Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • FA L L 2 0 1 6 82 F O R T H E L o v e O F . . . ANOTHER OUSTANDING MONTANA NONPROFIT. G R E AT B E A R F O U N D AT I O N BACKGROUND AND MISSION In 1982, a pair of enthusiastic University of Montana graduate students walked into the office of wildlife biology professor and pioneering bear biologist, Dr. Charles Jonkel, fired up about the plight of the grizzly bear. e students, Frank Ponikvar and Bill Callaghan, had hatched a plan to start an organization that would be a voice for the bear, and they wanted Dr. Jonkel to lend his scientific expertise. is was a time when grizzly populations were declining due to overhunting and habitat loss, and these men's passion resulted in the formation of the Great Bear Foundation (GBF), a nonprofit located in Missoula that works for the conservation of the world's eight bear species and their habitats, primarily through education, grassroots commu- nity action, and research. PROGRAMS e Bears and Apples Project is a popular GBF pro- grams. roughout western Montana, domestic fruit trees attract bears to residential areas with the lure of a sweet, easy food source that costs the bears little energy to access. In years when wild berry crops fail, backyard apple, pear, apricot, and plum trees become even more attractive to bears. e Great Bear Foundation works to solve this prob- lem by organizing volunteers to help local residents harvest their fruit before the bears do. Volunteers can make cider using GBF's press at Garden City Harvest's River Road garden, and GBF donates excess fruit to people in need around the Missoula area. e program gets people outside, makes good use of a healthy, local food source, and helps prevent human-bear conflict. GBF realizes that children are both the future of con- servation. us, GBF offers free, high-quality educational programs on bear ecology, bear safety, and Montana wildlife to schools and youth groups free of charge. GBF's education staff inspires and reaches kids through hands on projects like making plaster casts of wildlife tracks that kids can bring CONTACT INFORMATION: Great Bear Foundation PO Box 9383 Missoula, Montana 59807 406-829-9378 BY SHANNON DONAHUE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GBF Program Co-ordinator, Elissa Chott, with founder, Chuck Jonkel, making plaster wildlife tracks THE GREAT BEAR FOUNDATION'S MOTTO IS "GIVING VOICE TO BEAR"

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