Blackfoot Challenge PROJECT BRIEF

In Montana’s Blackfoot watershed, ranchlands and prime grizzly habitat overlap across a vital wildlife corridor linking major bear populations. In 2025, Vital Ground’s support helped the Blackfoot Challenge complete a priority electric fencing project at a ranch near Seeley Lake. Our Partner Grant contribution funded a major phase of a permanent fence system securing the ranch compound and surrounding calving lots—areas with a long history of grizzly activity that have unfortunately previously resulted in one euthanized bear and two relocations and other consistent sources of management concern.

The project was especially urgent due to repeated visits from a female grizzly known as Portman, whose attempts to access attractants placed her at risk of lethal management. With the new fence in place, she continued traveling near the ranch but was unable to breach the secured calving areas, preventing further conflict and likely removal. Despite funding uncertainty during the 2025 field season, the Blackfoot Challenge and its partners completed six electric fencing projects across the watershed, demonstrating the power of proactive, collaborative conflict prevention to keep both bears and working lands on the landscape.