Dear Missoula City Council Members and Missoula County Commissioners,

We, the signed residents of Missoula County, Montana, are sending our strong voices of support in making all of Missoula County Bear Smart. We believe in common sense measures that will protect wildlife and human life.

Bear Smart communities are popping up all over the Western United States and Canada as we grapple with the reality of human encroachment on wild places. In Missoula, we feel the work to become Bear Smart is well past due. Many bears have been killed and yet problems persist.

Coexistence education and enforcement have proven to move the meter in very meaningful ways in communities like Durango, CO, Juneau, AK, Yellowstone National Park, Lake Tahoe Basin, Great Smoky National Park. Efforts are underway in many Montana communities as well as Jackson, Wyoming to become bear-smart. Whitefish and Virginia City are currently pursuing Bear Smart designation.

We acknowledge that this effort will cost money and see that as worth it.

We acknowledge that this effort will require humans to coexist with bears on a more proficient level, and we see that as worth it too. 

We believe that living among wildlife is our privilege, we know that humans are rapidly encroaching on wild lands and places. It makes sense that we take responsibility for living together on this land.

We believe that it’s fair to expect all people living in bear country to know the rules of living here, peacefully with wildlife. We recognize that there are a lot of people moving to these parts and we have to get out in front of increased conflict potential. Additionally, as grizzly bears return to the areas surrounding Missoula, we know that becoming a Bear Smart community will reduce our conflict with this endangered species. 

We are proud Montanans and we want to show that through our actions. 

We want this effort to go past the goal line! We’d like to see something in place before spring, 2022, particularly to address our (first in a long time) documented resident grizzly bear with three cubs when they emerge from their den. We want sufficient measures put into place now, before this bear and her offspring end up dead at the hands of humans.

We are specifically asking you to adopt the Bear Smart program, create the necessary ordinances to make that happen, and support the education and enforcement needed to make this work. 

You can count on us to support your efforts.

Thank you.