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est. Sept. 22, 2004
September 18, 2024
Vol. 21, No. 1
AI for Ag pg. 6
BEAU BIGGS PHOTO
Becoming
Monster unveiled pg. 14
CANVA PHOTO
Bear Aware
Fruit gleaning to reduce bear conflicts emphasized at wildlife festival By Beau Biggs for the Valley Journal
Sports pg. 16
RONAN — During the Fourth Annual Wildlife Festival on Saturday, a free cider pressing, information on fruit gleaning and chronic wasting disease were offered to the public. The event, held Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Ronan Visitor Center,
also came with an opportunity to speak with CSKT Wildlife biologists. Biologist Kaylie Durglo explained the purpose of the event is to encourage people to remove outside food sources, such as apples, to reduce potential bear, human conflict. “If the fruit isn’t collected, it is a delicious
treat for bears and an easy food source,” she said. She continued: “At first, we wanted to set up a way to educate people with solutions on what to do with extra fruit, and then, the event just became a festival.” For help with extra fruit, Durglo recommends people
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contact the Mission Valley Fruit Gleaning group. She said the group can be found on Facebook. She also recommends using bear-proof trash cans. In a press release about September being proclaimed “Bear Aware Month,” Montana Fish Wildlife
see page 2