Campsite Bear Bins Keep People Safe and Bears Wild

Five metal storage containers were installed at the Bear Creek Campground in July, completing the deployment of 39 bear-proof containers that were delivered to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in 2024 as part of a partnership between the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the U.S. Forest Service to keep people safe and bears wild. 

On a hot, sunny, and unusually humid July morning in southwest Montana's Madison Valley, three GYC colleagues and I joined a partner from the Forest Service to install the bear bins. With these final five containers, each campsite at the Bear Creek Campground now has a designated bin. 

GYC staff from left to right: Grace Lemen, Julia Barton, Erin Steva, and Sierra Harris. Photo GYC.

Grizzly bear populations are making a remarkable comeback, and as they return to forests like the Beaverhead-Deerlodge—and more people than ever are living and recreating in bear country. When used properly, these containers reduce conflicts between people and bears and keep bears from becoming habituated.   

The boxes are easy to open—assuming you have opposable thumbs and not big bear paws—by pulling a latch inside the covered handle. Campers should then store all food and other bear-enticing items like toiletries, dog food, and trash inside the box. Once the door is pushed securely closed, the box’s contents are out of reach from bears and other critters. Remember: These boxes aren’t trash cans. Please take everything you put in box with you when you leave. 

Installing a large, bear-proof, metal box is relatively simple. First, we moved the bins into place, arranging them to be accessible for campsite users. The boxes are then secured to a steel pipe that is buried and cemented into the ground.  

Digging holes for the pipes was sweaty work. You can't go more than a couple of inches into the soil before hearing the resonant thunk of hitting a stone here in the Rocky Mountains of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It's a worthwhile endeavor, though, and quick work when divided among the five of us.  

Once the concrete had been poured and the pipes secured to the bear boxes using large U-bolts, the project was complete and we headed home. 

It's not always the case with conservation work that we get to see the fruits of our labors on the landscape in as tangible a way as these bear boxes—and the full effort of installing these bear boxes was more than just a morning of digging. This project is the culmination of years of work collaborating with the Forest Service and other partners to fund, manufacture, deliver, and install these containers that benefit people and wildlife. It goes to show that when we work together, we can accomplish great things. 

GYC staff worked together with a Forest Service employee to install five bear-proof storage containers at the Bear Creek Campground in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Photos GYC/Julia Barton.

GYC has helped secure more than 160 Forest Service campgrounds like this one with the installation of roughly 1,200 bear-proof containers across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s five national forests.  

This continues to be an important partnership between GYC and the Forest Service. As visitation to the GYE and occupied grizzly bear habitat increases, so too does the need for conflict prevention and wildlife management agency support. 

Thank you to The Shipley Foundation, The Harder Foundation, and The Volgenau Foundation for helping to fund this impactful bear conflict reduction work. 

We're able to do this work because of supporters like you. Please consider joining our mailing list to stay up to date on future projects. 

– Julia Barton, Communications Associate [Bozeman, MT]