Teton Bear Smart

04/13/2026

04/11/2026

📚🐻 **Reading Ramble is back for April!**

Take a stroll through Choteau City Park along the Soroptimist Path and enjoy Reading Ramble, a fun, family-friendly experience where a story unfolds one page at a time along the trail.

This month, Teton Bear Smart has partnered with Reading Ramble to share important bear safety tips with kids in a fun and engaging way. It’s the perfect blend of reading, learning and enjoying the outdoors!

Bring the family and ramble together! 🌿📖

04/05/2026

We had an incredible time celebrating Bear Aware Day with our K–6 students on April 2! 🐻

A huge thank you to Choteau Elementary School for hosting and to Principal Rachel Christensen for supporting such a meaningful learning opportunity for our kids. Students had the chance to learn how to safely coexist with bears, understand bear behavior, and become responsible in bear country.

We are especially grateful to our amazing partners—Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Montana Discovery Foundation, Boone and Crockett Club, and People and Carnivores—for bringing engaging, hands-on education that made this day both fun and impactful.

Together, we’re helping the next generation stay safe, informed, and prepared to live responsibly alongside bears. 🐾🌲

02/21/2026

Join us at Teton Pass Ski Area for our Bear Trivia event from 3:00-5:00 PM for some good fun and good eats! If you can't make it up to the ski hill, join us right here for our Facebook Live broadcast of the trivia competition starting @ 4:00 PM.

02/18/2026

We’ve got two great wildlife-focused community events coming up!
Bear Trivia presented by Teton Bear Smart
Hosted by Teton Pass Ski Area
🧠 Bear Trivia | 4–5PM
🎁 Prizes + raffle prizes
🍺 $1 from every beer pint donated to Teton Bear Smart
⛷️ Après Ski Menu | 3–5PM
Plus…
Wild Wings Pint Night
🗓 Friday, February 20, 2026
🕕 6:00–9:00 PM
📍 The American Legion
🎟 Free to attend
Join us in supporting wildlife education, conservation, and our local community. We hope to see you at both events! 🐻🦅🍻

12/31/2025

Come and join Teton Bear Smart for Bear Trivia at Teton Pass Ski Area’s Waldron Creek Saloon! Trivia prizes, raffles prizes, food, skiing and drinks to be had! February 21st, 2026 @ 4pm. For more information, contact [email protected].

12/26/2025

This is an exciting new tool in the challenge to protect livestock while keeping bears out of harm's way at the same time!

Wolves, bears, cougars and coyotes are important parts of ecosystems of the West — and a pain in the rump roast for people who raise livestock there.

12/23/2025

Teton Bear Smart would like to draw attention to a great local, federally funded program through NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) for applicants from Lewis and Clark and Teton counties. Applicants, if funded, can get a contract for electric fencing and drive over electric mats. The idea is to reduce conflict by fencing attractants; especially vulnerable livestock, grain bin areas, dead pits or areas around farmsteads that have attractants which cannot be reasonably removed.

The goal of this targeted implementation plan (TIP) is to prevent and minimize human-grizzly bear conflicts in and around working farm and ranch facilities, residences, and headquarters by limiting bear access to anthropogenic attractants and unnatural food sources. Electric fence and electric drive-over mats will be installed to deter grizzly bears from accessing attractants and areas of potential human-grizzly conflict. This effort will result in a reduction in the number of bears involved in complaints and conflict which could reduce the need to relocate or remove grizzly bears. This will also increase safety, encourage natural food sources, and will be more cost-effective conservation.

Applications are due by Jan 15th and can be found at the NRCS office in Choteau, or can be emailed. If interested, please contact [email protected]. Link to the website: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/environmental-quality-incentives-program/montana/grizzly-bear-mitigation-tip.

This Targeted Implementation Plan (TIP) is available in Lewis and Clark and Teton counties, Montana. TIPs are local-level Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) initiatives used by NRCS in Montana to guide on-the-ground implementation of locally developed Long Range County Plans.

11/21/2025

Teton Bear Smart is proud to present our Bear Spray Program, available to all outdoor recreationalists needing bear spray in Teton County, Montana! Bear spray has been shown to stop unwanted bear behavior in 92% of close encounters, and 98% of people who used it walked away without injury***. Compare that to fi****ms, which succeed only 76–84% of the time and leave 50% of users injured — researchers note your risk of serious injury doubles when bullets are fired instead of bear spray***. Bear spray is non-lethal, highly effective, and gives both humans and bears a better chance of walking away safely. Pick up a can at the Stage Stop Inn before you go hunting, fishing or hiking in Teton County the smart way… Bear Smart!_________________________________________________________________ *** According to a 2008 study done by the Outdoor Teton Bear Smart is making the Tetons safer for everyone with our Free Bear Spray Program, open to all outdoor recreationalists. Bear spray has been shown to stop unwanted bear behavior in over 90% of close encounters, and 98% of people who used it walked away without injury. Compare that to fi****ms, which succeed only 76–84% of the time and leave about half of users injured — researchers note your risk of serious injury doubles when bullets are fired instead of spray. Bear spray is non-lethal, highly effective, and gives both humans and bears a better chance of walking away safely. Pick up a can at the Stage Stop Inn in Choteau before you hit the trail and explore smart, explore safe. ***According to a 2008 study published in The Journal of Wildlife Management (https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2193/2006-452) (https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jwmg.342)***

11/17/2025

Teton Bear Smart is thrilled to host Amber Kornak, a wildlife biologist and conflict prevention specialist with over 12 years of experience, for our November event!
Amber will share insights from her time in Italy, where she worked with Bear Smart Communities to understand and improve bear–human conflict prevention strategies. Her talk will highlight lessons learned abroad and how they can inform coexistence here in the Rocky Mountain Front region.
🗓 Date: Monday, November 17, 2025
🕖 Time: 6:00pm — talk followed by our November monthly meeting
📍 Location: Choteau-Teton County Library

Join our Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/87637475074?jst=2

Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/oldtrailmuseum?

Join us for an inspiring evening of conservation stories, community discussion, and ideas for living safely with wildlife!

11/13/2025

Teton Bear Smart is thrilled to host Amber Kornak, a wildlife biologist and conflict prevention specialist with over 12 years of experience, for our November event!
Amber will share insights from her time in Italy, where she worked with Bear Smart Communities to understand and improve bear–human conflict prevention strategies. Her talk will highlight lessons learned abroad and how they can inform coexistence here in the Rocky Mountain Front region.
🗓 Date: Monday, November 17, 2025
🕖 Time: 6:00pm — talk followed by our November monthly meeting
📍 Location: Choteau-Teton County Library

Join our Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/87637475074?jst=2

Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/people/Teton-Bear-Smart/61565732104242/

Join us for an inspiring evening of conservation stories, community discussion, and ideas for living safely with wildlife!