Happy New Year to all you Blog readers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,On this first day of 2015, we report on The CHARLES RUSSELL WILDLIFE REFUGE in northeastern Montana where 15 collared Pumas are being studied to determine the habitat that they utilize and the prey they eat............At a million acres and assuming a male home territory radius of 100 square miles, one can estimate that some 15 adult males and 30 adult females could call the CHARLES RUSSELL home(2 females generally occupy the home territory of one adult male Puma)....................So far, findings suggest that adult "Cats" typically have a short 3 year lifespan in the Refuge(possible lifespan of up to 15 years if an individual Puma leads a charmed life) and that dispersing animals are heading east to North Dakota ...............Findings also lead one to see how important protected wildlife corridors are to long term survival of trophic carnivores like Pumas..............Very difficult for the "prospecting Pumas to successfully get to North Dakota or any other locale where "the opposite sex" and viable habitat exist with so many of our protected areas no better than large zoos due to the lack of interconnected corridor protection

http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/cmr-refuge-mountain-lion-study-yields-surprises/article_2010f9fa-2152-5b73-b357-7552cf76cf80.html#.VKSWxI-BwxE.email

CMR refuge mountain lion study yields surprises

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Provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Mountain lion

7 hours ago  •  BRETT FRENCH BFrench@billingsgazette.com

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BILLINGS – It is tough being a cougar in the Missouri Breaks.

That’s evidenced by the old female mountain lion captured last winter during a lion study.

“She was missing part of her tail, two toes on her hind foot, and her ears were also missing, probably froze off,” wrote Doug Powell, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field biologist, in an email.

“She was definitely the oldest female I had seen in a long time,” he said. “We had one in the Garnet Range that was 13. They live a rough life.”

Unfortunately, the lion’s neck was so thick that she shed the collar within a week.

“Her neck was bigger than her head,” Powell said.

Powell is one of the biologists studying lions on a portion of the 1.1 million-acre Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in north-central Montana. Beginning in the winter of 2010 and continuing through last winter, 15 lions were captured and collared for the study on the north side of the Missouri River, west from U.L. Bend to Antelope Creek.

“So it’s a small sample area,” Powell said.

Because the sample size is small, Powell said it’s impossible to estimate the number of mountain lions in the refuge.

“We’re just trying to get an idea about what kind of habitat they use and the food sources they’re using,” Powell said.

Genetic testing will also be done on hair samples collected to try and find out more about the relationships between the refuge’s lions.

With the last of the collars scheduled to drop off in July, it will be a while before the study’s data is collated and analyzed, but already the researchers have had some of their original hypotheses blown up and have gained a deeper understanding of the big cats.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the amount of dispersal from the Missouri Breaks and its rugged pine and prairie uplands and cottonwood river bottom. There is no hunting on the refuge, yet three males were killed legally.

“It seems like they didn’t last long once they got off the refuge,” Powell said.

He noted that few males live past 3 years old in hunted populations. Females are more likely to be spared to continue to reproduce.

One of the lions was killed by a hunter in southwest North Dakota, where it had decided to relocate. Another male also hiked the more than 700-mile cross-country route to North Dakota.

“That was a bit of a surprise,” said Randy Matchett, CMR biologist. “We expected some movement, but not that much.”

The study also revealed other ways that the lions died, some of them unusual. One female lion was snared within days of leaving the refuge and another was found dead after trying to swim across the Dry Arm of Fort Peck Reservoir.

“We’re speculating it drowned but we don’t know what killed it,” Powell said. “There was a big wind event about that time. It’s quite possible it was swimming across and drowned in the high waves.”

Another female disappeared south of Fort Peck Reservoir in the Jordan area, possibly after losing its collar.

“She could have kept going to North Dakota, too,” Matchett said.

Another collared lion killed a cow elk that was collared for a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks study, a pretty unusual occurrence.

The biologists had initially thought that the lions would be more likely to disperse to nearby mountain ranges, like the Little Rocky or Bears Paw ranges to the north and northwest.

“I didn’t think they’d be eastbound like they were,” Powell said. “That was probably the biggest surprise.”

