Priest Lake State Park PROJECT BRIEF

Located within Idaho’s Selkirk Recovery Zone, Priest Lake State Park provides important habitat for both black bears and grizzly bears while welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. With people and wildlife sharing the same landscape, properly secured garbage is essential to keeping bears out of developed areas and reducing the risk of conflicts.

With support from Vital Ground, the park repaired and refurbished 10 bear-resistant dumpsters in the Indian Creek Campground, restoring damaged locking mechanisms and reinforcing structural components. These improvements help ensure bears cannot access human food sources, protecting natural bear behavior while increasing safety for campers and staff. By maintaining effective waste management infrastructure, Priest Lake State Park is helping prevent conflicts and support long-term grizzly bear conservation in the Selkirk Ecosystem.