Our Mission
People working to conserve and protect the integrity of our environment and community.
Current Campaigns
Protecting Yellowstone Wolves
This season, 20% of the park’s wolf population was killed (the park typically loses only 2% to 3% of wolves annually to hunting) because of a change in hunting rules surrounding the Yellowstone. Visitors from all over the world come to the park to view Yellowstone wolves. Bear Creek Council is working to protect wolves at the borders of Yellowstone National Park.
Issues We Work On
Bear Awareness Gardiner
Living at the entrance to Yellowstone means living with bears. Bear Awareness Gardiner has helped supply bear-resistant trash cans and bear safety education to residents in and around the north entrance to the park. Contact us if you would like a bear-resistant trash container!
Living with Wildlife
The livelihoods of many Gardiner Basin residents depend on the wildlife in the area. Whether for tourism, research, or outfitting, the wolves, bison, bears, and other wildlife are a high priority to Bear Creek Council.
Bear Creek Council hosted a series of webinars in the Spring of 2021 on safety tips for living with wolves, cougars and bears.
History and Accomplishments
- Hard rock Mining – Local citizens started Bear Creek Council in 1983 after hard rock mining was revived on nearby Bear Creek and adjacent to Yellowstone National Park’s boundary. Since that time, Bear Creek Council has worked to minimize the mine’s impact on the area, including monitoring its reclamation. Bear Creek Council was instrumental in providing oversight of the Darroch-Eagle Timber Sale above Jardine.
- Greening Gardiner – Bear Creek Council has brought solar energy to the Gardiner Basin by putting 24 solar panels on the Gardiner School, leading solar workshops in the community, and doing a solar assessment of public buildings.
- Community Fun – For nearly 30 years Bear Creek Council has hosted the Jardine Ski Run, a cross country race on Mineral Hill, and now each year they also host an annual Holiday Party, highway clean ups, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival and Earth Day outreach activities.
Leadership
Chair
Nathan Varley
Vice Chair
Richard Parks
Secretary
Colette Daigle-Berg
Treasurer
Barbara Ulrich
Northern Plains Board Representative
Barbara Ulrich
Nathan Varley
Community Organizer
Sydney Ausen
sydney@northernplains.org
