Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Kylie Paul, Rockies & Plains Representative 

Yip.

YIP!

YIPPPP!!!

Walking through a healthy prairie dog colony is a noisy affair. Alarm calls from many individuals alert the colony to an invader’s presence. Three of us, Defenders’ Rockies and Plains field staff from Missoula, heard this sound often during our trip to Montana’s Milk River Basin last week, in search of the often maligned but critically important burrowing rodent known as the black-tailed prairie dog.

Fort Belknap Indian Reservation – A place of short-grass prairie beauty!

Besides the fact that they are as adorable as they are fascinating, prairie dogs happen to be important to a host of other plains-dwelling wildlife. They are a key prey species for the ferruginous hawk, the American badger, and most notably, the federally endangered black-footed ferret. Their extensive burrow systems also provide shelter for the burrowing owl, the tiger salamander, the western rattlesnake, and of course the black-footed ferret. Finally, the short-clipped vegetation in their colonies provides important habitat for the mountain plover and other grassland birds.

Prairie dogs’ invaluable role in grassland ecosystems is what brought us to Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, home to the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes. Our job was to map prairie dog colonies and identify the amount of suitable habitat as part of a possible effort to reintroduce black-footed ferrets. Fort Belknap was one of the early recovery sites for black-footed ferrets, when they were reintroduced to prairie dog colonies in 1997.

Black-footed ferrets depend on prairie dog colonies for their survival. But in many areas across the West, agricultural producers have viewed prairie dogs as pests. As a result, prairie dogs have faced widespread extermination for more than a century. They also face another major problem. Prairie dog numbers have plummeted as a result of sylvatic plague (yes, plague!) outbreaks that have decimated many of the once-thriving prairie dog colonies at Fort Belknap and across the West. Plague is not endemic to North America but was brought here by rodents stowed away on ships in the early 1900s. Today, plague continues to have negative cascading effects on wildlife populations.

Sound the Alarm!

Currently, we are collaborating with tribal wildlife officials and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to identify prairie dog strongholds at Fort Belknap and take measures to protect them from future plague outbreaks. If we find enough acres of prairie dog colonies and protect them from plague, this area could once again have hope for restoring a new population of ferrets via ferret reintroduction. With another population of ferrets in the wild, the species has a better chance of recovery. Alongside WWF and students from Montana State University and Aaniiih Nakoda College, we met with the Tribes’ fish and wildlife director to plan the prairie dog mapping project. The mapping effort focused on prairie dog colonies within the Tribes’ buffalo reserve. Fort Belknap has been home to a herd of bison since the 1970s, and Defenders is working with the Tribes to restore a new herd of wild bison from Yellowstone.

Over the course of two long days, working against petulant weather and an excess of mud, Defenders helped map over 500 acres of active prairie dog colonies within the bison range on the Fort Belknap Reservation. Additional mapping is slated for later this summer. The good news is that prairie dog colonies appear to be doing relatively well at Fort Belknap. With the Tribes’ efforts and a little bit of luck, the colonies will continue to grow and Fort Belknap will see the return of a robust black-footed ferret population.

We took a camera along as we mapped – here are some photos from the trip:

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Fort Belknap Indian Reservation

A place of short-grass prairie beauty!

Working Together

We trained with tribal and conservation folks to map the prairie dog colony

Training Volunteers

Defenders' Northern Rockies Representative Jonathan Proctor (left) trains volunteers to help us map the colonies.

Baby birds!

All kinds of wildlife make their home on the prairie. These are likely McCown's longspur chicks.

Pronghorn

Pronghorn on the beautiful short-grass prairie landscape of Fort Belknap

Marbled godwit

Just one of the many bird species that make their homes in shortgrass prairie landscapes.

Mapping a prairie dog colony

Sound the Alarm!

This prairie dog saw us coming and started sounding the alarm to warn the colony of intruders.

Curious prairie dog

Eggs of a chestnut-collared longspur

Prairie dog closeup

Bison

It was great to see the new calves added to the herd.

Mapping

Defenders' employee Russ Talmo, mapping a prairie dog colony before an oncoming storm.

