Bear Awareness Gardiner

07/07/2026

Bear Awareness Gardiner is participating in Give-A-Hoot this year. Now's your chance to help our mission to keep our communities safe, and our bears wild!

https://www.give-a-hoot.org/organization/Montana-Fish-Wildlife-And-Parks-Foundation

04/21/2026

🐻 They're back! 🐻
Gardiner friends — the bears are out and about! We've had a few sightings and signs around town, which means it's time to do our spring attractant check. A secure town = safe bears + safe neighbors. 🏔️
Here's your quick checklist:
🗑️ Trash — Stash it in a bear-resistant bin or keep it inside. An unsecured can is basically a bear buffet.
🐦 Bird feeders — Thanks for feeding our feathered friends all winter! Now it's time to take the feeders down and put them away until next winter.
🐶 Pet food — Bowls and bags belong inside. Even "just overnight" on the porch is an invitation.
🦌 Winter kill — Got a dead deer or elk on or near your property? Please get it removed and hauled to a Green Box site ASAP. These are huge bear magnets.
Let's keep our Gardiner bears wild and out of trouble this season. 🐻💛
Questions? Reach out anytime — we're happy to help.

— The Bear Awareness Gardiner Team
[email protected]

09/04/2025

Swing by the Forest Service office at 11am today!

Join us at 11 today for a bear awareness education event in Gardiner! We'll have demonstrations at the Forest Service Gardiner Ranger District office - 805 Scott Street (US Highway 89). Come learn about living and recreating safely in bear country!

08/20/2025

Another huge thank you to Gardiner FFA students who help pick over 250gal of apples, pears, plums and cherries yesterday!

Removing fruit from our trees this time of year helps keep our community safe by removing the attractants for bears, and giving them less reason to linger in town, or return again.

Some of the fruit was taken home by the pickers, some left for use by employees or neighbors in the community, and the remainder will be fed to local pigs, supporting all our ability to shop and eat locally!

Thanks again to the students and Lori Hoppe!

06/27/2025

https://mtoutdoorlegacy.org/project/bear-awareness-gardiner/bear-can-program/

11/21/2024

What happens when your school mascot shows up on campus?

For the Gardiner Bruins, three new bear-proof trash cans made possible by Bear Awareness Gardiner and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition will keep students and bears safe by securing garbage.

Aptly represented, Gardiner Public Schools sits at the northern border of Yellowstone National Park along the Yellowstone River, in prime grizzly bear country.

In fact, the west end of the school building is in Yellowstone.

Read more about this partnership and how it will help keep students safe and bears wild on our blog.

To prevent bears from coming onto campus and getting into garbage, GYC partnered with Bear Awareness Gardiner and Gardiner Public Schools to install bear-proof garbage containers on the school grounds. When used properly, bear-proof trash cans prevent bears from getting into garbage, which prevents

08/01/2024

Folks! Its that time of year again, and we're trying to get as many apples out of trees and off the landscape as possible.

Bears have been using Gardiner's apple trees for generations, and them coming to town looking for apples is usually what gets them in trouble with trash and other attractants. Please pick your apples, or email Evan, and we'll pick them for you!

Details in image below..