Hunters Need To Know Montana's Food Storage Rules

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Hunters, if you haven’t traveled in Central and Northwestern Montana recently, you may be surprised and sobered by the signs instructing visitors on how to avoid problems with local grizzly bears.

You’ll also see signs explaining the food storage orders in effect on U.S. Forest Service lands including the Flathead, Lolo, Lewis and Clark, and Helena National Forests.

Hunting in grizzly bear country today requires good planning around the foods you bring, how you store them and how you dispose of garbage. If you don’t plan ahead and look into these food storage requirements, you may be disappointed and have a trip ruined, because being bear aware isn’t only wise, it is required of visitors on these public lands.

USFS food storage restrictions are for the public’s safety and to foster grizzly bear recovery by preventing bears from becoming food-conditioned—that is conditioned to find an easy meal from garbage cans, coolers and the like.

Bold signs explain the food storage orders and offer tips on how to behave in bear country. All food and garbage, including pet and livestock food, must be suspended 10 feet in the air and four feet out from any support, or stored in a hard-sided camper, vehicle trunk, cab, enclosed horse trailer, or in an "approved bear resistant container. "

Bear savvy folks know that the usual cooler or plastic storage box is not bear resistant gear. Approved, bear resistant products meet the specifications of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Such products must be able to stand up to testing protocols similar to those used by state and federal officials to certify products for use on public lands.

For details on USFS food storage orders, contact your local Ranger District Office, or check the website for the forest you plan to visit. For example, the Flathead National Forest has its food order posted at www.fs.fed.us/r1/flathead/wildlife/grizzly_bears_index.shtml .

Products used on public lands must be certified by the IGBC as bear-resistant.   Products that have been certified and approved for use on public lands to meet food storage regulations are listed on the IGBC web site at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/wildlife/igbc/.

For more information, visit FWP at fwp.mt.gov. Click "Be Bear Aware."   Hunters can also p ick up a copy of " How to Hunt Safely in Grizzly Country" brochure at any FWP office.