Considering the local environmental conditions, it was probably inevitable a grizzly bear would be seen in close proximity to Libby city limits.

A recent Facebook post by a Libby resident living near the elementary school has area folks on the alert for the presence of a male grizzly. 

Two photos from the Sept. 13 Facebook post showed a grizzly bear in the Ski Dale area. One photo was timestamped 1:13 a.m. Sunday morning.

The bear was seen on a game camera in the area of Parmenter Creek Road and Billadeau Road. 

The Libby resident who shared the photos said her brother’s game camera he uses to monitor his cows and chickens recorded the images. The bear was reportedly headed toward Kootenai National Forest land that is interspersed with private land in the area.

“I just wanted to get the word out that a grizzly was in the area,” the resident said. “There’s always plenty of black bears around, but the grizzlies don’t come around very often.”

She did provide an endorsement for bear proof garbage cans.

“Once we started using one, that was it for the bears. They can not get into them,” she said.

Officials recommended the following tips to prevent bears from getting comfortable in a neighborhood:

- Storing and removing attractants, such as grain spills, food waste and scented products, reduces the likelihood that bears will learn to associate buildings, silos and humans with food sources.

- Do not leave out pet food or livestock feed, such as grain, sweet feed, or supplements.

- Secure chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, biodiesel and other products.

- Many attractants can be secured in a hard-sided building. Locks can easily be added to any door with a hasp, padlock or carabineer. Screws or nails protruding out from the door can deter a bear. An unwelcome mat (piece of wood with nails facing up) can also deter a bear.

- Install electric fence (PDF) around vulnerable animals and non-removable attractants such as birthing grounds, sheep-bedding areas, bee aviaries, compost piles, gardens, fruit trees, berry bushes and corn fields.

- Creep feeders, molasses and mineral blocks should be placed in open areas where livestock can easily view the area before entering. Placement away from brush decreases the chance of livestock loss and reduces the chance of a bear using these products.

- Don’t let grizzly bears linger in your yard because this can lead to habituation.

- Notify your neighbors if you do observe a grizzly bear in the area to help make others aware.

A substantial rain and wind storm in the middle of April blew the blossoms off shrubs that provide the food bears bank on, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear conflict specialist Garrett Tovey told The Western News a few weeks ago.

Service berries, thimble berries, hucks, choke cherries and hawthorns were all affected and by the middle of May, conflict calls had plateaued and still haven't ended, Tovey said.

Tovey spoke to The Western News Monday morning and provided an update.

“We always like to remind people anywhere in Montana is bear country,” he said. “In this case we’ve put up game cameras in the area and want to keep monitoring it if possible. In the past 24 hours, the bear hasn’t been seen and we don’t have any plans to trap it yet. 

“Certainly, with it in close proximity to the elementary school, we take that seriously and we would err on the side of human safety,” Tovey said. “But we remind people if they see a grizzly, particularly close to town to call us as soon as possible so we can plan how to handle it.”

Tovey said the man’s chickens had electric fence around them, but not the cows. The plan is to put electric fence where the cows are. 

“We plan to remedy that today,” he said.

Tovey said one encouraging thing about the grizzly was that it looked to be very healthy.

“That’s a good sign that it looks well fed,” he said. “Bears wander a lot, even in good food years, and normally they are never seen, but with the amount of game cams out, Ring cameras and others, bears and other animals are seen a lot more.”

The last time a grizzly bear was reported seen in and around city limits was late October 2021 and it was the same area as this bear. Officials with FWP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service trapped a male grizzly near Parmenter Creek Road in late October that year and it was moved to a remote location in the southern Cabinet Mountains.

That 2021 grizzly is not the same bear that was seen recently near Ski Dale. That bear was moved into the Yaak and accidentally shot by hunters during the 2026 spring black bear season. Grizzlies are still listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and hunting of them in the lower 48 states is not allowed.

USFWS Cabinet/Yaak Ecosystem Program grizzly bear biologist Wayne Kasworm said he had seen the photos of the Ski Dale bear and noted it didn’t have a collar or ear tags.

Federal officials who trap grizzlies do so on national forest land to monitor their populations. Using collars and ear tags is an identifier for a specific bear.

Tovey explained that when FWP traps a bear it can be for a variety of reasons.

“Not all bears that are tagged have had conflicts or are considered a ‘problem’ animal,” he said. “If we tranquilize a bear for any reason, we have to tag it because if a hunter harvests it, they need to know that so they don’t ingest the meat because the drug may still be present in its system.”

In terms of food conditions in 2021, he recalled it to be an average year for fruit and berries in the region. But many have said 2026 is one of the worst for natural foods in recent memory.

With more people living in remote areas, bear conflicts have been on the rise for several years across Montana as their numbers increase, but the lack of natural food is making 2026 particularly troublesome.

According to FWP, two young adult grizzly bears were euthanized the week of Sept. 6 after a series of conflicts with chicken coops, grain and other attractants near homes in the community of Lincoln in Lewis and Clark County in the upper Blackfoot Valley.

Northwest Montana saw a grizzly bear attack on the evening of Aug. 31 in the Flathead Valley when a female bear mauled a woman walking her dog on the Cedar Flats trail complex north of Columbia Falls. 

Evidence indicated the bear had at least one cub. Investigators also found a cached whitetail deer carcass about 100 yards off the trail. The victim’s dog sustained no injuries and has since been reunited with family.  

While huckleberries are scarce in some places, other productive patches remain. In these areas, bears may be especially protective of the food they’ve found. When recreating in bear habitat, follow these safety tips:

- Carry bear spray where it’s easily accessible and know how to use it.

- Stay alert and watch for signs of bear activity, especially in areas with limited visibility.

- Travel in groups and keep members close together.

- Make noise to avoid surprising a bear, especially in dense vegetation or near running water.

- Avoid traveling at night, dawn or dusk.

- Steer clear of carcass sites or areas with scavenger activity.

For more information, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management/bear/be-bear-aware/living-bear-country.

Residents should report bear activity around Libby to Tovey at 406-291-1320 or at [email protected].