Kudos for bear-proofing work

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes deserve kudos for their concerted efforts to reduce bear-human conflicts on the Flathead Reservation, most recently with the acquisition of 125 bear-proof cans that are compatible with automated equipment on garbage trucks.

Each year, more than 50 black bears and grizzly bears are trapped on the reservation and relocated or destroyed because they’ve become accustomed to finding food around homes, and according to tribal Warden Pablo Espinoza, most of the conflicts involve garbage.

The bear-proof containers, obtained with a federal grant, will go a long way in cleaning up the Mission Mountain Front. But that’s not all. Tribal wardens are ramping up their efforts to get residents to secure bear attractants. Clinics were held last year to help residents set up electric fences to protect poultry and livestock, and 16,500 informational mailers were sent out on how to reduce bear conflicts.

Those efforts will continue, and tribal officials expect there will be even more bear-proof containers on the landscape in the future.

It’s a worthy effort. Changing the behavior of people will change the behavior of bears.

A UNIQUE benefit gets under way Saturday afternoon at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls.

“Lisa’s Voice” is both a fundraiser and awareness builder for oral cancer, created in memory of the late Lisa Petersen, who died at the age of 41 in late 2011.

The main impetus is the need for early diagnosis for what can be a devastating cancer. Peterson put off seeking medical care because she was waiting for her health insurance to kick in.

Saturday’s event features free oral cancer screenings, food, music and inspiration from noon to 4 p.m. There will also be a silent auction and a raffle featuring a Winchester 7mm with Bushnell 3x9 scope, a recliner from Melby’s and othe prizes.

CONGRATULATIONS to Cpl. Adam Lucas, formerly of Kalispell, and now a U.S. Army Reserve medical specialist with the 4225th U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Harrison in Helena.

Lucas recently won the Best Warrior Competition held by the Army Medical Reserve Command at Camp Blanding in Florida. Events included everything you would expect them to throw at a soldier, medical reserve or not — obstacle course, rappelling, urban orienteering, 10-kilometer road march, hand-to-hand combat and more.

So what did Lucas win? The right to compete against winners from other divisions of the Army Reserve in July and prove that strong medicine has more than one meaning!

Good luck, corporal. Your hometown is proud of you.