While we all were just heartened by the reprieve given by the D.C. federal Judge to the Great Lake Wof population(back on the Fed. Endangered List, they are), we must be sobered by the fact that the only reproducing Puma population east of the Misssissippi River in Florida is being decimated by auto collisions............17 of the record high 30 Puma deaths this year in the Sunshine state were the result of auto collision,,,,,,,,,,,With the USFW service refusing to follow through on its original plan to create at least three populations of 100 Pumas each in the southeastern states and wiith perhaps only 100 adult "Cats" roaming the southern Colier, Lee and Hendry Counties, "trouble in paradise" is forecast for the Pumas............. Of the 23 kittens born this year in Florida, it is likely that only 25 to 40% of them will reaching their first birthday........Combined with the increasing "car kill rate, the Florida Puma is in a deficit replacement paradigm,,,,,,,,,,,,,Are we dooming this critical trophic carnivore to a slow march to "blink out"?........ Unless additional critical habitat is provided for their recovery, some biologists fear that the Florida Puma population could become a relic zoo creature in our lifetime..............Let us fight to prevent this travesty from occurring

Wildlife: Florida panther deaths reach record high by Bob Berwyn Read more of this post

Can panthers survive the onslaught of continued development in southwest Florida?

No slowdown in Florida panther deaths. Graph courtesy PEER.

An endangered Florida panther. PHOTO BY RODNEY CAMMAUF, COURTESY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

Staff Report

FRISCO — Panther deaths in Florida climbed to a record level in 2014, as the wild cats continue to succumb to collisions with vehicles on highways in southwest Florida.

In all, 30 panther deaths were reported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this year, topping the previous record of 27 deaths tallied in 2012. More than half of this year’s deaths were the result of collisions with vehicles.

Panther mortality this year could represent as much as one-fourth of the entire population, which the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates at between 100 and 180 animals.  The reason for this wide variation is that the number of cats monitored through radio collars has steadily declined.

“The management of the Florida panther is biology by body count,” said Jeff Ruch, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “The true condition of the Florida panther today remains what biologists call a ‘SWAG’– a scientific wild-ass guess,” said Ruch, whose group watchdogs public agencies.

The Florida wildlife commission says 32 panther kittens were born this year, but considering that the low survival rate, it’s likely that panther mortality will exceed recruitment this year.

The Florida panther is the only known population of North American cougar east of the Mississippi.  While cougars once had the broadest distribution of any terrestrial mammal in the Western hemisphere, Florida panthers today are confined to only a small fragment of their former range in southwest Florida.

The latest mortality numbers reflect this cramped vestigial habitat – 27 of 30 deaths occurred in just three counties (Collier, Lee and Hendry) and the majority of which (17) were caused by vehicles.

Radio telemetry is the principal means of tracking elusive panthers, as well as determining habitat needs and the dispersal of cats seeking new territory. Of the 30 panthers that died this year in the wild, only 7 had radio collars. The latest FWC reports only 16 females are currently radio-tracked, and the agency collared only ten cats in the year prior to July 2014.

The Florida panther has been listed as an endangered species for more than 40 years. The long-term prognosis for the recovery of the Florida panther is bleak, however, largely because the available habitat will continue to shrink.

According to PEER, the rare animals face an uncertain future in Florida because:

• Florida continues to approve sprawling new developments in panther habitat;

• The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has resisted legal efforts to force it to designate critical habitat for the Florida panther, as has been designated in recovery plans for hundreds of other species; and

• Prime panther areas, such as the vast Big Cypress National Preserve Addition Lands, are being opened up to off-road vehicle traffic.

“In South Florida, the panther literally is a speed bump to sprawling development,” Ruch said. “Many believe we have already reached the tipping point where a viable population of Florida panther can no longer exist in the wild and the future of this alpha-predator is as a zoo species.”

2014 FWC panther report:

The tule elk (Cervus canadensis) is endemic to California, found nowhere else in the USA..........In the early 19th century, they numbered a half million strong but were severely reduced in the mid-1800s due to uncontrolled market hunting and displacement by cattle ranching........... By some accounts, fewer than 30 remained in a single herd near Bakersfield in the mid-1870s............. A conservation minded cattle rancher named Henry Miller had the foresight to preserve this last isolated group discovered on his ranch in 1874.......... All of the estimated 3,900 tule elk present in 22 herds across California (as of 2012) were derived from this small remnant herd, thanks to his initial efforts. ......Wherever the Elk are found, positive land enhancing processes are taking place................ Coyotes, foxes, ravens, mice and beetles dine on the rotting carcasses of elk within a day after a Puma makes a kill............ Barn owls feast on the mice.............. Birds, including loggerhead shrikes, eat the beetles................Can you imagine the further positive "circle of life" benefits that the land would absorb if along with the growing Elk herds, their two other historical "dance partners", Wolves and Grizzlies were restored to these ecosystems?.............We would have another Yellowstone full suite of predator and prey at work optimizing all the other animal and plant species!

