Sharing the Landscape with Grizzlies

As grizzlies move farther into their eastern habit, it's up to us to learn how to live safe side-by-side.

Years ago, a friend told me, “Any animal that can pick you up and eat you, has your attention.”

Despite this potentially gruesome scenario, the lesson from the bear is not fear. Instead, grizzlies teach us respect, appreciation for these wild places, and an understanding about how to coexist, if we choose to listen. It’s on us to figure it out. When we behave correctly while recreating in grizzly country, odds are good that everyone remains safe.

With a range once covering half of the United States and Canada, when grizzlies were listed as a threatened species in 1975, their numbers had been reduced to occupying two percent of their original turf. Through coordinated efforts between state, federal, and tribal entities, this living representation of the wilderness is making a comeback, and showing up in places it hasn’t lived for over a century. While we no longer see grizzlies feeding on bison carcasses below the falls along the Missouri River in my hometown of Great Falls, Montana, grizzlies appeared 10 miles north of town at the Benton Lake Wildlife Refuge a couple of years ago.

“They are reclaiming their historical habitat,” explains Mike Madel, retired bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.  “The truth is grizzly bear population density is relatively high to the west (of the Continental Divide) and it’s not going to change.”

Madel is familiar with the initial surprise, and sometimes fear, of residents and visitors suddenly living with this apex predator. He dealt with the same situation nearly 30 years ago in Choteau and Augusta, two  towns along the Rocky Mountain Front, when grizzlies moved east of the mountains. From his experience, it’s possible to live and play in grizzly habitat with minimal conflict, but the success or failure depends upon our behavior.

“They are supreme in their realm, and we are the interlopers,” notes Neal Wedum, who has been educating people as a former backcountry ranger and a campground host for Glacier National Park for 28 years. “Surviving is knowing bear behavior and using common sense.

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During these decades, Wedum spent and still spends, several days at Granite Park Chalet, the site of one of the infamous “Night of the Grizzlies” bear attacks in 1967 where he talks to guests about bear behavior. While bear management conditions are completely different than over 50 years ago, and food conditioning is avoided,  a healthy number of bears still utilize the area

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Walking along the Highline Trail, hikers frequently notice areas that look like someone packed up a rototiller, but this is where grizzlies were digging for ground squirrels. When my sons and I stayed at Granite Park a couple of years ago, a young bear grazed upon the bright yellow glacier lilies a few hundred yards from the chalet, giving all of the guests an exceptional viewing opportunity — with spotting scopes and binoculars, of course.

From Wedum’s vantage point overlooking the area around the chalet, he has watched many people walk past grizzlies only 30 to 40 feet from the Highline Trail. “People would walk by, the bear hunkered down, and then it went back to feeding,” he says. Most of the time the hikers never saw the bear.

There’s a distinct difference when people make noise. “The human voice is the best deterrent. It’s not a matter of screaming and yelling,” he says.

Wedum explains that he calls “Hey bear!” or “Hey you!” every 50 to 60 feet while walking down the trail so a bear in the area can pinpoint his position and know which way he’s heading. He also takes into consideration factors such as heavy fog since sound doesn’t carry as far in this environment, as well as being near streams, hiking in windy conditions, along with traveling around a blind corner or through dense vegetation. His goal is to avoid a surprise encounter.

“Most charges come from 50 feet or less. That’s 1.6 seconds,” he says.

When a grizzly charges, it’s cliche to say time stands still, but it does. For a decade I worked on natural history films for National Geographic Television with grizzlies as a favorite subject. While filming grizzlies on a Kokanee salmon stream in British Columbia, the cameraman and I hiked into our elevated blind in the middle of the day specifically to avoid running into the female with cubs in the area. The plan didn’t pan out.

Less than a quarter of a mile from the truck, I saw two heads pop up from underneath an evergreen tree. The cubs took off and mom came at us. Before this situation, I wondered what I’d do since we were working in an area riddled with grizzly daybeds and dead fish. Thankfully, I instinctively pulled the bear spray and released the safety. In another fraction of a second, I would have sprayed, but she turned and followed her cubs. Walking it off, once my legs stopped shaking, it was a mere 13 paces. She was a good mother protecting her cubs, but I was grateful she recognized we were not a threat.

This is why practically every bear expert strongly encourages recreationists in bear country to carry bear spray and know how to use it. Bear spray is a self-defense capsicum based spray affecting the eyes and upper respiratory system, proven effective for over 30 years.