Prairie dogs!

Chesnut-collared Longspur

We saw a variety of birds while we were out, including lark bunting, long-billed curlew, marbled godwit, grasshopper sparrow, Brewer's sparrow, vesper sparrow, McCown's longspur and more.

Lookout

A prairie dog keeps an eye on the oncoming storm

Delisting decried nationwide – While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tried to paint last week’s announcement as a resounding success, many newspapers saw the national delisting proposal quite differently. An editorial from Oregon’s Register-Guard, for example, noted that leading wildlife biologists say that wolf numbers have not reached sustainable levels in key parts of the species historic range. The paper also criticized Northern Rockies states for killing more than 1,000 wolves only two years after Endangered Species Act protections were removed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Never before has an imperiled species gone from being fully protected one day, to being aggressively hunted the next.

The Salt Lake Tribune picked up on a similar theme, saying that delisting is premature, especially when the wolf still faces such hatred out West. For many wolf opponents, wolf “management” means killing as many wolves as possible. But treating wolves like unwanted vermin completely ignores the vital ecological role they play in maintaining healthy, balanced ecosystems.

In a New York Times op-ed, Jim, Jamie and Garrick Dutcher contrast the rush to strip federal protection for gray wolves with the more measured approach taken with the recovery of iconic species like the bald eagle and American alligator. Those species were not delisted until stable populations had recovered across a greater portion of available habitat. Bald eagles were soaring in the skies from coast to coast before protections were removed. And alligators were swimming not just in the Florida Everglades, but in Louisiana bayous and halfway up the Atlantic sea board by the time states took over management. More importantly, neither species has been persecuted like wolves have been.

But there’s more at stake than just poor state management. As our top wolf expert Suzanne Stone points out, stripping federal protection likely means that wolves will never even make it to places like Colorado, where there is excellent habitat but no wolves. (Listen to the full story on Northwest Public Radio)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially published its proposal this week and will be taking public comments for the next 90 days. Make sure you tell the Service as well as Interior Secretary Sally Jewell not to give up on wolf recovery!
Click here to submit your comments!

Don’t blame wolves for elk decline — Wyoming researchers are uncovering new information that may cause all of us to revisit our understanding of how elk and wolves interact. In a recent three-year study, biologists with the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit found that elk do not dramatically change their behavior in the presence of wolves, as previously thought. Specifically, the study team found that elk that encountered wolves more often were just as likely to retain fat and get pregnant as those that had fewer wolf encounters.

These findings directly undermine the claims of anti-wolf extremists who have blamed wolves for declining elk herds in select areas. Many wolf opponents have claimed that wolves frighten elk and prevent them from eating enough food to maintain weight and get pregnant, but the current study would seem to contradict that argument. The bigger influence may come from direct predation by grizzly bears as well as other factors like drought and climate change.

It also appears, however, that wolves may not be the primary or only driver of “trophic cascades” that have restored native vegetation in certain parts of Yellowstone National Park. Many biologists provide compelling evidence that wolves help keep elk and other ungulates on the move, thus preventing them from destroying communities of young willow and aspen trees.  This study indicates that the effect of wolves may be far more subtle in certain landscapes.  Another paper released this week from Poland indicates that the trophic cascade benefits of wolf predation may have greater influence in woody habitat as opposed to open range.

***BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just released its national wolf delisting proposal. See our full press release here. Defenders is waging an unprecedented initiative to keep wolves protected – click here to get involved.

“Delistings are premature” – It may turn out to be too little, too late, but even the New York Times agrees that the feds shouldn’t give up on wolves so soon. An editorial from veteran Times writer Verlyn Klinkenborg on Sunday said Congress and the Interior Department are putting politics before science in pushing for delisting of almost all gray wolves nationwide:

“Interior’s plan has little to do with science and everything to do with politics. Congress bludgeoned President Obama’s first interior secretary, Ken Salazar, into delisting the Rocky Mountain wolf. But there is no reason his successor, Sally Jewell, has to accept a plan to delist the wolves everywhere. It is hard enough to protect species that occupy hidden ecological niches. Politics has made it harder still to protect an intelligent, adaptive predator living openly in the wild.”

