In addition to protecting habitat, Vital Ground supports programs that prevent conflicts between bears and people. We partner on coexistence efforts in key movement areas where grizzlies and other wildlife need to safely share the landscape with people.

Featured Conflict Prevention Projects

Young grizzly crossing road

Be Bear Aware

Traveling bear safety and coexistence education workshops across grizzly country.

Blackfoot Challenge

One of the West's longest-running collaboratives helping people and wildlife share the landscape.
Photo: Lance Schelvan

Future West

Using innovative technology to reduce grizzly-livestock conflicts in southwest Montana.
Apple picking
Photo: courtesy of Great Bear Foundation

Great Bear Foundation

Removing bear attractants through fruit pickups in the Missoula, Ninemile and Bitterroot valleys.
Photo: Hilary Zaranek

J Bar L Ranch

Helping bears and livestock coexist on working lands.
Bear-proof garbage
Photo: Patti Sowka

Lolo School

Installing electric fencing around a western Montana school district’s dumpsters.
Photo: Missoula Parks & Recreation

Missoula Parks & Recreation

New partnership increases bear-friendly waste storage and education at popular recreation areas.
Grizzly bear in sagebrush

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Removing bear attractants along the Little Blackfoot Valley and Rocky Mountain Front.
Photo: M&R Glasgow on Flickr

National Wildlife Federation

Retiring conflict-prone grazing leases in Greater Yellowstone—for bears, wolves, livestock and ranchers alike.
Black bear and cherry orchard fence
Photo: courtesy of People and Carnivores

People and Carnivores

Preventing conflicts across western Montana, from the fast growing Flathead to key corridors outside Yellowstone.

Pine Butte Swamp

Rocky Mountain Front Ranchlands Group

A wide-sweeping range rider program keeps wildlife safe while preserving family ranches on the Rocky Mountain Front.
Grizzly family in sage

Shoshone National Forest

Expanding Wyoming's coexistence efforts as grizzlies expand their range in the state.
Photo: Sleeman Creek Homeowners

Sleeman Creek Homeowners

Community effort secures neighborhood waste facility near Lolo.
Photo: Bureau of Land Management

Sun River Watershed Group

Equipping community volunteers with bear spray training.
Photo of Luke Lamar from Swan Valley Bear Resources setting up an electric fence for domestic goats in the Swan Valley
Photo: SVBR

Swan Valley Bear Resources

Providing resources and promoting coexisting to prevent bear conflicts on the Swan Valley’s private and public lands.

Troy Farmers’ Market Apple Festival

Celebrating nature’s bounty while promoting respect for the wildlife with which we share it.
Wildlife service dog and biologist
Photo: courtesy of WRBI

Wind River Bear Institute

Bear incident response and landowner outreach, with help from canine conservationists.

Other Conservation Partner Projects

in Grizzly Recovery Ecosystems

Vital Ground protects and restores habitat for grizzly bears and other wildlife, connecting the wild strongholds of the Northern Rockies. We group our projects based on the grizzly’s six federally-designated recovery zones, working to link these core areas into one resilient landscape.

Featured Habitat Partner Projects

Photo: Flathead Land Trust

Flathead Land Trust

A crucial public-private collaboration to conserve a key habitat corridor threatened by development.
Photo of bull moose standing in mountain lake

Luxor Linkage — The Nature Conservancy of Canada

Helping connect habitat in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia, with big benefits south of the border too.
Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust

Conserving critical salmon and brown bear habitat in Alaska's threatened Bristol Bay Watershed.

Darkwoods Project — The Nature Conservancy of Canada

Canada's largest private-land conservation project, conserving 212 square miles of former timberlands.