Mountain View
Mountain Journal
Montana unveils first wolf management plan update in 20 years
This year’s wolf quota was reduced from 450 to 313 following slight population decreases since 2020. In Montana, gray wolves are about as controversial as they are stunning. The canids were effectively eliminated from the state by the 1930s due to hunting, and were only reintroduced following their 1973 listing under the Endangered Species Act. Reintroduction efforts in Greater Yellowstone beginning in 1995 were successful and wolves were delisted in 2011. As a result, rather than the federal government, individual states manage wolf populations within their boundaries.
Yellowstone, Montana Officials Disagree on Bison Management
Montana and Yellowstone National Park have disagreed for years about how to manage Yellowstone bison. Those tensions recently ratcheted up. Once roaming the Great Plains in the tens of millions, the American bison is arguably one of the West’s most iconic species. After a near brush with extinction, roughly 20,500 Plains bison are now in conservation herds across North America, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a quarter of which call Yellowstone National Park home. Nearly a quarter million more live in commercial herds.
Wildland Firefighters: Slash and Burn?
As wildfires rage hotter and spread faster, federal wildland firefighters on Nov. 17 face fiscal pay cliff, slash in workforce. Wildfires have become an increasingly dire problem facing the American West over the past two decades as a combination of climate-related changes and inadequate forest management have created the perfect conditions for large, frequent burns. To extinguish these fires—and to proactively mitigate fire risk before burns start—we rely heavily on the work of roughly 19,000 federal wildland firefighters who are currently facing a steep pay cliff.
The Past 30 Years in Yellowstone, Part 2: Dan Wenk
EDITOR’S NOTE: Yellowstone National Park has undergone a litany of changes over its lifespan since 1872 when it was named the first national park in the U.S. It’s also witnessed incredible triumphs in the face of increasing visitation, devastating flooding, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the challenges associated with managing wildlife numbers, staffing and relationships with the three states in which it resides: Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
To Protect a Section of Precious Land
A month ago, the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners announced it was considering auctioning a 640-acre section of State Trust Land surrounded by Grand Teton National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest. This has sent antennae of concern skyward among Teton County residents. Why?. Because Grand Teton National Park surrounds it,...
Ecosystem Engineers: Wyoming Beavers Deployed to Repair Wetlands
In Wyoming, land managers are relocating ‘nuisance’ beavers to enhance riparian areas. Their dams can even curb wildfires. Crews of furry, buck-toothed trail crews may be the future of repairing streamside erosion. Beavers, and their penchant for building dams using sticks, mud and stones, have been effective in helping vital wetland areas retain and purify water for centuries. In fact, many of the flat, willow-dominated landscapes in valleys across North America today were formed by the trickledown effects of beaver dams.
Dan Stahler: Yellowstone Wolf Project's New Alpha
The new lead biologist for the Yellowstone Wolf Project is following big footprints. He’s taking cues on resilience from mentors, science and the wildlife he studies. For biologist Dan Stahler, flying over Yellowstone National Park in search of wildlife never gets old. Recently, as he helicoptered over a land painted with aspen yellows and whortleberry reds, he spied an animal moving through the trees: cougar.
Bridging the Divide: How to decrease wildlife-vehicle collisions
Now is the time to implement wildlife accommodation measures on our local highways. That’s the key takeaway from the U.S.-191/MT-64 Wildlife and Transportation Assessment recently published by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute. According to a 2022 National Park Service report...
The Past 30 Years in Yellowstone, Part 1: Cameron Sholly
EDITOR’S NOTE: Yellowstone National Park has undergone a litany of changes over its lifespan since 1872 when it was named the first national park in the U.S. It’s also witnessed incredible triumphs in the face of increasing visitation, devastating flooding, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the challenges associated with managing wildlife numbers, staffing and relationships with the three states in which it resides: Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
Seen from Above
In his essay, Todd Burritt writes on mountain climbing, sense of place, and the second edition of 'Select Peaks of Greater Yellowstone'. In seeking to understand the motivation of the climber, the non-climber can take their choice of riddles. It was almost a century ago that George Mallory sought Everest's summit, “because it's there.” Did his words become more profound, or less, when he died for the same reason? In 1967, Art Davidson opted for an unprecedented winter ascent of Denali so he might “eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in peace.” But it doesn't matter which version of the story one chooses, the basic facts remain: Getting to the top requires time, expense and risk. And for what?
