Wildlife restoration has seen both triumphs and challenges in the past few decades, but challenges will dominate the future if biologists can’t learn to forge new relationships to overcome intolerance, according to leading Montana biologist.

This week in Missoula, some of the finest wildlife researchers in Montana are attending an annual state meeting of The Wildlife Society to discuss their latest projects and learn of new research on everything from bison to bighorn sheep and beavers. The conference theme is wildlife restoration, so during Wednesday’s kick-off session, experienced conservation leaders told their younger colleagues that future restoration efforts need to focus on large landscapes owned by several entities so the most important part of a biologist’s job would be building relationships with a wide array of people.