Repeat offenders pay the price

SEELEY LAKE – Around Father's Day, Federal Officer Tyler Robinson responded to a call north of Seeley Lake. A homeowner left more than six bags of trash out on their porch and a black bear found them. Robinson tried to run the bear off that night and it continued to return. While he had permission from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to dispatch the bear, it was too dark.

The next day Robinson cited the homeowner for $230. He also asked them to call when the bear returned. Even though he is certain the bear returned, Robinson was never called.

The bear continued to cause problems north of Seeley Lake all summer ripping into sheds to access garbage, getting into uncontained attractants around Seeley Lane and repeatedly breaking into a garage. The black bear was trapped and euthanized last week.

After incidents like this that encouraged food conditioning, Robinson launched a new program named "Operation Oso." He will continue educating residents, new homeowners and visitors but will target repeat offenders with increased fines. Offenders could face up to $3,000 in restitution and more than $1,000 in fines for a third offense.

"You see people making foolish, lazy mistakes and then you get to see the repercussions of the bear being put down," Robinson said.

Robinson said he has heard all the excuses about attractants. He said bears have been documented out every month of the year. Containing garbage, animal feed, livestock and other attractants are the responsibility of those who live here or are visiting.

"There is no excuse that really works," Robinson said.

Operation Oso varies slightly depending on the location of the incident.

Because he is cross deputized, Robinson can act under state authority as a game warden on private property not adjacent to Forest Service lands. The state requires all first offenders receive a warning and are educated before a citation can be issued.

Robinson and other bear managers in the area actively work to educate the public on proper food and attractant containment. Robinson said it is the responsibility of the property owner or the property management to not only follow food storage orders themselves but also ensure they are educating their guests and enforcing proper food storage. This can be done through information pamphlets and adding the responsibility to secure attractants in the rental agreement.

"The permittee will hold the responsibility unless they are making the efforts to educate," Robinson said. "They need to know and understand this."

Landlords and vacation rental owners also must provide proper storage for their guests' trash making sure there are bear resistant options provided and the containers are emptied often enough so they are not overflowing. Robinson has the authority to find out whose trash is overflowing a dumpster and warn or ticket the individuals for not properly storing their garbage.

"I'll try and cover all the bases to help you and talk to everyone I can," Robinson said. "But I've got to make it stop. When it continues then I have all the tools in my toolbox to start writing tickets."

Operation Oso on National Forest Lands and land adjacent to Forest Land is much stricter.

On the first violation of the food storage order, Robinson can either warn the person or give them a federal ticket for $230, a Class B misdemeanor. The second time, with the authority of his supervisor, Robinson can double the bond amount to $460.

The third offense, the bond for the criminal offense is tripled to $690. In addition, Robinson will ask the federal court to award restitution for the bear - $1,000 for a black bear and $3,000 for a grizzly bear.

"On the third offense you bought the bear - congratulations you now own a bear," Robinson said. "Typically we have to put the bear down. It would surprise the public to know how many black bears we put down due to human error."

Robinson said the $1,000 restitution for the black bear would go to the State Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks because they manage black bears. The $3,000 would probably go to the US Fish and Wildlife Service since they are federal, threatened and endangered.

"It doesn't come back to my agency," Robinson said. "We are just trying to deter dealing with the same problem people over and over again."

Another incident this summer reported through TIP MONT occurred on Forest Service land. A resident hosted a pig roast and when the roast was done, the pig head was put in the woods with game cameras on it to see what came in. Robinson said when questioned by law enforcement the resident "was very honest." He said a grizzly and two black bears visited the pig's head which had since been removed.

The resident received a $230 ticket. They may face other penalties through the Seeley Lake Ranger District but those were not released.

FWP Bear Manager Jamie Jonkel told another story about a food-conditioned black bear. It started getting into garbage stored under a cabin on Placid Lake back in June. The bear's behavior escalated to breaking into cabins and vehicles around Placid Lake. Robinson said FWP trapped and killed the bear Saturday, Sept. 3.

"Always in the end, wildlife pays the price," Robinson said. "We need to keep in mind that we moved here, they were here before we were. And we need to be good stewards of the land, wildlife and resources. We need to learn how to live with them."

While Jonkel said there have been less incidents since the two "professional" bears were removed, there have been reports of a black bear hanging around The Lodges on Seeley Lake, a bear that got into a rabbit hutch and chicken coop out by Kozy Korner and four or five grizzly bears in the area. Jonkel said the grizzlies have not been causing problems.

Jonkle added they have hundreds of bears that have lowered their tolerance to humans and moved into more populated areas in and around Missoula due to food failure in the wildlands. From mid-August through October bear activity increases as they go into hyperphagia. Hyperphagia is a period of excessive eating and drinking to prepare their fat reserves for winter. As things continue to dry out and natural foods become scarcer around Seeley Lake, he expects bears to move into town. He asks the public to continue to be diligent about containing their attractants including garbage, livestock, dog food, grain and not hanging bird feeders.

The public is also encouraged to stop at the Seeley Lake Ranger District or the Missoula FWP office on Spurgin Road to get more information about living responsibly in bear country. They can also get informational pamphlets to share with renters and visitors.

"We pay people to man our front desk and to help with these educational things," Robinson said. "Please come to our office to get educated before you go."