Areas near Yellowstone National Park are home to both people and grizzly bears, making human/wildlife conflict inevitable. Encounters between people and grizzlies are becoming increasingly common as people move into these areas. Conflict prevention is a vital part of bear conservation and management.

The North Fork Bear Wise Group attempts to minimize human-bear conflicts through effective attractant management, education and outreach. They work to maximize human safety in the North and South Fork of the Shoshone River where human/bear conflicts are endemic, minimize human/bear conflicts caused by improper storage of unnatural attractants, and minimize human-caused bear mortalities. They are working to achieve these goals by (1) minimizing and properly managing unnatural bear attractants; (2) employing bear-resistant waste management systems; and (3), employing a public outreach program to reduce knowledge gaps about bears and conflicts. Melissa Lindsay of the Minnesota Zoo Foundation championed this conservation and education project.