TULE ELK HERD IN CALIFORNIA, ONCE NEARLY EXTERMINATED, GROWING AGAIN

read full article by clicking on this link:
http://fw.to/mDmXMnb

THE CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY'S Andrea Santarsiere making a sound case for why the Selway/Bitteroot ecosystem is a must link for Grizzlies if indeed the species is to become fully recovered in the Northern Rockies------Had President Bush(the younger) not cancelled the USFW planned rewilding of this region in AD 2000, it is possible that the natural reproduction cycle of the Griz would have the Bitteroots marching toward a population of 300-600 animals in 2015................The Bitteroots are the next "step up" the Rockies for connectivity with the Greater Yellowstone population and the small number of Bears in the Yaak

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/12/28/3562522/selway-bitterroot-area-perfect.html


THE SELWAY-BITTEROOT; PERFECT FOR GRIZZLIES

Nowhere in the West is there likely any more remote and suitable habitat for grizzly bears than the millions of acres centered around the Selway-Bitterroot and the Frank Church-River of No Return wilderness areas.

So it's hardly surprising that over the past 30 years, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists have repeatedly pointed out how essential this area is for sustainable grizzly bear recovery. Yet the stunning expanse of terrain that remains some of the most difficult to access wilderness remaining in the Lower 48 states is still not home to a resident grizzly bear population.

Way back in 1982 the agency's scientists recognized the Selway-Bitterroot, which researchers believe can support between 300 and 600 grizzlies, as key among six potential grizzly bear recovery areas in connecting scattered bear populations, particularly the totally isolated population in Yellowstone National Park.

But several decades later, the Selway-Bitterroot stands alone as the only established recovery area without any documented resident grizzly bears. That's why I submitted a legal petition to the Fish and Wildlife Service last week calling for the agency to update a grizzly reintroduction rule finalized in 2000, but never implemented, to reintroduce grizzlies to this important area.

The science detailing the need to return grizzly bears to the Selway-Bitterroot is clear: As isolated populations are threatened not only by genetic depression and inbreeding, but by the ever-mounting pressures of climate change and human population growth, grizzlies in the Lower 48 face an uncertain future. A growing body of research suggests the best way to ensure their long-term survival is to return them to greater portions of their historic range.

There is no question some will insist the region has too many people now to support more grizzlies. But much of the core of this area is completely uninhabited and extremely difficult to access. And perhaps more importantly, in recent decades we've learned much about how to live side-by-side with these important top predators representative of healthy, sustainable ecosystems.

More than 3 million people visit Yellowstone National Park every year, yet incidents of grizzly bear attacks are extremely low. According to the National Park Service, the chances of being injured by a bear in Yellowstone are approximately 1 in 2.1 million - substantially lower than of being injured in a car accident in the park.

There's no doubt that living with grizzlies requires people, particularly backcountry visitors, to take precautions, such as hiking in groups, making noise and carrying bear spray, which have been proved to be extremely effective in deterring a startled bear.

As demonstrated in Yellowstone and many other areas, it can be done. In Alaska, for example, people live side-by-side with grizzly bears with very few problems.

In the U.S., grizzlies occupy only 4 percent of their historic range in the Lower 48 states, primarily in and around Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Surviving in five isolated locations, the long-term survival of the bear is at risk without an effort to reconnect these populations.

We have space for people and grizzlies. It's time to embrace our legal and moral duty to help make sure these remarkable bears are around for centuries to come by bringing them home to the great wild stretches of the Selway-Bitterroot.

