August 4, 1998 Bozeman Daily Chronicle Article saying Grizzlies migrating from wilderness (AP) 0
Highway 200 used to be a reliable southern boundary, but bears are being seen now as far south as Helmville, 5 miles south of the highway.
"We're starting to have bears spill out the south end (of the wilderness areas) now," said Mack Long, Region 2 supervisor for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The subsequent clashes with beekeepers, ranchers and other property owners has prompted calls for a bear management program specific to the area and the hiring of a bear specialist.
The state has bear specialists in three areas now, and some state officials think it's time to hire for a fourth for the Lincoln-Ovando area.
A young grizzly has been hanging around Don and Meredith Pruett's place in Lincoln for weeks.
It peeked in a window once and broke into a trailer.
Black bears have caused thousands of dollars' worth of damage to the Pruetts' bee-keeping equipment in recent years, but grizzlies add an element of danger.
"I thought when we moved here the state of Montana would protect us," Don Pruett said, "But that's not the case."
Black bears are still much more common than grizzlies, but nobody doubts the grizzlies are moving southward bit by bit. Bob Henderson, A Missoula based wildlife biologist who does goat surveys every other year in the Scapegoat Wilderness, says it was rare to see a grizzly in the 1980's.
"Now I'd be surprised to see fewer than three or four," he said.
Mike Madel of Choteau, the bear specialist for the eastern Rocky Mountain Front, has recommended that an existing bear management program be expanded to include the Lincoln-Ovando-Clearwater area. He said Tim Manley of Kalispell, the specialist for the western Front, check bear-human conflicts in that area now, but say they have their hands full with their own areas.
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