Bears Paw Mountains Bears Paw Mountains The Bears Paw Mountains (Bear Paw Mountains, Bear's Paw Mountains or Bearpaw Mountains) are an insular-montane island range in North-Central Montana, USA, located approximately 10 miles south of Havre, Montana. Baldy Mountain, which rises 6,916 feet (2,108 meters) above sea level, is the highest peak in the range. The Bears Paw Mountains extend in a 45-mile arc between the Missouri River and Rocky Boy Indian Reservation south of Havre. While highway signs designate the range as the Bears Paw Mountains, historically, the names Bearpaw Mountains and Bear Paw Mountains also have been used, including on early state
Ecology of the Rocky Mountains beetles have begun to impact more old-growth spruce trees in these forests. On exposed, dry slopes at high elevations, subalpine white pine forests replace spruce-fir forests. Common species of the white pine forests include whitebark pine in the northern Rocky Mountains, limber pine in the central and north-central Rocky Mountains, and bristlecone pine in the southern Rocky Mountains. Typical intervals between fires range from 50 to 300 years. The white pines are tolerant of extreme environmental conditions and can be important postfire successional species. The whitebark pine is a keystone species in upper subalpine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains.