GREAT FALLS - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will host a grizzly bear educational program in Ulm at 6 p.m. on Sept. 16, addressing the biology and status of bears in the area, along with discussions of how to prevent conflicts on the farm and ranch, at home, and when recreating outdoors, along with bear spray safety training. Bear management specialists will also provide updates on recent bear activity in the local area. The program will be held at the Ulm Firehouse at 29 Old U.S. Highway 91, south of town.

“It’s important to provide FWP resources to people in bear country, including things like information about local bear activity, how to prevent conflicts near homes, livestock, and communities, and how FWP responds to prevent or address human-bear conflicts’, said Chad White, grizzly bear management specialist with FWP.

Montana is bear country, with populations of grizzly and black bears that frequent higher and lower elevations, and especially river corridors. In recent years, grizzly bear reports have become more numerous in central Montana along the Missouri River near Ulm and Cascade as well as in the Snowy, Moccasin, and Little Belt Mountain ranges and adjacent Judith River area. Grizzly bears have also been confirmed in the Missouri Breaks.

The program is free and open to the public.

For more information on living, working, and recreating in Montana’s bear country, visit the FWP Bear Aware website at fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/bear/be-bear-aware.

For more information about this event, contact Chad White at 406-788-4755.