A Small Exercise in Hope for Greater Yellowstone
In trying to rid an area of invasive plants, MoJo columnist Susan Marsh explains how even small acts of conservation count. For the past couple of years, I’ve participated in “Thistle Thursdays” during which a group of volunteers spends the morning attempting to tamp down the steady march of musk thistle along a popular trail near Jackson, Wyoming.
MOJO RISING
A letter to readers from the Mountain Journal Board of Directors. EDITOR'S NOTE: Many of you have heard the rumors that Mountain Journal is closing its doors. This is not currently the case. Please read the below letter from MoJo's Board of Directors. We value you, our readers, allies and supporters, and look forward to taking the next steps together.
A 'Greater Yellowstone National Park': Is It So Far-Fetched?
To save America's most iconic wildlife ecosystem, two prominent conservationists say in this op-ed that today's epic challenges must be met with grander bolder thinking. If not this, then what?. EDITOR'S NOTE: No one argues that many corners of Greater Yellowstone, especially those in closer proximity to Yellowstone and Grand...
Bear Tags As Revenue Generators: How Much Will Wyoming Make Bringing Back Griz Hunt?
One of the arguments states use in pushing for grizzly delisting is bringing back a trophy season to help them recoup money they've spent on bear recovery. Does the premise add up?. Cattle and sheep losses are real for livestock producers. They have an impact on the bottom line, they...
Who Really Is Footing The Tab For Wildlife Conservation In The West?
For decades, hunters and anglers have claimed they're the economic bulwarks for protecting species. But is it true? Also: Is it time that outdoor recreation users be asked to pay taxes on gear?. Who foots the bill for wildlife conservation in America—especially the public-land-rich West which gives large charismatic mammal...
Rick Bass: Let The Yaak Be Another Momentus First In American Conservation
In this guest essay, the writer suggests that protecting old growth trees in the Kootenai could establish Montana as a national reference in confronting climate change. Far back in the high elevation wetlands of northwest Montana’s Yaak Valley — hidden away on the Kootenai National Forest — is a vast and ancient forest referred to as Black Ram, named for the logging project scheduled to clearcut it. The giant trees include cedar, hemlock, subalpine fir, 315-year old spruce, 600 to 800 year old larch. The region is home to fully 25 percent of all the species of concern in the entire state. Light filters down through the canopy like notes of music; the forest floor is clad in emerald moss and sea-blue lichen.
Montana’s Climate Kids Should Adopt Wildlife As Their Mascot
Citing the state constitution, young people in Montana sued the state over climate change. Win or lose, wildlife conservation would strengthen their case with the public. "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something,. build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." —Buckminster Fuller...
What it means to stand at the Crossroads of the West
EDITOR'S NOTE: In a time of deep polarization in the American West, author Betsy Gaines Quammen took to the streets to talk with folks of all ilks, listen and convey in her latest book that we must look beyond the myths clouding our collective vision and dividing us along a terrifying fault line. What she's come up with in True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America, is a clear examination of our history and a debunking of Western myths, "misperceptions," reads a statement by publisher Torrey House Press, "about land, politics, liberty, and self-determination [that] threaten the wellbeing of western communities overrun by newcomers seeking a dream—and the country unless America recognizes the dangers of building a national identity on illusion." This book may just allow us to see that we have much more in common than that which pits us against one another.
How Greater Yellowstone Grizzlies Could Be Delisted And Remain Protected
In June 2021, headlines appeared in Idaho newspapers announcing that, in a couple of fell swoops, predators had killed 54 sheep on a farm in the Magic Valley near Twin Falls. The reports echoed of a familiar narrative and might otherwise have pointed in the direction of usual suspects. Journalist...
Montana's Gallatin Valley And Wildlife Paying Big Price For Growth In Big Sky
What's happening near Gallatin Gateway, Montana is indicative, Robert Sisson says, of how developers are making profits but externalizing their costs on citizens and nature. EDITOR'S NOTE: The following op-ed is written by Rob Sisson who lives near Gallatin Gateway west of Bozeman and for years served as president of the national non-profit ConservAmerica which previously was known as Republicans for Environmental Protection. A former small-town mayor, he has held a number of important policy positions, including serving as a US Commissioner on the International Joint Commission which addresses environmental issues found along the northern US border with Canada. Also click here to watch a local TV report on the proposed gravel pit featuring an interview with longtime Gallatin Gateway denizen John Baden, a well known libertarian who founded the organization, FREE—Foundation on Research on Economics and the Environment. Sisson believes that the proposed gravel pit is yet another example of how sprawl and unplanned growth are rapidly eroding the fabric of rural Montana and natural landscapes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. —Mountain Journal.
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