho, at key sites along the Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers, and at other sites.
Unsecured wildlife attractants, such as garbage, can draw bears and other wildlife to areas frequented by humans, creating a safety concern and making it difficult for these animals to return to their natural food sources.
“We’ve even seen cases where wildlife-vehicle collisions have increased in spots where animals were crossing busy roadways to reach accessible dumpsters,” said Jamie Jonkel, FWP Region 2 Bear Management Specialist.
Jonkel said that the dumpster project has been an important counterpart to the work that individuals are doing to secure their personal garbage cans and backyard attractants—such as birdseed, dog food, and fruit trees—from wildlife.
“When garbage is available to wildlife, they can get in the habit of visiting for an easy snack,” Jonkel said. “In the case of dumpsters or large dumpsites, there is enough food to keep a lot of animals coming back, instead of just one or two, and this can really compound the problem.”
Sterling Miller from the National Wildlife Federation noted that “grizzly bears are expanding their ranges in many areas of western Montana and that as this process continues, increased mortalities of grizzly bears will also occur at the sites where black bears are currently getting into garbage unless these sites are secured.”
Allied Waste has placed over 140 wildlife-resistant garbage containers in the Missoula valley as a result of cost-share partnerships.
In 2005 and 2006, Felstet Disposal in Superior joined these efforts by acquiring funds to help build a new wildlife-resistant lid for an existing garbage transport container.
In 2005, NWF and Defenders of Wildlife provided FWP funds and support to launch “Bear Aware” internship programs that continue today. Funds raised by these organizations help fund bear aware education and community outreach efforts in the Clark Fork, Blackfoot and Bitterroot Valleys. People having problems with bears and garbage are encouraged to contact FWP’s Jamie Jonkel at (406) 542-5508 for these educational materials and other information on how to coexist with bears.
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