Great Bear Foundation

09/28/2026

CALL FOR APPLES!🍎 🍏

Despite the late frost this year, some trees in Missoula have LOTS of fruit and we are here for it! We picked a very productive site in the South Hills on Saturday, and brought the apples directly to the Moon-Randolph Homestead apple press which they fired up for their annual fundraiser.

We have lots of organizations contacting us asking for apples- so if you see apples in your neighborhood, try and get permission from the land owner and reach out to us, we’d be happy to get volunteers together to go remove those attractants and feed people!

09/25/2026

It's great to see that some residents in Missoula are taking matters into their own hands and trying their best to help the bears. Bear activity changes with seasons, and it's neat when communities are aware of fall as the time to step up and keep our wild friends wild. Our Bears & Apples program gleans thousands of pounds of apples from residential locations and helps to keep bears moving along and out of harm's way.

One Missoula resident is doing his part by distributing flyers in his neighborhood. You are welcome to make copies of this and distribute yourselves. It's important for people to know that bears are moving through- we want to keep them moving on and out of residential areas. They will be in their dens around the middle of December.

09/23/2026

Amid a record-breaking year of Western bear-human conflict, the historically tolerant Red Lodge community is grappling with conflicting views on how to live with the species — and whether a 'fed bear' really should be a 'dead bear.'

09/22/2026

We are all about keeping everyone safe and bears wild! 
We offer this service to our community free of charge and rely on an incredible group of volunteers to help us out. This is what you support when you support the Great Bear Foundation.


09/14/2026

This is becoming an awesome tradition with the University of Montana in Missoula. Last weekend, student volunteers with UM Experiential Learning and Career Success and gleaned fruit trees at five locations in the valley. The GBF team with local Missoula volunteers gleaned at two more properties and removed approximately 850 pounds of fruit from trees in areas where bears have been searching for food. The goal is to keep bears eating their natural foods and allow them to stay in the wild and safe from human conflict.

Big shout out to the Experiential Learning Program Manager, Jenah Mead, and her team- Elysa, Tayloe, Bonnie, and all the student volunteers. It was very uplifting to see how many people signed up for this day to help the bears.

The crew took the apples away, donated some of the perfect fruit to our local community, then had an apple pressing session with the presses from Missoula Urban Demonstration Project (MUD) to top off a really great day.

Thanks to the residents who welcomed us to their land, we are happy to help you keep bears safe. If you live in Missoula and would like help getting fruit off your trees, please email: [email protected].

09/12/2026

Some great tips for keeping people and bears safe from our colleagues at People and Carnivores!

09/11/2026

Shout out to communities with bears. 🐻🐻‍❄️

How are bears in your area doing today? At our Montana office in Missoula, we are working hard to remove fruit from trees in the valley to avoid human-bear conflict. It’s a rough food year and bears are being seen feasting on trash and fruit trees. Lots of bear s**t around.

Thanks to the pickers and residents who are helping us keep bears wild.

So how are things going where you live, and what kind of bears do you share the land with?

09/11/2026

09/10/2026

Email [email protected] if you need help removing fruit from your property in Missoula. We have volunteers ready to go this weekend! Due to a challenging food season, bears have been spotted all over town. Let's help keep them wild!

08/29/2026

Home News Releases EDITORIAL: Want to help starving bears? Don't feed them. EDITORIAL: Want to help starving bears? Don't feed them. Statewide Share: John Livingston Southwest Region Public Information Officer 970-759-9590 / [email protected] EDITORIAL: Want to help starving bears?...