Bear Buffer Zone regulations finalized

New Bear Buffer Zone regulations will go into action after Missoula City Council finalized the decision to expand the zone, including new regulations around garbage storage in the Potomac Valley.

Potomac will be requiring bear resistant garbage cans by Sept. 1, 2024. The ordinance revising the Missoula municipal code will be instituted over a three phase multi-year plan.

The proposed rules are an outcome of the work of the Bear Smart Working Group,

which is a public-private partnership of bear experts, agency representatives, and concerned citizens. The group developed a Bear Hazard Assessment in 2020 and fine-tuned it to create a Bear Buffer Zone with updated regulations.

In 2022, garbage-conditioned bears started visiting garbage collection areas in Potomac. Area residents and Montana Fish, Wildlife, Parks bear managers approached Juanita Vero, a County Commissioner, and Shannon Terriault from Missoula Board of Health for help. Hearings with the Missoula City/County Health Board began in June 2023.

During the City Council hearing Oct. 17 many of the council members expressed gratitude for the Bear Smart Working group and all the time and effort put into developing this proposal.

“We’re lucky to have great expertise in this valley and that we could draw on that,” said council member Gwen Jones. “I think it’s good to start adopting some practices that respect the wildlife because they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing and now we need to do what we need to do.”

“It’s pretty upsetting to find out that we’re the biggest problem in leaving our trash out for the bears,” Kristin Jordan, a council member, said.

The Bear Buffer Zone expansion is expected to take three years to provide all the zone area residents with bear resistant garbage cans. The Upper Rattlesnake and Grant Creek would be incorporated in 2024, Potomac by September 2024, the University of Montana and Pattee Canyon in 2025 and the remainder in 2026.Revisions to the garbage rules within the Bear Buffer Zones in Missoula and Potomac are as follows:

Residential containers may not be placed on a public street or road more than 12 hours before or eight hours after the time of collection;

A person may not accumulate, store, or cause garbage to be accumulated or stored in a manner that allows a bear or other animal to access it.

Until April 30, 2026, in areas where bear-resistant containers are not yet required, non bear-resistant containers may not be put out for collection until 5 a.m. on the day of service.

Non-bear resistant containers must be restored to a bear resistant place by 9 pm on the day of service.

Within the Potomac Bear Mitigation Zone Bear buffer zone extending from Johnsrud and Bear Creek to the far east end of the valley up Union Creek and across the Hole-in-the Wall area to the end of Swanson Lane, the following additional requirements apply:

(1) A person may not accumulate, store, or cause garbage to be accumulated or stored in a manner that allows a bear or other animals to access it.

(2) Effective Sept. 1, 2024, all garbage must be stored in bear resistant containers or bear resistant enclosures.

(3) Effective Sept. 1, 2024, all garbage containers provided by commercial garbage collection services must be bear resistant, unless the containers will be stored within a bear resistant enclosure that will be accessed directly by the commercial garbage collection service.

In Potomac, as soon as the rules go into effect (Nov. 16, 2023), there is a provision that a person may not store garbage in a manner that allows bears or other animals to access it. So if there are cans that are routinely getting hit by bears or other animals, the property owner will need to take steps to keep the garbage away from the bears.

Bear resistant containers will be made available by Republic Services.“We stand by ready to assist,” Wes Davis, General Manager of Republic Services said. “People in Potomac have been requesting bear-resistant cans gradually. There will be bear-resistant cans ready when people want them.”

In addition to the ordinance changes, the penalties for violations went from criminal misdemeanors to civil infractions.

“We are excited to see Missoula advance the effort to reduce conflicts between people and bears,” said Erin Edge, Defenders of Wildlife’s Rockies and Plains Senior Representative. “Missoula and its growing neighborhoods are situated amid beautiful wildlands, including key grizzly bear habitat. As grizzly bears expand south and move around Missoula, it is particularly important they are not lured into trouble by getting into people’s garbage.”