Join the Montana Conflict Reduction Consortium (CRC) for a webinar on novel funding opportunities supporting communities managing wildlife-livestock conflicts and to engage with producers and practitioners developing community-led solutions to natural resource challenges. 

The Montana CRC, convened by Western Landowners Alliance, is a diverse, landowner-led network of partners working to reduce wildlife-livestock conflicts and support working landscapes in Montana. This group is working to further community and place-based efforts that reduce wildlife conflicts and support the economic viability of rural communities in the State.

Place-based groups lift community needs, while finding areas of agreement and shared purpose to meet a variety of resource challenges. Examples of these groups within Montana include the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group, Big Hole Watershed Committee, the Blackfoot Challenge, and the Centennial Valley Association. 

These groups, many of which are landowner and livestock producer-led, may include all or part of a particular community and offer a way to meaningfully engage state and federal wildlife agencies, non-profit organizations and other stakeholder groups to achieve community needs and  outcomes supporting working lands and wildlife. 

Within this webinar, presenters and panelists will convey how these groups form, focus conflicting ideas towards shared vision, and move ideas to implementation. 

This will be paired with information on the Montana Community-Bear Conflict Prevention Efforts Fund fall opportunity, of which place-based groups are eligible to apply. This funding opportunity is made possible through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, in partnership with Heart of the Rockies Initiative. Requests for proposals will be made available in mid-to late-August, prioritizing community-led projects that work to reduce grizzly bear conflicts. 

Whether you’re a ranch manager, landowner, or conservation partner, this is your chance to learn ways to support the resilience of communities throughout Montana and develop and fund projects addressing human-bear conflicts.