By Ellis Juhlin
As grizzly bear populations grow in Montana there are increasing conflicts with livestock and the state needs more money to pay ranchers for the losses.
To accommodate higher rates of predation, the Montana Livestock Loss Board has requested an additional nearly $150,000 to reimburse ranchers for the loss of their animals, a nearly 50 percent increase from two years ago.
The board’s director George Edwards told lawmakers on the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee that livestock loss numbers have doubled in the last decade, which he attributes to the state’s growing grizzly population.