State launches bear relocation dashboard

HELENA – In an effort to provide more insight to bear management and to keep local landowners and communities aware when black bears or grizzly bears are relocated, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks released a new online bear relocation dashboard last week.

The new dashboard displays general relocations on an interactive map. FWP relocates bears for a variety of reasons and the interactive features allow users to click to see information about the relocation including the species of bear, general reason and the date of latest relocation.  

This is FWP’s third dashboard related to bear management. Along with the bear relocation dashboard, FWP developed the grizzly bear mortality dashboard last year and the grizzly bear conflict dashboard earlier this summer. 

“These tools are useful for the public to understand what’s happening with bears around the state,” said FWP Director Christy Clark. “The expansion of grizzly bears both in numbers and in distribution has a real impact on the lives of Montanans across bear country. Keeping people informed about what FWP is doing with bears continues to be a top priority for me.”

Not only do these new dashboards help keep the public informed, they provide insight into the reason that bear conflict occurs and tools that FWP uses to help landowners and communities reduce conflicts.  

The Relocation Dashboard provides general locations for areas where FWP staff have relocated bears. Details of each location can be found by clicking on “Table” at the top of the dashboard.  

Grizzly bears remain federally protected in the Lower 48 under the Endangered Species Act. This protection remains despite populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) growing well past recovery goals. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to delist grizzly bears. 

FWP is required by law to inform the county and tribal government within 24 hours of which the grizzly bear or black bear is to be relocated. Grizzly bears can only be relocated by FWP to sites approved by the Fish and Wildlife Commission. Under state law, grizzly bears that cause conflicts outside of designated recovery zones cannot be relocated by FWP staff. The dashboard only reflects bears relocated by FWP.