Beware: Bears hanging out lower due to cold spring

By Nick Gevock of The Montana Standard - 06/27/2008

A young bear that has been wandering through a campground in the West Fork of the Madison area in the south Madison Valley serves as a reminder that the omnivores are active this time of year, officials say.

The bear, reportedly a grizzly, has been spotted twice in the Riverview campground in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, said Jack de Golia, forest spokesman. The bear has not caused trouble, but is an indicator that bears are roaming and looking for food this time of year.

“It’s pretty close for comfort,” he said.

The bear has yet to get into trouble, he added. The Forest Service is keeping an eye on the situation to make sure the bear doesn’t get into food or become dangerous toward people.

But the incident also serves as a reminder that bears are out actively looking for food this time of year. The Forest Service has special rules in place in the backcountry and in campgrounds in the Madison, Tobacco Root and Gravelly mountain ranges that requires people to keep food away from bears.

The regulations include storing food in a locked vehicle, hanging food for backcountry users or putting it in special bear-proof containers.

This year people might be more likely to encounter bears because of the long winter, said Kevin Frey, a bear management biologist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Bears like the green plants and this year’s cold, wet spring has meant those plants are lower as the high country has remained snowed in.

“Spring came late and it’s greener, lower longer,” he said. “We were up in elevation last week and you didn’t have to go very far where glacier lilies were blooming.” He said thus far there haven’t been more incidents or problems with bears. But Frey encouraged people to use the usual caution around homes and while in the backcountry.

Bears are hanging around creek bottoms and in lush low elevation meadows.

“That’s where the optimum feed is right now,” Frey said.

As the weather warms up and snow continues to melt, bears will work their way up higher into the mountains.

Reporter Nick Gevock may be reached at nick.gevock@mtstandard.com.For more info For information on food storage rules, go to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Web site, www.fs.fed.us/r1/bdnf/.