The Hub Conservation Area - Montanans 4 Safe Wildlife Passage

the Castle Mountains south of Whetstone Ridge.Elk also winter in the Spring Creek area on thesouth end of the Little Belts. The whole areaaround Muddy Creek to the Musselshell River isalso elk and mule deer winter range. The southend of Whetstone Ridge is an important muledeer winter range.Moose have been observed in the CottonwoodCreek area.Mountain Lions are routinely harvested fromthe Whetstone Ridge and Pasture Gulch area.Pronghorn are found in large numbers west ofCottonwood Creek and on the east side of theCastle Mountains.Bald Eagles winter from White Sulphur Springsto Harlowtown, primarily along the MusselshellRiver.Conservation ThreatsDevelopment: Currently, there are some housesand fences along Hwy 12 and development islow.Highways: Highway 12, between Checkerboardand Two Dot is in poor condition, which keepstraffic numbers low. There are some incidencesof animal-vehicle collisions.Conflict: There are many domestic sheep/carnivore issues around Martinsdale.Energy Development: There is high potentialfor wind development along Hwy 89 to the east,possibly within the next ten years.Conservation OpportunitiesMontana Department of Transportation willbe improving Hwy 12 in the next few years;therefore, the opportunity exists to discuss themitigation of animal-vehicle collisions. Threedrainages (Flagstaff Creek, Whetstone Creek,and Cooper Creek) across the highway andcould possibly be connected; there may be anopportunity to install wildlife-friendly bridges inthis area.Currently, no conservation efforts exist in theCheckerboard area, but there are conservationopportunities on some private land alongthe Little Belt and Castle Mountains. Privateland access for hunting is a significant gamemanagement issue in this area; this limits theability of Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks tomanage elk. Opportunities may exist to work onpublic access.There is a significant amount of public land inthe Checkerboard area of this linkage; theremay be an opportunity for agencies to blockup areas of state land with land exchangesto increase public access. There also may beopportunities for conservation easements in thearea.124