Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 36 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Chapter 36.11 - FOREST MANAGEMENT › Subchapter 36.11.4 - State Forest Land Management › Rule 36.11.432 - GRIZZLY BEAR MANAGEMENT AND PROGRAMMATIC RULES

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) The department commits to following
				programmatic rules regarding grizzly bears, which include:
(a) provide written brochures that describe
				risks and concerns regarding humans living and working in bear habitat to
				contractors and their employees conducting forest management activities in
				forested state trust lands prior to start of operations;
(b) provide grizzly bear encounter avoidance
				training to new department personnel within one year of their employment date
				and refreshing the training for veteran employees every five years;
(c) prohibit department employees,
				contractors, and their employees from carrying firearms while on duty, unless
				the person is specifically authorized to carry a firearm under DNRC Policy
				30621 to reduce direct mortality risk for grizzly bears;
(d) minimize human-bear conflicts by
				requiring department personnel, contractors, and their employees to:
(i) store all human or pet food, livestock
				food, garbage, and other attractants in a bear-resistant manner;
(ii) ensure all burnable attractants such as
				food leftovers or bacon grease will not be buried, discarded, or burned in an
				open campfire;
(e)
				minimize construction of new open roads in riparian management zones (RMZs),
				wetland management zones (WMZs), and avalanche chutes to reduce adverse effects
				of open roads on grizzly bear populations, however:
(i) in instances where construction of a new
				open road in an RMZ, WMZ, or avalanche chute is necessary for project or
				near-term management objectives, the department will minimize this occurrence
				to the extent possible and document the circumstances in the environmental
				analysis;
(f) suspend
				all motorized forest management activities within 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) of an
				active den site from the date of discovery through May 31 to protect active
				grizzly bear dens when encountered, unless:
(i) the department confirms that bears have
				vacated the den site vicinity prior to May 31, whereupon the department may
				proceed with the suspended activities;
(g) provide visual screening for grizzly
				bears in RMZs through the implementation of riparian timber harvest prescribed
				in ARM
				36.11.425,
				and in WMZs through implementation prescribed in ARM
				36.11.426;
(h) design helicopter operations
				requiring flights less than 500 meters (1,640 feet) above ground level for
				forest management activities in a manner that avoids or minimizes flight time,
				and where practicable, at least one mile from:
(i) known seasonally important areas in NROH
				or recovery zones;
(ii) scattered
				parcels in rest within recovery zones;
(iii) grizzly bear security zones; and/or
(iv) federally designated security
				core areas in recovery zones to minimize disturbance impacts to grizzly bears;
(i) following federal
				delisting, the department shall:
(i) consider
				grizzly bears as a sensitive species warranting special management
				consideration; and
(ii) adhere to
				the measures contained in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem
				conservation strategy for grizzly bears (Appendix 9 and 10) when on trust land
				management division projects.