A herder sets up fladry to keep wolves away from sheep in central Idaho.

More money for making peace – No matter what their status is under the Endangered Species Act, it’s clear that the future of the species depends on our ability to find ways for wolves and livestock to safely share the landscape. For more than two decades, Defenders has paved the way with our compensation and coexistence programs. It took a while for the federal government to catch up, but this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the renewal of a grant program that will provide $850,000 to states and tribes to benefit wolf conservation. The Wolf-Livestock Demonstration Project Grants provide funds for both compensation and projects to implement nonlethal deterrents and other proactive management strategies designed to prevent livestock losses to wolves.

Defenders assisted with the development of this program, and we insisted on the inclusion of a provision to make sure that half of the funds are used for coexistence, not just compensation.  We are also offering to share our decades of expertise to help grant recipients carry out successful projects that protect both their livestock and our wildlife. Hundreds of state, federal and tribal representatives have taken our training programs to learn more about the use of nonlethal deterrents like fladry, carcass removal, livestock guarding dogs, lighting and sound scare devices.  On June 20 and 21, we are offering another training workshop in central Idaho to teach about and demonstrate the use of these important  wolf conservation methods. We are thrilled to see more and more ranchers, biologists and organizations using nonlethal coexistence strategies for safeguarding livestock and wolves.

A lion, a marten, a bear, oh my! – Speaking of successful coexistence, the sixth season of our Wood River Wolf Project in central Idaho is well underway. Our field crew has begun monitoring key areas where wolves and sheep are likely to cross paths this summer, and they’re setting up motion-activated cameras to see what animals are already passing through. No wolves have been caught on camera just yet, but they did capture images of cougars, bears, coyotes, foxes, martens, elk, deer, antelope, grouse, a raptor and some unidentified blurs across the screen. See photos below.

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Black bear

Mountain lion

Marten (look closely for the squirrel-like critter on the downed tree)

“Give wolves a chance” – Sometimes, when I get down about how wolves are being managed in the Northern Rockies, I simply look to the Southwest, where the situation is even more dire. Though numbers have increased slightly in recent years, there are still only 75 Mexican gray wolves spread out across southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. An editorial from The Arizona Republic this week reminded me how precariously this tiny population is perched, and how serious the challenges are facing Mexican gray wolves:

• Since 1998, at least 46 Mexican gray wolves have been killed illegally
• Many more wolves need to be released to solve genetic and demographic issues
• Additional populations need to be established — don’t keep all your lobos in one basket!
• There is still not an up-to-date, scientifically sound recovery plan in place

Be sure to watch the video included with article that encapsulates the views of many who are more inclined to shoot, rather than protect, the wolves are nation is still struggling to restore.

Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies Representative 

Spring is one of the most beautiful times of year in the Rockies. Native flowers explode across the landscape, accenting a verdant quilt of new grass. The snow recedes, leaving only white caps on mountain peaks. Storms bring sudden bursts of rain or late snow, followed by robin’s egg-blue skies and golden sunshine. A new generation of deer fawns, bear cubs, moose and elk calves, and nests of hatching chicks all emerge as the land renews itself and comes to life once again.

Guard dogs and people work together to protect sheep.

But spring is also lambing time in the region, and it’s the return of both wildlife and livestock that signals the beginning of our field season. My job is to find practical ways for both hungry predators and vulnerable livestock to share the landscape.

The Wood River Wolf Project was initiated in 2008 to demonstrate the use of nonlethal deterrents to prevent livestock and predator losses in our project area. Over the past five years, documented sheep losses to wolves in the project area have been far lower than wolf range in other parts of the state during the same period (see map below with last year’s estimates). Last year, we protected more than 27,000 sheep in our 1,000-square mile project area and lost only four in one accidental encounter with an undocumented wolf pack.

Ranchers are reporting fewer losses to other predators in the project area as well. Because of our success in protecting sheep from predators, no wolves within the project area have been lethally removed due to depredation conflicts. It’s a major win for both wildlife and agriculture.

