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Grizzly bear

Conservation > Wildlife Management Grizzly Bear Management and Conservation

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is committed to maintaining the long-term viability of grizzly bears while prioritizing human safety

Grizzly bears in Montana are an iconic native species with high value to people and cultures across the state and around the world and play important roles in Montana ecosystems and economies. At the same time, they can and do injure or kill people and livestock and cause property damage and economic loss, which may disproportionately affect individuals living and working in bear country. Their potential presence is both valued and feared.

Grizzly bears historically occupied most of Montana, as described in the journals of Lewis and Clark. By the 1930s, the population in the Northern Rockies dipped below an estimated 300 bears, most of which lived in Montana near Glacier and Yellowstone national parks. In 1975, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the grizzly bear in the lower 48 states as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. Recovery efforts have been underway since, following a federal recovery plan.

Currently, all grizzly bears in the lower 48 states remain federally protected as threatened.


Montana Grizzly Bear Mortality Dashboard

FWP has a new online tool that provides up-to-date information on known grizzly bear mortalities across the state. 

The Grizzly Bear Mortality Dashboard displays mortality information, including the various factors that contribute to grizzly bear deaths in Montana, outside of Tribal lands. 

Launch Dashboard

Statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks released the final Statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan on Sept. 30, 2024. The release of the plan wraps up an extensive public process analyzing how the state intends to manage the iconic species while it’s federally protected and after it is turned over to state management. 

The statewide Grizzly Bear Management Plan outlines how FWP plans to manage grizzly bears where they exist today, to include areas between the four recovery zones in Montana: the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE), the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), the Bitterroot Ecosystem and the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem. The plan prioritizes connectivity between ecosystems and working with people and communities to avoid conflicts with bears. 

The statewide management plan replaces two existing management plans – those for western Montana and for southwest Montana – with one statewide plan. The plan recognizes that connectivity between populations of bears is an important part of their continued conservation. That connectivity can be aided with outreach and education to help communities and homeowners understand the value of securing attractants and avoiding conflicts.

Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on statewide grizzly bear management was released to the public on Sept. 11, 2024. This document analyzes two alternatives: a "no action" alternative and an alternative to "adopt a statewide grizzly bear management plan", which is the proposed alternative. 

Issuing the final EIS is a key step in a process that started in December of 2022, when FWP originally released the draft EIS for two months of public comment. The draft EIS went out for an additional 30 days of public comment in February of this year to ensure partner agencies, affected county governments, and tribal agencies had a chance for review.

Estimated occupied range of grizzly bears in Montana, 2022

Occupied range is an estimate of the minimum, roughly contiguous area within which bears have established residency or have demonstrated habitat use. It does not include occasional forays or low-density peripheral areas, and therefore does not represent the full extent of occurrences. Beginning in 2022, occupied range was estimated with consistent methodology in all ecosystems. Due to the smoothing inherent in the methodology, range estimates for neighboring populations may overlap, but this does not represent evidence of genetic and/or demographic connectivity.

Recovery Zones

A recovery plan for grizzly bears identified six recovery areas, or ecosystems, in the lower 48 states. These recovery zones were identified in the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan and thought to support grizzly bears at the time of listing.

Four zones are partially or completely within Montana:

  • Northern Continental Divide in northwest Montana

    • Latest population estimate: Approximately 1,100 grizzly bears

  • Greater Yellowstone in portions of southwestern Montana, northwestern Wyoming, and eastern Idaho

    • Latest population estimate: Approximately 1,000 grizzly bears

  • Cabinet-Yaak in northwestern Montana and northern Idaho

    • Latest population estimate: Approximately 55 grizzly bears

  • Bitterroot in western Montana and northern Idaho

    • Latest population estimate: No confirmed resident bears

After decades of hard work by all Montanans, grizzly bear populations have reached and surpassed federal recovery goals in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide ecosystems. The number of grizzly bears in and around these two ecosystems has continued to increase slowly. Populations are expanding into areas where they have not been for decades, including connectivity areas between recovery zones. These areas include a greater percentage of working private lands and places where the human population is expanding, creating a greater potential for conflicts.

Relocation

Throughout the year, FWP is called on to respond to wildlife. We maintain a table where you can track grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions, and wolves that are trapped or otherwise captured and relocated to another area. Animals that are lethally removed in response to conflict are not represented.

Grizzly Bear Management Plans

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has management plans for grizzly bears in various parts of the state to ensure the future success of conservation. These plans were developed to address the increase in number and distribution of bears in and around the Northern Continental Divide, the Greater Yellowstone, the Cabinet-Yaak, and the Bitterroot, as well as surrounding areas.

Although grizzly bears in the lower 48 states remain under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, much of the day-to-day management in Montana is done by FWP and Tribes within the bounds of what listing allows.

 

 

Annual Reports

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks specialists work across the state and respond to human-bear conflicts, collaborate with landowners, and conduct education and outreach to promote safety and conflict prevention. These annual reports summarize their work in the field. 

Note: Information on management response and conflicts in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is contained in the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team reports.

 

Regional Management Reports

2022


2021


2020 


2019


2018

Conflict Response

Grizzly bear conflict response is primarily conducted by state wildlife agencies, Tribes, and USDA Wildlife Services. These agencies work under the authority of the US Fish & Wildlife Service. 

FWP staff work hand-in-hand with the public to address human-bear conflicts and promote conflict prevention measures.

It is illegal to harm, harass, or kill grizzly bears, except in cases of self defense or the defense of others.

 

Who do you call to report a conflict?

 

Preventing a conflict is easier than dealing with one

Outreach & Education

Montana is bear country. Learn how to stay safe through educational videos, events, and more outreach provided by FWP.

Research

Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, in cooperation with other state and federal agencies, initiated a program in 2004 to monitor the population trend of grizzly bears in NCDE.


The purpose of this long-term program is to monitor the vital population parameters of grizzly bears by assessing the survival and reproductive rates, and trend. This will be accomplished by radio-monitoring female grizzly bears.

This research works allows FWP biologist to monitor the survival and reproductive rates of female grizzly bears to determine population trend, monitor distribution of bears within and adjacent to the federal recovery zone, and collect information on other pertinent aspects of grizzly bear ecology.

The work of this program is summarized in the annual reports listed below.

Annual Reports

 

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) is an interdisciplinary group of scientists and biologists responsible for long-term monitoring and research efforts on grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

 

Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for the research and monitoring of the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem population.


Grizzly Bear Connectivity


Peer Reviewed Scientific Publications

Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) was formed in 1983 to help ensure recovery of viable grizzly bear populations and their habitat in the lower 48 states through interagency coordination of policy, planning, management, and research. 

The IGBC consists of representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, various Tribal wildlife management agencies, and representatives of the state wildlife agencies of Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming.

Bear Management

FWP Bear Specialists are busy from summer through fall managing Montana's grizzly bears. Here’s an inside look at what they deal with on a regular basis.