Collaborating Against Conflict, and other Conservation Stories
As summer progresses, the days grow shorter and bears begin to load up on calories more urgently. For grizzlies living near people or agricultural lands, that natural sense of urgency can lead to trouble. From electric fencing to picking up fruit, however, many practices have proven effective at preventing bear-related conflicts, helping both grizzlies and people stay safe and share the landscape.
This summer, Vital Ground’s conservation partners are hard at work implementing a wide variety of coexistence strategies across the Northern Rockies. Our friends at the Seeley-Swan Pathfinder recently highlighted their efforts in a Vital Ground guest column as we continue to spread the word on the importance of conflict prevention. Click here to read the full story!
Of course, habitat conservation and conflict prevention go hand-in-hand. The more open land we conserve in key habitat linkages for grizzlies and other wide-ranging species, the less likely those animals will be to wind up in someone’s grain shed or apple orchard as they move between wilder areas.
Vital Ground’s most recent conservation success is just such a project, as we teamed up with the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) to purchase and protect 80 crucial acres in the Bull River-Clark Fork linkage area of northwestern Montana. You can read more about the project via our news story and a recent online story from TreeHugger Magazine that features an extended interview with Y2Y’s Jessie Grossman.
Also in the news:
- With support from Vital Ground, a new electric fence is keeping bears out of the trash outside the popular Ice Cream Place in Seeley Lake, Mont. Read the full story from the Seeley-Swan Pathfinder.
- Vital Ground trustee Doug Chadwick’s new book, Four Fifths a Grizzly, is filling the airwaves! Check out this great new conversation with Doug on the Nature Guys Podcast. (You can also order Four Fifths a Grizzly and support habitat conservation via our Bear Mart.)
- Our business partners at Kodiak Cakes are all-in on supporting Vital Ground’s One Landscape Initiative. Check out a new video about their commitment to conservation!
Stay tuned for another “In the News” roundup this fall. In the meantime, we hope these stories help keep your conservation fires burning. Our work for wildlife wouldn’t be possible without dedicated supporters like you!