County officials and our ranching partners are encouraging the project team to continue expanding our efforts and make all of Blaine County, Idaho (2,645 square miles) the first official predator-friendly county in wolf range in the western United States. We welcome the opportunity but have run into a serious obstacle: one of our key project partners has unfortunately decided to use lambing techniques that put his flocks at serious risk.

Specifically, this producer is using a technique known as “range lambing,” which means taking several thousand sheep and leaving small groups of newborn lambs and their mothers spread over miles of remote rangeland adjacent to national forests and mountainous terrain. While there are some herders in the general area to help guard the sheep, there are not enough to even begin to effectively deter predators. To make matters worse, some ewes and lambs inevitably die as a result of birthing difficulties, and their carcasses draw birds like ravens and buzzards, which in turn draw the attention of predators for miles around. It’s a train wreck for those working to resolve wolf and livestock predation conflicts using nonlethal methods — regrettably, one we predicted would happen (Read more from the Idaho Statesman).

In the Wood River Wolf Project, sheep are sometimes penned in night corrals using highly portable electric fladry.

Most sheep producers use large sheds while lambing to help protect their ewes from bad weather and predation. Properly managed “shed lambing” also allows more lambs to survive because they receive better care during the birthing process and as newborns. A few producers use pasture or range lambing techniques to help them reduce costs of feeding or labor during lambing. Though popular in places like New Zealand and England, this technique is considered the most vulnerable to predators and has largely been abandoned by commercial sheep operations in the western United States.

Unfortunately, as feed prices increase, the incentive to lamb on open range has a stronger appeal to those who don’t grow their own feed or who want to cut expenses. These producers risk losing their sheep to predators and rely on government agencies to kill native wildlife to protect them. The top agency responsible for protecting domestic animals from predation is the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. While the agency’s vision is to “improve the coexistence of people and wildlife,” it is also responsible for the killing of more wildlife than any other agency. In 2012 alone, Wildlife Services killed 1,586,932 native wildlife including 503 gray wolves, 567 black bears, 1,062 bobcats, 76,611 coyotes and 4,230 foxes, largely on behalf of ranching operations. However, recent research clearly indicates that lethal predator control doesn’t stop livestock losses over the long run. When predators like wolves are killed, the territory is only vacant for a short time before new wolves move in and begin killing livestock, usually within a year.

As our wolf project team of biologists and researchers begins the new field season, it is with great disappointment over the conflicts occurring on the east side of the county where sheep, wolves and other predators are being killed. The most tragic part is that the deaths of both wolves and livestock are largely preventable. We will continue to reach out to all our ranching partners to promote nonlethal alternatives over the traditional lethal control methods that have resulted in the unnecessary loss of these animals, both wild and domesticated. This is the whole purpose behind our efforts and after five years of success, we feel certain that we’re on the right track.

And we’re not alone. Here’s a quote from a letter we received just last week:

“ The Board of Blaine County Commissioners wishes to express to you its continued support of the non-lethal wolf management program that Defenders of Wildlife has facilitated in our County over the past five years… Deterrence of wolf predation on livestock, [in target areas] has proven effective in minimizing and nearly eliminating wolf depredation on sheep in these areas… We highly commend those who have participated directly in this project, who by their actions have chosen to demonstrate to the world means by which men and wolves might co-exist.”

Great words of encouragement as we enter the sixth year of the Wood River Wolf Project! We also owe a huge thanks to the Forest Service for all the help in supporting our field team and maintaining good communication efforts between them and the livestock managers.

Our team spotted these wolf tracks along the road just a week into the project.

Our team met last week with state wildlife managers to talk about our methods this summer. We’re adding a new tool to the box: solar-powered lights that flash at night and appear to frighten away predators. We’re excited about testing them in the field. We’re also adding a number of field cameras to document wolves and other wildlife. Our data from the first five years of the project are being collected and analyzed to prepare for eventual publication so we can share this information more broadly. And next month, the Forest Service is hosting our training workshop in Idaho for wildlife managers and ranchers interested in learning more about nonlethal wolf, bear, cougar and coyote deterrents and livestock husbandry techniques to reduce risks of predation. A part of the workshop will also be recorded for those interested in learning more about these techniques.