Andrea Santarsiere is a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Victor, Idaho office, where her work focuses on protecting carnivores.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/12/28/3562522_selway-bitterroot-area-perfect.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

The Western Arctic Caribou Herd has been falling at 5 % per year from a high of 490,000 in 2003 to an estimated 235,000 in 2013..............Biologists predict an even steeper 15% annual decline over the next few year for the herd which will take it to the point where the State of Alaska will begin to implement predator control(wolf killing) programs as well as hunting cutbacks for non residents............Every reason including predation, severe weather, climate change and hunting is cited as contributing factors in the decline of the Caribou..............One never hears anything about human land alteration as a factor or even if the shrinkage of the herd is a good thing for land regeneration................Food for thought these factors are and they must be elevated in the management discussion if we are to have a mosaic of predator and prey in Alaska that is sustainable

http://www.thearcticsounder.com/article/1452with_caribou_population_declining_hunting

With caribou population declining, hunting restrictions on the horizon

December 26th 4:37 pm | By Jillian Rogers      

The harvestable surplus of caribou in the Western Arctic Herd is nearing a critical point. And now stakeholders across the Arctic are in the process of figuring out what to do about it.

The caribou are an important resource for subsistence hunters and their families throughout the northern regions and around the state, and they also provide a source of income for guides and outfit owners who bring hunters up from the Lower 48 to get their fill. But something's got toThe harvestable surplus is the number of caribou that hunters can take without compromising the long-term sustainability of the herd. This year, that surplus is estimated to be about 13,000 caribou.

 If that number falls below 12,000, according to the state's Board of Game, hunting restrictions for nonresident hunters, and predator control methods will be implemented. The Board of Game has approved, based on data from the state's subsistence division, 8,000 to 12,000 caribou for subsistence users. If the harvestable surplus goes below 8,000, narrower restrictions will be put into place."Our actual harvest may exceed the harvestable surplus this year (for) the first time," said Kotzebue-based biologist Jim Dau, who works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Stakeholders from Western Alaska, the Arctic and Interior regions of the state gathered last week for the annual Western Arctic Caribou Herd working group meeting to discuss proposals on how to curb the decline.

The group will then present the recommendations to the Board of Game next year. Presentations by biologists, students, Elders and others with a vested interest in the herd spoke to the eager audience last week in Anchorage.

Projections for the herd, which has been in a steady decline for about a decade, show that numbers will most likely keep going down. At last official count in 2013, the herd was at 235,000. It peaked in 2003 at 490,000. From 2003 to 2011, the herd population dropped between 4 to 6 percent a year.

The declination rate in more recent years has been higher and the herd is estimated to drop around 15 percent each year for the next few. The next census is slated for 2015.

"Based on the data right now, it's going to get worse before it gets better," said Dau. "Everybody wants to know 'why are the numbers going down?' and basically, the short answer is, we've got more adults dying than we have cows surviving."

Weather, climate change, predation and hunting are all potential contributing factors to the plummet, but scientists still don't have an exact cause. Calf production is not going down, though the calf survival rate is, Dau told the working group.

"There's nowhere for the herd to go but down as long as cow mortality is exceeding calf survival," Dau said.

The last few winters have seen low snow where the caribou roam, which has been good for mortality rates, but a few bad years with heavy icing or lots of snow can do much more damage than a few easy years can do good, Dau said. He added that while he doesn't have hard data to back it up, he thinks that the change in weather started the initial decline. And while the herd size is waning, the number of predators has gone up.

The caribou herd in general is comprised of fat, healthy animals with no signs of chronic disease or parasites.

Population, collared caribou, harvest rates and development are being monitored throughout the year by several different state and federal agencies including ADF&G, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Parks Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Because the herd is now below 265,000, it is considered at the low end of the "conservative" management and harvest levels and hunters are being asked to voluntarily reduce the number of cows taken.

"We've been in liberal management for a long, long time," said Dau, adding the move into conservative management is recent.

Currently, the management plan suggests the ideal bull to cow ratio is 40 bulls per 100 cows or above. The population is now right around 40:100, Dau said.

That ratio is an important number when considering the harvestable surplus, he added. If the ratio drops below 40:100, the bull harvested would potentially be restricted.

"If this trend continues ... we could be taking 30 or 40 percent of our bulls out of this herd every year in a very short amount of time, and that's not sustainable," Dau said.

The working group proposed limiting the season on cows, restricting the taking of calves, restricting non-resident bull harvest and nixing the nonresident cow harvest as ways to curb the crash.

Over the last 15 years, harvest rates have remained consistent, with no increase in the number of hunters. Around 95 percent of caribou harvested each year are taken by subsistence users. (Subsistence users are defined in this case as anyone who lives within the range of the herd.)

"One thing I've heard in the all the villages is that we need to close (the hunt) to sport hunters, if we do that we cut off 5 percent of the harvest and that's very little," Dau said.

