National Park Foundation Awards $165K For Bear Study At Dunes

Oct. 28, 2026

The National Park Foundation has awarded Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes $165,000 for a bear population study.

The money is part of $12 million in “innovation grants” that will support 30 projects at national parks across the country. The purpose of these grants is to “empower parks and park partners to test practical, scalable technologies that can improve visitor experiences, park operations, emergency communications, resource protection, and more.”

According to a statement from the National Park foundation, the Sleeping Bear project money is to:

“Conduct a black bear population and diet study at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore using non-invasive hair snare DNA analysis to better understand a growing bear population, coordinate management with state and tribal partners, and develop strategies to reduce human–bear conflicts as visitor encounters become more common.”

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