We’ll be busy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. And every time we find wolf tracks, hear their howls or see their images on our field cameras, we are grateful for the opportunity to help these animals continue to thrive in one of the wildest places left in the continental United States.

Compromise reached in Oregon – Ranchers and wolf advocates have tentatively reached an agreement with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife that should allow people and wildlife to better coexist. The agreement resulted from a lawsuit a year and half ago that prevented the state from killing wolves involved in livestock depredations. In 2011, two wolves in the Imnaha pack in northeast Oregon were slated for removal after repeatedly killing livestock. But several conservation groups filed suit, arguing that killing the Imnaha wolves was a violation of the state’s Endangered Species Act. Soon thereafter, the parties to the lawsuit entered negotiations to look for a compromise.

The agreement reached last week will require ranchers to demonstrate that they have implemented nonlethal deterrents and other proactive strategies to reduce conflict before any wolves are killed. Further, only wolves involved in four or more depredations in a six-month period can be removed, and information regarding the incidents must be made readily available to the public. While this does mean that some wolves are likely to be removed later this year based on current trends, ranchers will now be responsible for protecting their herds before the state will intervene.

Read more from our friends at Cascadia Wildlands, who were part of the settlement.

Wolf tracks. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

MT, WY move in opposite directions – Montana and Wyoming are both moving forward with changes to their wolf hunting regulations for next season, but the two states are moving in opposite directions. Wyoming plans to cut their quota in half, reducing the number of wolves that can be killed in the trophy management area from 52 to 26. Last year, a total of 42 wolves were killed by licensed hunters in Wyoming. Another 43 wolves have been killed already in the so-called “predator zone,” dropping the total population by about 16 percent. With only an estimated 277 wolves left in the entire state at the end of 2012, including 83 in Yellowstone, wildlife managers are concerned that another aggressive year could bring the overall population dangerously close to the minimum of 100 to 150 wolves per state, which will trigger a status review to see if wolves should be relisted. Without that safety net in place, there’s no telling how low each of the states would go.

Meanwhile, Montana is ratcheting up its wolf-killing efforts by extending the season by a month and allowing hunters and trappers to kill up to five wolves instead of just three. Last year, Montana hunters and trappers killed 225 wolves, dropping the overall population by about four percent. Though that is a relatively minor decline, we’d rather see the state focus on maintaining wolves at current levels instead of trying to drive numbers farther down.

There’s still time to comment on both the Wyoming and Montana wolf hunting regulations. Comments on the Wyoming proposal are due June 12 and can be submitted here online. Comments on the Montana proposal are due by June 24^th and can be submitted here online.

Fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy – We often like to brag about our Wood River Wolf Project, but never before have we felt worthy of biblical allusion… until now!

Last year, 27,000 sheep were in the project area around the Wood River Valley; two or three packs of wolves were on landscape. They lived in harmony with only one late incident when the bands of sheep came upon wolves no one knew were there. Four sheep were killed.

What they had achieved on a small scale was the prophesy of Isaiah: “In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together.” – Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman

A recent incident with a Blaine County sheep producer emphasizes our success. The owner of the Flat Top Ranch has lost 31 sheep already this year by ignoring our advice and leaving unguarded animals spread across public lands in the heart of wolf country. Sadly, his losses offer the perfect counterexample of what can happen when appropriate steps aren’t taken to prevent conflict.

Seeing signs – Traveling to Yellowstone National Park this summer to see wolves? Then, you might notice something new on your drive in. Our friends at Predator Defense have paid for billboards that remind park visitors that Yellowstone’s wolves are now at risk of being shot the moment they step outside the park’s boundaries. A handful of these iconic animals have already been killed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, including some of the park’s most famous wolves, beloved by wolf-watchers worldwide. That’s part of the reason we continue to fight against the premature delisting of gray wolves– to make sure the same fate doesn’t befall wolves in other parts of the country. If you haven’t already, please support our campaign to maintain federal protections for gray wolves.