Hunter conflict between residents and nonresidents is highest in Unit 23 — an area in the Northwest Arctic — where most of the caribou are taken.

Near Noatak, hunters from Outside are flown in and set up camp on the Noatak River in spots that divert the herd away from town and away from local subsistence users, said Noatak's Enoch Mitchell.

"They couldn't pass because there were hunters on the other side of the river," Mitchell said. "It's affecting the village quite a bit. They could hunt above where we hunt and then the caribou would pass by us, too."

He added that the herd is coming later each year and crossing farther north, forcing local hunters to travel longer distances.

"We have to do something now before they get depleted."

A lot of people in Noatak have freezers void of caribou right now, Mitchell said, adding that he went around to each household to ask how much caribou they had and most said none.

"We've been waiting for the snow to come so we can go out and hunt," he said.

Mitchell is still hopeful that community members will get what they need this year.

Up on the North Slope, the concerns around potential hunting restrictions while maintaining a healthy population are prompting more conversations across the region, said Quiyaan Harcharek, who was at the meeting on behalf of the North Slope Borough.

"Caribou is one of the main food sources, especially in the smaller communities," he said. "The way we hunt, we only take what we need. Nonresident hunters don't make up a large percentage but cutting the nonresident hunt before the resident hunt will show good faith to the communities that the state and feds are taking avenues necessary before imposing (restrictions) on our communities."

The working group will take its recommendation for regulation changes to the state Board of Game at its meeting in March.

Our longtime friend Michael Kellett(along with Jym St.Pierre) of RESTORE THE NORTH WOODS checked in today with information about how the Penobscot Indian Nation of Maine has endorsed the 150,000 acre National Park that RESTORE, Roxanne Quimby and her son Lucas St. Clair have been pushing to create.................Opposition continues from the town governments of East Millinocket and Millinocket with the overwhelming majority of residents living there feeling that their traditional way of life will be overrun by out of state tourists, congestion and low paying service jobs................I would like to put forth the suggestion that a Maine Woods National Park be modeled not on a Yellowstone or Yosemite "disneyworld" paradigm, but instead be crafted to mimic the Voyageur National Park up in Minnesota which does not push retail and amusement establishments but instead focuses on more traditional hunting, fishing and camping aspects----a much lower key footprint(few roads) and less intrusive on long time area residents sense of place................Thoughts from those up in Maine and environs to this idea?

From: Michael Kellett kellett@restore.org

Subject: Penobscot Indian Nation supports Quimby's Maine national park plan, Bangor Daily News, 20141225

https://bangordailynews.com/2014/12/25/news/penobscot/penobscot-indian-nation-announces-support-of-roxanne-quimby-national-park-plan/

POLL QUESTION

Penobscot Indian Nation announces support of Roxanne Quimby national park plan

By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff

Posted Dec. 25, 2014, at 3:36 p.m.

Last modified Dec. 25, 2014, at 7:09 p.m.

INDIAN ISLAND, Maine — The Penobscot Indian Nation has endorsed a proposed 150,000-acre national park and recreation area, saying the parks would protect the Penobscot River and associated waterways much the way the tribe has "since time immemorial."

Nation President Kirk E. Francis called upon U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, to introduce a bill to Congress supporting the creation of the park and recreation area.

"Residents of the Katahdin region and tribal members alike would benefit, not only from the long-term protection of the lands surrounding the rivers, but also from the economic activity that a new national park and national recreation area would bring to the greater Bangor and Katahdin regions," Francis said in a statement released earlier this week.

"Visitors coming to Acadia [National Park] would have a reason to spend a few extra days to go explore the new national park and national recreation area in the Katahdin region," Francis added. "They could fish, camp, hunt, watch birds and other wildlife, snowmobile and see spectacular views of Katahdin."

Francis and leading park advocate Lucas St. Clair, entrepreneur Roxanne Quimby's son, did not immediately return telephone or email messages left Thursday. Nor did a spokesman for the Quimby family foundation, Ian Grady.

Quimby and her son St. Clair in 2011 proposed creating a 75,000-acre national park and nearby 75,000-acre multiuse recreation area. The park and recreation area would be located on Quimby lands east of Baxter State Park. The family's foundation proposes to create a $20 million endowment and raise another $20 million to fund park maintenance.

