FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Contact:
Nathan Owens, Policy Director
Heart of the Rockies Initiative
801.870.0670
State Secures Funds to Help Landowners Prevent Wildlife Conflicts
Investment will bolster range rider programs, build electric fencing, and limit wildlife attractants in rural communities
MISSOULA, MT — The State of Montana has received new funds to help landowners and rural communities proactively reduce conflicts with grizzly bears.
Nearly $5 million has been awarded to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The historic investment in working lands is the result of a diverse public-private partnership of landowner-led groups, nonprofits, including the Heart of the Rockies Initiative and National Parks Conservation Association, and federal and state agencies who are working to expand the use of conflict prevention tools.
New funding will be available over the next three years to help landowners adopt non-lethal conflict prevention tools including carcass removal programs and electric fencing, hire range riders and expand the use of bear-resistant garbage infrastructure and services. The Montana-based Heart of the Rockies Initiative will work in partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to help producers access these new resources.
“These resources help meet a growing demand from producers and landowners who are on the frontlines sharing landscapes with expanding populations of grizzly bears,” said Nathan Owens, Policy Director for Heart of the Rockies Initiative. “Preventing wildlife conflicts before they happen can help maintain the long-term viability of Montana’s agricultural producers and make it easier for wildlife to move from one place to another.”
$12 Million Combined Investment
The newly awarded funding complements a previously announced grant from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Regional Conservation Partnership Program that will deliver an additional $6-7 million to Montana. Similarly, this program aims to support producer adoption of electric fencing, carcass management, and range riding practices. Together, these two programs will make a total of $12 million available over the next five years to enhance wildlife conflict prevention efforts across Montana.
Initial resources from these investments are expected to hit the ground this fall for members of the Landowner-Led Conflict Reduction Partnership who are already delivering conflict prevention programs. Additional funding opportunities will be made available for Tribal wildlife agencies, communities, and individual producers to help cost-share the adoption of new electric fencing, carcass removal, range riding, and rural sanitation programs.
To ensure Montana landowners know how to access these funding opportunities, Heart of the Rockies Initiative will be teaming up with local producers, as well as agency and nonprofit partners to host a series of community workshops across western Montana this winter and spring.
“Whether it’s battling weeds, responding to drought, or reducing conflicts between wildlife and ranchers, we get more done when we work together,” said Yvonne Martinell, a rancher in the Centennial Valley. “I’m encouraged to see more investments that help landowners put wildlife conflict prevention tools in place, keep agriculture viable, and steward wildlife habitat.”
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Heart of the Rockies Initiative was founded in 2002 as a partnership of local, regional, and national land trusts with a common objective to increase the pace of durable private land conservation in the Transboundary Rocky Mountains. Today, Heart of the Rockies Initiative partners with 29 local, regional, and national land trust members to find lasting, locally-driven solutions to the social-ecological challenges across the region. In addition to our work with land trust members, as an inherently collaborative organization, we partner with a variety of groups working toward similar goals to bring more funding to the region and help meet the demand of landowners and rural residents to conserve and manage their properties and communities. Learn more at www.heart-of-rockies.org.
