Montana’s millionaire bears as neighbors

Frequently in the Daily Inter Lake and other newspapers around Montana and on local TV news and radio air waves we read or hear about bears; the wild ones, not the ones that hang out in zoos and animal parks. 

Today, we hear the most about grizzly bears, but black bears make the news also. Grizzly bears and black bears have made remarkable strides in the past several years here in Montana. They have grown in numbers and in wealth. The bear economy seems to be booming, or at least is very robust - as each and every bear in Montana is now worth a million or so. Who can tell us what the investment in each grizzly bear in Montana is to date? 

Based on the multi-million dollar studies, the dedicated parks and public lands, the well-paid bear researchers who conduct the studies, and the wildlife managers and others who dedicate time and resources to watch out for and “manage” the bears; each bear must be worth at least a few million dollars, if not several million? If we add in the legal fees and litigation dollars spent on behalf of the grizzly bears, they have to be the best protected and wealthiest critters alive here in Big Sky Country. 

Growing up in Montana, I never imagined having millionaire bears as neighbors. Most of my other neighbors don’t even come close to being as well-funded and as well-protected as the grizzly bear. 

We are often told we should “expect” bears to room wherever they choose. Why is that? Are the bear experts and others telling us we need to move aside and let bears have access to our private property? Are the vast acres of public lands and National Parks in Montana simply not big enough for the growing numbers of bears, especially grizzly bears? Over 50% of all the land in Montana is publicly owned, and yet that is not enough room for our millionaire bears? Really, more than 50% is not enough? 

Often we are reminded that bears are more important than birds, so put away your bird feeders. And on your own place, you must also start putting up electric fences and other barriers so bears can’t molest your bees, your fruit trees, your chickens, your livestock, your dogs and cats, your feed supplies, your trash receptacles, and so on. And carry bear spray. And for you folks east of Montana’s Continental Divide, you must learn quickly how to manage your spray in a 20-knot wind in three seconds or less. 

Often we are told bears are just “doing what comes to them naturally, protecting their young, guarding their territory and so on. So, trespassing, property damage, killing livestock and pets, claiming a hunter’s game, and mauling hunters and hikers and mountain bikers are just “doing what comes naturally”? 

Millionaire bears are dangerous and expensive wild animals that need to be checkmated at private property boundaries and pushed back to public lands or national parks. We cannot afford to do otherwise for our own personal safety and security. If bears roam free to invade private property, we, our families, our pets and livestock, and property remain at risk. 

Millionaire bears don’t care about their poorer Montana neighbors. 

Mel Lehman lives Kalispell. He is also a part-time caretaker and resident of a small family ranch in eastern Montana, homesteaded by his grandfather in 1907.