Attempts to reach the spokespersons for Collins and King were not immediately successful on Thursday. The Indian nation is the first group to publicly endorse a park since the last election, in which four of 11 East Millinocket and Millinocket candidates for public office said they favored the park for what they said would be its positive impact on the Katahdin region's economy, which had its mills' last two paper machines shut down in 2008 and 2013. Two of the four, East Millinocket Selectman Mark Scally and Millinocket Town Councilor Anita Mueller, were elected.

The Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce and several environmental groups endorsed the idea, but East Millinocket and Millinocket governments and residents have staunchly opposed the proposed park. Officials in Medway, which elects its selectmen during town meetings in the spring, have said they favor a park feasibility study. An independent committee of town officials and residents formed to support the study but later withdrew its support.

Opposition to the park remains daunting. The Penobscot County Board of Commissioners, Gov. Paul LePage, the Maine Legislature, gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud and Collins have opposed the park. King told the New York Times that he was "opposed and skeptical but listening." East Millinocket residents voted 513-132 in 2011 against a feasibility study of the park.

Francis said that about 25 miles of the East Branch of the Penobscot River would flow through park lands, as would several associated streams. A bill offered by a member of Maine's federal delegation would be a crucial element to the creation of a park.

The bill would have to pass in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and be signed into law by President Obama before a park could be created.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Voyageurs National Park  


 Located in the wild country of northern Minnesota, and perched along the United States/Canadian border, Voyageurs National Park is one of the few parks in the national park system which is primarily oriented to water. Although there are thick forests and interesting landforms, it is the lakes and waterways which make the park especially noteworthy. A full third of the park is accounted for by lakes, ponds, channels, and other waterways.
Voyageurs is different than some of the most famous parks in the National Park system in that it does not feature world-renowned features such as the Grand Canyon or Yosemite Valley. But the land here is lovely and noteworthy in its own way, and it preserves a type of wilderness that is not really present in other park other than nearby Isle Royale in Lake Superior. But experiencing the treasures of this park requires some extra effort.
One of the striking things about the Voyageurs National Park is its wilderness nature. There are few roads in the park (less than 6 miles total!), and for the most part the visitor who wants to experience the park is going to have to get out of the car and into a canoe, motorboat, or other watercraft. There are trails and old "tote" or logging roads in the interior of the park, particularly on the Kabetogama Peninsula, but the main mode of visitation is surely on one of the many lakes in the park. The view familiar to most visitors to the park is the shoreline of the lake, and to the fortunate ones the view is from a watercraft skimming across the surface of a lake.

Voyageurs National Park features some 30 lakes and 900 islands in its 218,054 acres. It's a fairly large park, about 55 miles long, and sits on the US/Canada Border, which runs through some of the major lakes in the park.

The park offers a number of amenities for visitors, including several visitor centers, an historic hotel, and concessionaires who rent canoes, kayaks, and other kinds of boats, or provide excursions and tours on the lakes in the park.

Many of the country's most famous national parks are extremely popular, but this popularity can unfortunately compromise the experience for the visitor, since it is the natural beauty and not the sight of other tourists that draws most to the park. While many people visit Voyageurs, the tranquility of the wilderness experience can certainly be enjoyed in this lovely park, as it is possible to get away from other folks very easy. 

A decade of Rattlesnake research by Texas A & M researchers have revealed: 1)Snakes must find dens that are deep enough to protect them from freezing winter temperatures; most ground squirrel, woodrat and other rodent burrows do not meet this requirement,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,2)Snakes will emerge from winter dens anytime outside temperatures exceed the low 50 degree levels,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,3)Prairie rattlers will share dens with hundreds of other snakes as suitable and deep enough underground dens are not easy to come by in the wild

http://shar.es/1H3itF

Wild Pantex -

 Wintertime

 Rattlesnakes

By James D. Ray, Wildlife Biologist

December 23, 2014

Jim Ray , wildlife

For more than a decade Pantex and West Texas A&M University studied the ecology of our resident prairie rattlesnakes. We captured hundreds of them and marked them with subcutaneous microchips. 

Around 40 of them carried radio-transmitters, which we carefully surgically implanted into their body cavity. These snakes then went about their business, and their transmitters allowed us to follow them around and learn more about their behavior and general ecology. We quickly confirmed the location and characteristics of winter dens, or hibernacula as they are referred to scientifically. Prairie dog holes are an obvious choice, as are sinkholes associated with old landfills and pipelines. Hibernacula must be deep enough that the snakes can escape freezing temperatures, and most animal burrows (ground squirrels, woodrats, etc.) evidently do not meet this requirement – snakes moved to dens of more significant depth prior to the onset of the coldest weather.

