Respect Wildlife
We share the outdoors with a variety of animals who make the forest their home. Remember, these are not pets. Keep a safe distance from them and be careful not to disturb their habitat.
Bear Safety and Food Storage Information
The Lolo National Forest is home to both black and grizzly bears. Depending on the weather, location and other factors, bears in Montana may be out of their dens from mid-March through into November. Stay Bear Aware!
Safety Around Bears
Mountain bikers, trail runners, and other recreationists take note and read this detailed information on recreating in bear country! When you are on the trails, expect bears to be present. Moving quickly on a trail increases your chance of surprising a bear.
Recreating in Bear Country
- Be alert for things like fresh bear tracks or scat, ripe berry patches, and animal carcasses.
- Avoid riding and running in early morning or late evening when bears are most active, and light is limited.
- Don’t listen to music, podcasts, or other recordings.
- Use your ears to listen for animal movement and vocalizations. These can be key warnings to help you actively avoid encounters.
Slow down in areas with a poor line of sight, in dense brush, and near creeks.
Remember that ambient noise like running water and wind can make it difficult for you to hear animals and for them to hear you.
Alerting animals to your presence before you are close allows them to retreat and avoid an encounter with you entirely. Hit the trail with friends and be “naturally noisy.” People in groups tend to talk and laugh. Keep your group together. If your group falls silent or if you are alone, make regular noises by shouting out, clapping your hands, or using a loud noisemaker. Remember that bears are often engaged in foraging activities and are not always paying close attention to their surroundings.
Dogs can complicate or create bear encounters. Dogs off-leash often range ahead or off the trail well beyond their human companions. Sometimes dogs that find a bear turn and run back to their humans, bringing the bear with them. Barking, even while on-leash, can agitate a bear and make it feel defensive. Consider leaving your dog at home when recreating in bear country or always keep it on a leash or under full control near you.
Fast-paced recreation increases your risk of encountering and startling a bear due to your speed and lack of warning noise. Hikers, bikers and runners have been seriously injured by bears. Surprised bears are more likely to be defensive. Increased speed reduces both your ability to see around you and your reaction time.
Carry bear spray and know how to use it. Keep it on your person where you can reach it, not on your bike or in your pack. Practice using bear spray before you need it. Practice grabbing the can and disengaging the safety. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on use. Practicing using bear spray will help you be mentally prepared in an encounter with a bear.
Your response to encountering a bear should be based on its behaviors, not just on what species it is. Do not run, this can trigger a chase response. If you have a bike, keep your bike between you and the bear. Have your bear spray available and ready. Talk calmly and quietly to help the bear identify you as human. Slowly back away. If charged, stand your ground and use your bear spray. When the bear stops advancing, continue slowly backing away. If the bear makes physical contact, protect your head and neck, play dead, use your bear spray.
Visit Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Bear Safety for more on recreating in grizzly country.
Food Storage Orders and Information
Proper storage of food, garbage and other attractants is important to keeping you and future visitors safe. Although bear aggression toward people and human injury is rare, incidents may occur during a surprise encounter, the protection of cubs, a defense of a food cache, or when bears have become accustomed to obtaining food associated with humans.
The Food Storage Special Order (R1-2023-02) requires food storage practice across the Forest to reduce the potential for human-wildlife encounters.
Food, carcasses, and attractants must be stored in a bear-resistant container or stored in a bear-resistant manner if they are unattended on all Lolo National Forest lands. These same items must also be stored in a bear resistant manner in camp at night, unless they are being consumed, prepared for transport or storage. Please review the special order see the food storage order and map for additional details.
A bear resistant container that has been approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Most bear-resistant containers sold in local outdoor retail stores meet these requirements. Please visit
Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee - Certified Bear-Resistant Products for more information.
Stored in a bear resistant manner means hung 10 feet off the ground and four feet horizontally from a tree or other structure; stored in a hard-sided camper; vehicle trunk, or cab or trailer cab: in a hard-sided building or stored using an electric fence.
Carcasses within a 1/2-mile of any camp or sleeping area or within 200 yards of a National Forest System Trail shall be stored in a bear-resistant manner by the responsible party (unless the carcass is being field dressed, transported, being prepared for eating, or being prepared for storage). If a wildlife carcass is within an attended camp during daytime hours, it may be on the ground.
Attractants are things like leftover food, bacon grease, etc. They cannot be buried, burned in an open campfire, or left behind in camp. All attractants must be stored in a sealed container and packed out with garbage – or placed in a container and burned so that the contents do not leach into the ground.
Additional Resources on Bear Safety
- Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks - Bears in Montana
- Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Be Bear Aware
- Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee – Bear Safety / Bear Pepper Spray
- Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee - Certified Bear-Resistant Products
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -Tips for Living and Recreating in Grizzly Bear Country