CHOTEAU — Montana's growing grizzly bear population is expanding into front range communities like Choteau, prompting renewed calls for federal delisting as residents grapple with safety concerns in their own backyards.
"There are so many bears that they are really comfortable in human habitat, and that's really challenging for people like us to live with," said Karli Johnson, a Choteau rancher.
Watch: Grizzly bear populations expand in Montana
Johnson lives half a mile from Choteau Elementary School and has surrounded her yard with an electric fence after a close encounter with a grizzly bear.
"A young female bear walked through our yard in broad daylight, and we had a 4-year-old...and the only reason he wasn't out there at that time is because it was windy," Johnson said.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed grizzly bears in the lower 48 states as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1975.
At that time, officials estimated there were at most 800 grizzlies in the entirety of the contiguous United States.
Today, there are an estimated more than 1,000 grizzlies in just the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which includes the Choteau area.
"This is my hometown. I ranched here. We had grizzly bear conflicts constantly," said Christy Clark, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
Clark, who is also Johnson's mother, said the issue is personal for her.
"The bears are fine, let's talk about the people living in this impacted area," Clark said.
Bears and delisting them have long been a topic of conversation in Montana. Most recently, in January, the federal government denied a petition from Montana and Wyoming to delist grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone ecosystems.
However, delisting could be on the horizon, according to federal officials.
"I can tell you our highest priority is this issue right here," said Joshua Coursey, senior advisor to the director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Coursey joined Clark and Governor Greg Gianforte in Choteau to hear residents' concerns.
"They've obviously had great recovery from what they started at, and they should be the poster child of success, and I can just tell you it's a high priority for us to move in that direction," Coursey said.
"The state of Montana is ready to manage the bear as a fully recovered species," Gianforte said.
For Johnson, the stakes are deeply personal.
"My dream is to be able to have at least one of my kids ride their bike to school," Johnson said.
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