Rattlesnakes cannot be subjected to freezing temperatures; thus, as the nights get colder in the fall they begin to use burrows at night to escape this danger. After a few light freezes (usually in October or November), they make a quick trip back to the den in which they will spend the winter.

From our research, we learned that rattlesnakes can be on the surface during every month of the year. Rattlesnakes are cold-blooded and have a need to bask in the sun, and thus warm to the point that all tissues and organs work properly. In fact, chances are pretty good that some snakes will surface to bask in the sun anytime during the winter that temperatures exceed the low 50s, especially provided there are clear skies. At warmer temperatures, the snakes can actually bask even under cloud cover.

One aspect of wintering snake ecology that we did not get to was how many snakes might congregate in these dens. Just from experience, we think most Pantex hibernacula host up to a dozen or two snakes, but the prairie rattlesnake is known to congregate in numbers in the hundreds. I have seen as many as five or six basking around a den entrance at once. Oftentimes, the 9-inch young-of-the year will be coiled up on the backs of larger snakes.

Hibernacula receive historic use, and it is believed that the young snakes follow the scent of the older, experienced snakes to the dens. In our area, outside of prairie dog colonies, winter dens may be scarce and thus limit rattlesnake populations. Here at Pantex, snake populations from large areas oftentimes end up in a single available winter den, thus making that den site very important to the snakes of that area.

So what does this all mean?  Well, I hope you enjoyed the ecological aspect of this blog. But, if it is just the safety aspect that you are interested in, be sure to be very observant when you are working or otherwise out in the field when wintertime temperatures warm.

A prairie rattlesnake basking on a warm fall day on the edge of its winter den.

- See more at: http://www.pantex.com/news/blog/Pages/WP-Wintertime-Rattlesnakes.aspx#sthash.ds60FF1y.KgdrGuer.dpuf

Ecologist and good friend Cristina Eisenberg jsut published her latest HUFFINGTON POST article entitled: WOLVES IN A TANGLED BANK................Cristina focuses on not whether some scientists are right or wrong about Wolves trophic impact on the regeneration of natural systems but rather picks up on where carnivores like Wolves fit into nature's schematic as described by Charles Darwin as a "tangled bank"..........With Cristina going on to say that "nature's complexity(that tangled bank) results from myriad species and their relationships with other species and all the things that can possibly affect them such as disease, disturbance and competition for food"........So rather than arguing about exactly what impact Wolves have on elk and herbivory, Cristina suggests that we instead focus on the fact that "large, meat-eating animals improve the health of plant communities and provide food subsidies for the many species that scavenge on their kills"........... "A system with wolves in it is far richer than one without and can support many more grizzly bears, coyotes, wolverines, and eagles".......... "There are things we don't know and disagreements about what we do know".............."Given the accelerated human-caused extinctions we are experiencing today, a precautionary approach to creating healthier ecosystems means conserving large carnivores"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-eisenberg/wolves-in-a-tangled-bank_b_6363198.html

WOLVES IN A TANGLED BANK

Cristina Eisenberg; Ecologist; Author

The wolves' return to Yellowstone and the subsequent recovery of plants that elk had been eating to death in their absence has become one the most popularized and beloved ecological tales. By the 1920s humans had misguidedly wiped out most of the wolves in North America, thinking that the only good wolf was a dead one. Without wolves preying on them, elk and deer (called ungulates) exploded in number. Burgeoning ungulate populations ravaged plant communities, including aspen forests. Decades later, the wolves we reintroduced in Yellowstone hit the ground running, rapidly sending their ecological effects rippling throughout the region, restoring this ecosystem from top to bottom.

Reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone National Park

Yet today scientists caution that this story is more myth than fact because nature isn't so simple.

For decades scientists have been investigating the ecological role of wolves. In his 1940s game surveys, Aldo Leopold found ungulates wiping out vegetation wherever wolves had been removed. He concluded that by controlling ungulates, wolves could restore plant communities and create healthier habitat for other species, such as birds.

