HELENA — A Helena woman living north of Canyon Creek has been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution after wardens discovered multiple black bears on her family’s property that were being fed.
“I think this case further exemplifies for us why it's important for people not to feed animals,” said Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Head of Communication Greg Lemon.
(WATCH: Don't feed the bears, Woman ordered to pay $4k in restitution)
Lucrecia Medina pleaded guilty in district court in August 2025 to felony criminal endangerment, and a sentencing hearing was held on January 8, 2026. She had initially also been charged with the unlawful feeding of animals, but those charges were dropped with the plea agreement.
In 2022, Fish, Wildlife, and Parks game wardens received complaints from individuals in the area that bears were being fed on Medina’s father's property, where she also lives.
Visiting the property, wardens observed multiple bears, showing behavior that they were habituated to humans.
After obtaining a warrant, wardens and the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s office found hundreds of pounds of animal feed, but no livestock on the property, and numerous signs of bears.
“Particularly with bears, if bears have come into human attractants, they can get very conditioned to coming back to those food sources again and again,” Lemon said.
Similar food to the feed was also found in bear scat on the property.
Eight total bears were removed from the property, five adult animals were put down by wardens for being habituated to humans, and three cubs were eventually sent to zoos.
At the sentencing hearing, Medina was ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution to FWP and prohibited from feeding wild animals.
Scott Medina is also facing charges in the alleged feeding of bears. A jury trial is currently scheduled for April.
FWP reminds people to secure their attractants, such as animal feed, garbage, and other food sources.
“When you’re in bear country, because that one person that fails to secure attractants, it can cause problems for a whole community, a whole neighborhood,” Lemon said.
Black bears can be dangerous when in close contact with people. The only recorded fatality in Montana from black bears came in 2015, when 85-year-old Barbara Paschke was attacked in her home. FWP found that Paschke regularly fed bears on her property and had been cited in 2012.
