There may be no better way to talk about bears than over a glass of fresh-pressed apple cider. 

That’s the idea behind Alberton’s first-ever Alberton Apple Festival, set for Saturday, Oct. 3, from noon to 4 p.m. at Hank Roat Memorial Park. The festival will celebrate the fall apple harvest with cider pressing, live music, farmers market vendors, family yard games and plenty of bear education. It is also an opportunity to introduce more people to the work of Bear Smart Alberton, a community group that has spent the past several years trying to find better ways for people and bears to coexist.

“Bears have been attracted to Alberton in search of food throughout the town’s 117-year history,” said Jennifer Fortin-Noreus of Wild Solutions Consulting LLC and a community coordinator for Bear Smart Alberton. 

The Bear Smart Alberton Working Group began in 2022 after students witnessed police shoot a black bear in front of the school, she said. That incident became a catalyst for a community effort that has grown considerably since then.

“Historically, most bears that came into conflict with humans were shot, but since attractants remained, this did not reduce conflicts over time,” Fortin-Noreus explained. 

Those conflicts can take many forms, from garbage cans on decks and in driveways and small livestock being killed to damaged fruit trees and bears breaking into homes and outbuildings. On rare occasions, there have also been direct encounters between bears and people. The school has been placed on lockdown multiple times because of bears in the middle of town.

Depending on natural food availability, Alberton can see as many as 10 black bears moving through town on late summer and fall nights. Over the past three decades, bears in the area have been trapped and relocated, killed in vehicle strikes or malicious incidents, or removed for management reasons. 

Grizzly bears are expanding their range, and grizzlies have been documented in and around the Alberton area. Several have been recognized at homesites east of town in the past two years. 

That history is why Bear Smart Alberton has focused on preventing conflicts before they happen. The group recently established a formal board that includes representatives from the nonprofit Brovold Orchard, a schoolteacher, the community coordinator, a Town Council member, the mayor and other community members. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bear Specialist Jamie Jonkel serves as an advisor. 

This month, Bear Smart Alberton also officially received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. The group is working with the local government, sanitation industry, nonprofit organizations and other partners on the steps necessary to make Alberton a Bear Smart Community. That work includes completing a Community Hazard Assessment, developing an Attractant Reduction Management Plan, providing educational presentations and reducing the attractants that bring bears into town. 

The Alberton Town Council has approved both a resolution of intent to become a Bear Smart Community and a resolution adopting the management plan drafted by the working group. 

One of the group's biggest projects has been getting bear-resistant garbage cans into the community. With grant funding from the America the Beautiful Foundation and cooperation from Republic Services, Bear Smart Alberton has provided bear-resistant garbage cans to residents at no cost. The project has been completed in two phases, beginning in town and working outward. 

The group has spent approximately $67,800 on the cans so far and has funding available for more. Because Alberton does not currently have an ordinance requiring bear-resistant garbage cans, residents can choose whether to participate. 

Bear Smart Alberton is now assessing how many additional cans will be needed for a third phase, particularly for residents south of the Clark Fork River. The organization is also working with Defenders of Wildlife to build a bear-resistant fence around a composting facility at Alberton School.

The Apple Festival grew out of that same philosophy: address a bear attractant while bringing the community together to have some fun. Apple trees are a particularly tempting food source for bears in the fall. The festival will encourage residents to harvest their apples rather than leave an easy meal hanging in the trees. 

“We’re hoping to build off of it in future years as we nail down the basics,” Fortin-Noreus said. 

The apple harvest may be somewhat unpredictable this year because a late spring frost killed blossoms on some trees in the area. That means the amount of cider produced on Saturday will depend largely on how many apples community members bring to the festival. Residents are encouraged to bring their own apples and their own containers for cider. 

Mayor Loreen Felstet said the event has been a long time coming. 

“Our BSA has done remarkable work in researching and gathering local information since these bruins seem to enjoy living here as much as we do,” she said with a laugh. “We’ve been working together as a community and this group is proactive and it will be a special day to address the issue in a family atmosphere.” 

The community will begin gleaning apples from area trees on Friday, with the fruit being pressed Saturday for everyone to sample. Residents can bring their own containers, or growlers of fresh apple juice will be available for $5. 

“They can even bring their own apples and we’ll press them so they can take home their own crop,” Felstet said and emphasized that the event is a FUNdraiser and that people should come prepared to enjoy themselves.

The festival will also provide an opportunity to learn what to do when a bear and a human cross paths. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff will offer information and free bear-spray training. The training uses practice cans and a robotic grizzly that simulates a charging bear, giving participants an opportunity to learn how bear spray works without facing an actual bear. 

Those who participate in the training will also be entered into a drawing for a specialized trailer hitch designed to help residents with remote locations or long driveways haul heavy, bear-resistant garbage cans with a pickup.

The Alberton Farmers Market, normally held Thursdays, will help set up at the festival and live music will add to the afternoon. Families can also enjoy yard games while learning more about the bears that share the Alberton landscape. 

Lisa Richard Doramus, owner of Down Home Baking has had firsthand sighting of a mother bear and at least two cubs a few years back, so she’s on board with the festival for safety concerns, but also for the atmosphere. 

“I am excited to be able to join in this event.  Having more events for the smaller communities is so important and Bear Smart is such a good program. Joining with Brovold Orchard also builds their visibility as well and the community efforts they make,” she said. 

Doramus has been a staple of the Alberton Farmers Market and will be bringing all sorts of apple goodies to sell. 

For Fortin-Noreus and the Bear Smart Alberton Working Group, the goal isn't simply to keep bears out of town. It is to change the way the community thinks about attractants and bear encounters so that fewer bears end up in situations where wildlife managers must intervene. 

The Alberton Apple Festival offers a simple message wrapped in a little fall fun: pick the apples, protect the garbage, learn about bears and enjoy the cider. For a community that has lived alongside bears for more than a century, it may be a good recipe for the future.