Since Leopold's time, many scientists have studied food web relationships between top predators and their prey--called trophic cascades. In the 1960s and 1970s Robert Paine, working with sea stars, and James Estes, working with sea otters, showed that ecosystems without top predators begin to unravel. Paine created the metaphorical term keystone species to refer to top predators and noted that when you remove the keystone, arches and ecosystems collapse. Over the years ecologists found trophic cascades--also called top-down effects--ubiquitous from coral reefs to prairies to polar regions.

Lush Aleutian Island kelp forest in an area that contains sea otters, a keystone predator (James Estes Photo)

However, some scientists maintain that sunlight and moisture, which make plants grow, drive ecosystem processes from the bottom-up, making predators relatively unimportant. The Yellowstone wolf reintroduction provided the perfect setting to test these contrasting perspectives.

In the mid-1800s in his book The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin presciently described nature as a "tangled bank." Nature's complexity results from myriad species and their relationships with other species and all the things that can possibly affect them, such as disease, disturbance, and competition for food. Science works incrementally, taking us ever deeper into nature's tangled bank as we investigate ecological questions. Each study answers some questions and begets new ones. Sometimes we find contradictory results. Learning how nature works requires that we keep searching for answers amid the clues nature gives us, such as the bitten-off stem of an aspen next to a stream where there are no wolves.

Trophic cascades science that focuses on wolves is still in its infancy, with huge knowledge gaps. For example, we've linked wolves to strong effects that cascade through multiple food web levels. However, we're just starting to parse how context can influence these effects. Some Yellowstone studies have found that wolves have powerful indirect effects on the plants that elk eat, such as aspens, due to fear of predation. With wolves around, elk have to keep moving to stay alive, which reduces browsing pressure.

Vigilant elk in a wolf-elk system (Cristina Eisenberg photo)

Conversely, a growing body of studies are finding no wolf effect--that aspens in places with wolves aren't growing differently than those where predation risk is low.

It's human nature to try to find simple solutions. Today we are grappling with monumental environmental problems such as climate change. Due to the wolf's iconic status and our need to fix broken ecosystems, the environmental community and the media have run with the science that shows a strong wolf effect. This has inspired other scientists to work hard to prove that ecosystems are more complex than that. These dissenting studies demonstrate that the wolf dwells in a tangled bank, working alongside many ecological forces.

In my own research I've found that wolves need another keystone force--fire--to drive trophic cascades. In my previous work in Glacier National Park, Montana and in our ongoing Earthwatch research in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, we are experimenting with fire in a wolf-dominated system.

Prescribed fire in Waterton Lakes National Park (Parks Canada Photo)

Our first five years of data show that with wolves and fire present, elk herbivory drops, aspens thrive, and biodiversity soars due to the healthy habitat created by young, vigorously saplings. Parsing these relationships has involved gathering data on 35 ecological variables and building 72 statistical models.

Cristina Eisenberg and crew measuring aspen that sprouted after a severe fire in Waterton Lakes National Park (Brent Steiner photo)

Tangled banks seldom yield simple answers. However, arguing about what exactly carnivores do ecologically and why we need them is fiddling while Rome burns. Large, meat-eating animals improve the health of plant communities and provide food subsidies for the many species that scavenge on their kills. A system with wolves in it is far richer than one without and can support many more grizzly bears, coyotes, wolverines, and eagles. There are things we don't know and disagreements about what we do know. In The Carnivore Way, I write that, given the accelerated human-caused extinctions we are experiencing today, a precautionary approach to creating healthier ecosystems means conserving large carnivores.

Cristina Eisenberg – Earthwatch Lead Scientist, Author

I am an ecologist and the Lead Scientist at Earthwatch, USA. My responsibilities include developing strategic initiatives to explore key environmental sustainability issues and establishing partnerships with principal investigators. In my ecological research I focus on wolves and fire in Rocky Mountain ecosystems. I have a master’s degree in conservation biology from Prescott College, a PhD in Forestry and Wildlife from Oregon State University. I am a Smithsonian Research Associate, a Boone and Crockett Club professional member, and Black Earth Institute Scholar/Advisor. My first book, The Wolf’s Tooth, was published in 2010 by Island Press. My second book, The Carnivore Way, was published by Island Press in May 2014. I am currently writing a book about climate change, Taking the Heat: Wildlife, Food Webs and Extinction in a Warming World. I am the nonfiction editor for Whitefish Review. For two decades I lived with my family in a remote, wild corner of northwest Montana. I currently live in Concord, Massachusetts, near Walden Pond.