The Big Sky Community Organization approved a new bear-resistant trash can mandate Tuesday after three grizzlies spent June touring Meadow Village like confused tourists. The ordinance requires certified containers by October first. Fines start at two hundred dollars.

Mountain Village resident Tad Prescott, sixty-two, has lived here since the chairlifts had names instead of numbers. He keeps his garbage in a chest freezer until pickup day. “Bears don’t read ordinances,” he said. “They read smells. My freezer reads zero.”

Three cul-de-sacs over, the Whitmore family unloaded four certified cans from a Rivian delivery van. The cans cost four hundred dollars each in matte charcoal. They match the trim. “We’re trying to be good stewards,” said Kelsey Whitmore, thirty-four, adjusting her hat. “The HOA newsletter said compliance reflects community values.”

The cans arrived on pallets last Thursday. By Saturday, Meadow Village cans bore duct tape repairs and bungee cord reinforcements. Mountain Village cans bore subtle monograms. Neither population has seen a bear near trash since the mandate passed. The bears, meanwhile, have moved on to the compost pile behind the community garden, which operates on an honor system and a prayer.

Public Works Director Marv Olsen, 406-555-0182, said compliance checks begin in November. He expects full participation by spring. “People here care,” he said. “They just care in different directions.”

The first snow usually settles the debate. Bears sleep. Cans freeze shut. Everyone waits for April.