Earlier this month a grizzly bear waltzed into River’s Edge Park and did its best to break into two of the bear-resistant garbage receptacles.

The big grizzly managed to damage one to the point where it no longer worked and battered another one as well. It did not, however, get at the garbage, though it did manage to tip the cans over off their cement bases, which is no small task.

That incident likely is precursor of a long season of bears getting into trouble this year, as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear conflict specialists warned they are already seeing an uptick in bear incidents as the huckleberry and other berries are having a poor yield.

“We’ve responded to an unusually high number of calls this season,” said bear and lion conflict specialist, Justine Vallieres, who responds to calls from Columbia Falls to the Canada border and many points in between.

 As fall approaches and bears enter hyperphagia, a time when they actively seek out extra calories to prepare for winter, specialists expect that call volume to increase

Securing common attractants such as garbage, bird feeders, and fruit trees, can help prevent conflicts before they arise. Bears are resourceful and highly food-motivated, but actions like storing garbage in bear-resistant containers, temporarily removing bird feeders, and protecting fruit trees with electric fencing can greatly reduce the chances of bears lingering in developed areas.

“We really need your help this year,” said Vallieres. “We live in an area with a high density of both black and grizzly bears, and when natural food sources are low, the chance for conflict increases. Being proactive about securing attractants can make a big difference, because even if you haven’t had a bear visit before, there’s always a chance one could pass through.”

Columbia Falls has a law on the books that makes it illegal to not secure garbage and other attractants from bears.

“It is unlawful for a resident, association of residents, or a business to act or fail to act in such a way that results in the accumulation of uncollected refuse, garbage, or rubbish in or on areas of their owned or leased property such that it is readily accessible to undomesticated large predator animals, including but not limited to black bears or grizzly bears,” the law reads.

The city inserted the language into its litter laws in 2023.

Now the council will likely look at bolstering the ordinance, possibly through zoning.

In the meantime, bears are on the move and the weather isn’t expected to more favorable for what berries there are on trees and bushes.

A wet, cold June didn’t help blossoming trees and bushes and a brutally dry and a hot and July  withered many berry bushes like huckleberries and serviceberries, two main bear foods.

As for the garbage cans at River’s Edge Park, the city was able to repair them.