Erin Edge, Rocky Mountain Regional Associate

What’s in store for grizzlies in the lower 48? After more than 30 years of protection under the Endangered Species Act, there are an estimated 1600-1700 grizzly bears south of the Canadian border. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other land and wildlife management agencies have made significant progress restoring grizzly bears to a portion of their historic range. But much remains to be accomplished to assure our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy and appreciate this noble symbol of America’s natural heritage.

Map of grizzly bear recovery areas, courtesy of USFWS.

Currently, the majority of grizzly bears can be found in just two major ecosystems with the rest scattered across much smaller subpopulations. Here’s a quick breakdown of all grizzly bear populations found in the lower 48:

• The 9,600-square mile Northern Continental Divide ecosystem (NCDE) in Montana includes Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and is home to an estimated 900-1,000 grizzly bears. This population is relatively stable and has continued to increase slightly each year.
• The 9,200-square mile greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) includes Yellowstone National Park and an estimated 600 to 700 grizzly bears. This population appears to have stabilized at current levels.
• The 2,200-square mile Selkirk ecosystem in northeastern Washington, northern Idaho and southern Canada has fewer than 100 grizzly bears with a slight increase each year.
• The 2,600-square mile Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem in northwestern Montana and northern Idaho has fewer than 50 grizzly bears. This population continues to decline slightly each year, but the decline appears to be tapering off.
• The 9,500-square mile North Cascades ecosystem in Washington has fewer than 20 grizzly bears and very little is known about them. In order to recover this population, grizzly bears will likely need to be added to the area from other populations.
• The 5,600-square mile Bitterroot ecosystem that straddles western Montana and central Idaho is currently void of grizzly bears but has been identified as containing excellent bear habitat and is key to connecting the GYE and NCDE populations.

The long-term survival of any species depends on the number and size of individual sub-populations, survival rates of each and connectivity between populations – the larger and more connected, the better the bears can withstand natural disasters, disease or extreme food shortages. For example, the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem is currently  disconnected from the larger and more robust NCDE population. That’s why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state agencies are moving bears from the NCDE to the Cabinet-Yaak in an effort to save this population. This is desperately needed for the isolated North Cascades population as well, but politics has delayed grizzly bear augmentations here.

Securing quality habitat, improving human tolerance and minimizing conflicts between grizzly bears and people, particularly on private lands within or between identified recovery areas, will continue to be an ongoing challenge. But by working together, we can make sure that grizzly bears have safe passage to move across the landscape, thereby improving genetic diversity and boosting bear populations in more vulnerable ecosystems.

To that end, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released its draft Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy. The strategy is intended to guide the management of grizzly bears and habitat protections on public lands after federal Endangered Species Act protections are removed. Among other things, the strategy would create a Primary Conservation Area, three additional management zones, and two Demographic Connectivity Areas. This geographic arrangement is designed to maintain a stable core population while providing varying degrees of protection in key linkage areas to encourage bears to disperse.

The Service has also proposed revisions to the Greater Yellowstone Recovery Plan that may change future population estimates. The GYE is the most isolated population in the lower 48 and has been hovering close to federal recovery objectives for several years. It is critical that bears in this population are able to expand into secure habitats that will once again link them with the more genetically diverse NCDE population and/or other grizzly bear populations.

As we close out Bear Awareness Week, we would like to celebrate the significant efforts put into grizzly bear recovery. It was humans that drove bears from an estimated 50,000 animals to fewer than 1,000 bears over approximately 170 years. And it is humans that must bring them back. Grizzly bears are the second slowest reproducing land mammal in North America, so recovery will not happen overnight. However, multiple conservation groups, local communities and agencies are dedicating efforts to ensure a place for grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.

The future of grizzly bears remains uncertain, but as Abraham Lincoln said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Together with our partners, we will continue to work one day at a time to minimize grizzly bear deaths and improve social tolerance through continued outreach and on-the-ground coexistence projects.