University of Montana’s Quiet Bear Season Explained

My friend, who works at the University of Montana, mentioned I should look into bear activity on campus this year. More accurately, I should look into the lack of bear activity. There were several instances of UM students and employees receiving a "bear on campus" alert, but there just hasn't been a lot of activity this year.

Which is a good thing!

I reached out to Jamie Jonkel with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks' Region 2 Bear Management Team to see if he had an inkling of why there is a lack of activity. Jonkel listed two main factors as to why bear activity was lower in the Missoula Valley this year:

• "We had an excellent natural food year ---lots of berries. When ever we have an excellent natural food year not as many bears need to come down low onto valley floors for the berries that grow along the river."
• "Missoula now has a Bear Buffer Zone and strict garbage ordinance. This year Phase 2, which covers the University District, went into effect. The UM area is now required to have a bear management plan in place." - Jonkel via email.

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UM Sustainability Coordinator Eva Rocke echoed Jonkel's beliefs via email as well.

"I am inclined to believe that the lack of bear activity has more to do with Jamie's #1 factor listed, but it's possible that we're already seeing positive impacts of better restricting access to trash on campus."

Rocke confirmed we haven’t received a bear alert this year, but she did say, "I bet we see at least one over the next month..."

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Ironically, we just had a bear attempt to rummage through our trash at our home in the Rattlesnake this weekend. Hopefully, the low activity continues into winter.