“It’s hard to get people to understand that you have to be mentally prepared,” explains Madel. He recommends always carrying the can in the same place on your belt strap or pack, and practice flipping off the safety in an outdoor area (just in case it accidentally discharges) so you’re familiar with how it feels.

Throughout his career, Wedum has had numerous encounters, with the most intense event occurring during a patrol north of Granite Park. A gut feeling kept him on high alert as he hiked forward on his route, when he noticed a large grizzly with a hunk of red meat hanging out of his mouth. A carcass situation with a grizzly, particularly in the latter part of the season, is a dangerous scenario, so Wedum climbed up to higher ground to gain a better perspective.

“He had a big, pendulous belly and was easily 600 pounds,” he says. Because the bear was feeding on a bighorn sheep carcass, he radioed headquarters to close the trail to prevent potential conflict between hikers and the bear.

At one point, the bear walked away from the carcass, sprawled out on a seep while lying on his belly. With water running over his back he looked absolutely relaxed. Then something set him off. “All of a sudden he just exploded in the air. In a matter of a few seconds he was 10 feet from me,” he says. Wedum didn’t react. “We were looking at each other, then he turned around.”

At that moment, his radio chattered. The bear whipped around coming at him in an instant. “I could have reached and out touched him.”

Wedum said the bear gave him a look as if to express, “This is my spot. It’s time for you to leave.” He was happy to oblige covering 8 miles in an hour and a half carrying a 50 pound pack.

Most of the time, grizzlies readily leave the area when we are there, but there are times when the they are forced to react, particularly with mountain bikes and e-bikes on the trails. Although they are not permitted in designated wilderness areas, there are many trails on public lands where bicyclists ride quickly and quietly through the heart of grizzly country.

In 2016 near West Glacier, local Forest Service law enforcement officer, Brad Treat, rounded a blind curve, and collided with a grizzly. The impact didn’t kill him, but the bear did. Treat knew bears and trail biked multiple times a week. Unfortunately, the worst case scenario still happened.

While experts cringe at the thought of potential bear and bike conflict, common sense goes a long way. Look for fresh signs of bear activity such as bear scat, turned up logs, or turned over from bears digging roots or squirrels. If huckleberries or other berries are ripe, consider a different trail. Slow down around blind corners or in areas with decreased visibility. And always carry bear spray

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Dogs are another potential point of conflict. As Madel pointed out, bird hunters send dogs out to flush birds, sometimes bringing back an angry grizzly rousted from its day bed. Hikers with dogs need to be equally cognizant of the situation.

“Avoid the dense, heavy cover areas,” reminds Madel. “And keep your dog close to you.”

I never hesitate sleeping on the ground without a tent in the wilderness — unless the mosquitoes are terrible — yet there are certain precautions we all must take to prevent bears, grizzlies or black bears, from obtaining food. Once a bear is food habituated, the results can be deadly for both parties.

A grizzly’s sense of smell is the stuff of legend. They can locate a carcass underneath the water or crumbs left from someone’s lunch break. Making sure they do not eat anything, even if they detect it, is a challenge. All food and anything that smells tasty, such as toothpaste or lip balm, needs to be hung up it in a tree at least ten feet from the ground and four feet away from the tree, or in an approved bear resistant container

.Backpackers camping along the Continental Divide in Montana and Wyoming are familiar with these precautions, but with the grizzlies expanding their range, Madel reminds recreationists east of the Rocky Mountain Front to be bear aware. In November 2023, a trail camera photographed the first grizzly in a century in the Missouri River Breaks on the PN Ranch Unit of the American Prairie.

“When you’re floating the river, you’re already in the riparian area. Bears are there so you best be prepared,” he says. Bears follow the creek and river bottoms, particularly where chokecherries and other fruits abound, and camping during an outing requires the same considerations. Most of the time, people have no problems with bears in camp, but it only works when everyone follows the guidelines.

No matter how many times I’ve watched grizzlies, it’s always exhilarating to see one. And although having to watch for rattlesnakes and grizzlies might prove challenging as they move farther onto the prairie, it is worth it. We simply need to adjust our behavior.

As Wedum reminds us, “When the grizzly has room, everything has room. The water is still sweet. The air is clean. It’s still good. And it’ll be good enough and free enough for all of us.”