Good afternoon, Beacon readers! It’s that time of year again — grizzlies are out and foraging. Personally, the only bear claw I want to see is the huckleberry kind. That’s why the North Fork Preservation Association (NFPA) is stepping up to keep Polebridge businesses bear-free and the community safe. 

Thanks to funding from the Bozeman-based nonprofit People and Carnivores, NFPA was able to install new wildlife-safe food and trash containers at key spots around Polebridge. Employee housing for Home Ranch Bottoms, the Northern Lights Saloon and the Polebridge Mercantile now has secure containers — a practical upgrade that helps prevent bear encounters before they start.

People and Carnivores has been working for years to end bear conflicts in the North Fork. After a rise in encounters, it launched a community resource fund in 2023 to support local efforts to keep people safe and bears out of trouble. 

“It’s one thing if you’ve secured your trash and put away your bird feeder, but it doesn’t really matter if your neighbor has their bird feeder out and no electric fence around their chicken,” People and Carnivores Program Coordinator Rosie Costain said in 2023. “Ideally, with a community-wide effort, if a bear wanders down a street, there won’t be anything available to it and it will mosey along its way.” 

The North Fork’s grizzly population has long outnumbered the humans who call the area home year-round. But as more visitors come to Glacier National Park and commercial services in Polebridge expand, human-wildlife conflicts have increased. After learning of several destroyed camp trailers and vehicles, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks specialists made the difficult decision in 2021 to euthanize Monica (pictured in the above photo taken by W. K. Walker), a well-known food-conditioned grizzly sow, along with her three yearling cubs. 

Monica’s death was a wakeup call for the North Fork community. The NFPA launched the Polebridge Bear Smart Program in 2022, teaching seasonal workers how to safely coexist with wildlife. Dressed in bear costumes, volunteers got some laughs from twenty-somethings as they demonstrated how to use bear spray and prepare for worst-case scenarios. 

Businesses owners in Polebridge have been overwhelmingly supportive of the increased awareness around bear safety. 

“It’s so easy to get complacent and leave your empties out, but it’s also a really easy behavior to correct,” Heather Matthews, former owner of Northern Lights Saloon, said in 2023. “I am trying to be a better leader, a better educator and just be better as a business. I think [the training] showed all of us that we could all be doing better.” 

Even with ongoing awareness efforts, bear-human conflicts continue to challenge the North Fork and wider Flathead Valley. Bear specialists in the Flathead Valley recorded 203 total conflict calls in 2024, underscoring how vital efforts — including secure food storage — are in reducing encounters. 

I’m Katie Bartlett, here with your Daily Roundup …