If you do, repeatedly, and you get caught, you may end up paying fines of $50 or $100 per offense.
The draft ordinance came to City Council on Monday night. Ward 2 Councilman Don Nicholson sent the measure back to committee; it could return as soon as mid-October.
“We're lucky to live in Montana. We have so much large wildlife. There are benefits and challenges with living with urban wildlife,” Marler said.
Marler extended invitations to officials from Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to come to the subcommittee to talk about deer. That led to the subjects of bear and other good-sized animals.
State law already prohibits the feeding of wildlife, but the law is tough to enforce, said Dan Curtin of FWP. He's been a game warden for 23 years. He asked Marler to push an anti-feeding ordinance in Missoula to help cut down on the growth of the urban deer herds and the foraging opportunities for bears.
“It's a safety issue. Mountain lions follow large deer herds into town,” Curtin said.
Convenient, easy-to-reach food also causes deer and bear and other mammals to group together in ways that never happen in the wild. That can help spread diseases, such as brucellosis and chronic wasting disease, Curtin said.
Wildlife management takes a variety of tools.
“I think a feeding ordinance is a really good first step,” Curtin said.
Not everyone thinks so.
Brian Walter of Grant Creek told the council Monday night that he doesn't want the ordinance to apply to his narrow, deer-filled valley. He didn't like the process that produced the draft ordinance, he said, and he doesn't like its coercive nature.
“I have given my recommendations to chairwoman Marler,” Walter said. “I'm sorry to say that some of my comments have not been incorporated.”
Walter said he likes the deer in Grant Creek.
“We don't want management of wildlife in the area. We like having wildlife around,” he said. “There is absolutely no need to artificially manage the numbers of wildlife. We have ample space to accommodate them.”
More palatable measures to cut down on collisions with deer would be weed control along roadsides, lower nighttime speed limits and support for more shuttles between the bottom of Grant Creek Road and the Snowbowl ski area, Walter said.
Walter asked the council to consider the “handicapped and elderly whose whole world can be what they see from their window. A few birds or a couple of newborn fawns,” he said.
Others spoke in favor of the ordinance.
Erin Edge of the nonprofit Brown Bear Resources said bear activity in the Rattlesnake neighborhood increased remarkably in 2004. She and others organized locals to educate residents of the area about the importance of eliminating attractants such as garbage left outside for days at a time. Education only helps so much, though, Edge said. The efforts led to conflicts with neighbors in some cases.
“Unfortunately, we realized it won't solve the problem,” Edge said.
The bear problem has worsened, too. Bears have walked up to people in the daytime. Black bears have actually changed behavior; adult males are hanging out together, feeding on garbage.
“There have been no mortalities, no attacks, but it could happen,” Edge said. “There are situations in which writing a ticket is the only way to get through to some people.”
If passed, the ordinance would prohibit the feeding of “skunks, foxes, raccoons, bats, wolves, wolf-hybrids, bobcats, bears, mountain lions, deer, elk and any other species of normally non-domesticated animals and waterfowl.”
The ordinance would make it unlawful to leave out feed or attractants. The measure would even address unfenced vegetable gardens and bird feeders that bears can get to. The first offense would result in a warning citation. The next citation would draw a $50 fine. Further offenses would result in $100 fines.
Reporter Robert Struckman can be reached at 523-5262 or rstruckman@missoulian.com
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