The Hub Conservation Area - Montanans 4 Safe Wildlife Passage

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mountain ranges, and the springtime snow packhistorically persists into the second week of May.The spine of the mountains between Flint Creekand the Beaverheads are areas that have primeconditions for supporting wolverine populations.Lynx: This area also has high potential as lynxhabitat.Elk: The entire lower end of the Bitterroot Valleyand Lost Trail Camp has a high density of elk;there is elk movement between the Bitterroot,Salmon Valley, the Big Hole, and the Frank ChurchWilderness. Elk are mostly concentrated to thewest side of the Big Hole Valley, particularly fromPlimpton Creek southward.Conservation ThreatsDevelopment: Currently, this area is somewhatundeveloped, but there could be creepfrom the south end Bitterroot and SalmonValleys, and nearby ski areas. Any privateland subdivision in these areas threatensconnectivity for carnivores; the risk of humanwildlifeencounters would increase.Winter recreation may also threatenwolverine, especially when recreationalistsenter areas where female wolverine aredenning. In the foothills of the adjacentvalleys (Salmon, Bitterroot, Big Hole), there isthe potential for conflicts between humans andwolves.Conservation OpportunitiesThis linkage is primarily all National Forest land;therefore, by working with the municipalitiesaround the Conner and Sula corridors, a largemovement corridor could remain intact. Thereis enough public land in this area to sustain wolfpacks despite the high probability of humanconflicts.Chaffin CreekCreekPiquettSpade CreekW Fork Bitterroot ROverwh ich CreekBlind DrawLaird CreekCreekWilesConnerSmoke CreekCreekHug hesBITTERROOTRANGECreekIndianRye C r eek£¤ 93 SulaMaynard CreekSula CreekCamp CreekCreekPraineHart CreekLost Trail CampHughes CreekHull CreekTwin CreekCreekCameronLost TrailPassCONTINENTAL DIVIDE£¤ 93TraiSAPPHIREMTNSRiverBitterroot East ForkTolan CreekMay CreekS heep CCreekMartinCreekMeadowl Cre ekCow CreekreekSwift Creek131CreekTieButler CreekSign CreekR uby C reekLick CreekAnaconda-PintlerWildernessHell Roaring CreekCreekBenderJohnson CreekCreekMoosePlimpton Creek¬« 43 BIG HOLEVALLEYRiverHole Big North ForkMifflin CreekBEAVERHEADMOUNTAINSRock CreekClam CreekBig CreekLakeVLand CoverLost Trail LinkageI DU. S. Forest ServiceMontana Fish,Wildlife & ParksorIdaho Fish & GameState LandsU.S. Bureau ofLand Mgmt.Private Land/OtherWilderness (USFS& USFWS)ConservationEasementsU.S. Fish & WildlifeServicePlum Creek TimberCompany0 1.25 2.5 5MilesM TThe HubW Yµ
MacDonald Pass toFleecer/Mt. HagginSpeciesGeographic BoundaryThis linkage area extends from Highway12 as it crosses the Continental Divide atMacDonald Pass in the Boulder Mountains,south along the west side of the Boulders,across the valley west of Butte, and endsat the east end of the Mt. Haggin WildlifeManagement Area (WMA) and the FleecerWMA. The west side of the linkage isbounded by the foothills of the DeerlodgeValley; the east side is bounded byInterstate 15 as it runs south through theBoulder Mountains. Interstate 90 runsthrough the south end of the linkagearea.Importance of Linkage AreaOn a regional scale, this linkage areaprovides connectivity for wildlife movingnorth-south along the ContinentalDivide between the Sawtooths (BobMarshall Wilderness) in the North andthe Pioneers/Anaconda-Pintlers to thesouthwest of the linkage area. It alsoconnects the Pioneers/ Anaconda-Pintlers, and the Sawtooths to the ElkhornMountains.Mountain ranges connected in thislinkage: Boulders, Rocky Mountain Front,Elkhorns, Fleecer Mountain- Mt. HagginWMA, and PioneersEcological SettingThe MacDonald Pass to Fleecer linkageparallels the east side of the DeerlodgeValley. The northern portion of thelinkage follows the Continental Divide.The linkage is broadly forested at anaverage elevation of 6,000 to 7,000 feet,with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) asthe dominant conifer species. As in muchof this larger area, south-facing slopeshave less tree cover, often interspersedwith sagebrush/grasslands, and more132forest cover on north-facing slopes. Themost continuous forest habitat is presentin the northern end of the linkage. Wherethe linkage intersects the Clark Fork Rivervalley near Ramsey, forested habitat isdominated by Rocky Mountain juniper(Juniperus scopulorum) with scatteredpatches of Douglas-fir. The stunted andnarrow tree growth form in this areareflects the long-term soil and air qualityimpacts from historic copper smelting andmining activity in the Butte area. Timberharvest has been widespread and oftenintensive, particularly in the northern halfof the linkage, with a fairly high densityroad network. Severe insect infestationsin lodgepole pine are causing large areasof tree mortality throughout the linkage.Highway 12 traverses the north end ofthe linkage at MacDonald Pass, withInterstate 90 bisecting the linkage westof Butte. Railroads and numerous powerline corridors follow both highways. Amajor power line corridor passes throughthe middle of the linkage east of DeerLodge. The intersection of Interstates 15and 90 near Ramsey at the south end ofthis linkage supports significant industrial,commercial and residential development,as well as superfund site cleanup andhabitat restoration on Silver Bow Creek.This has severely fragmented or convertedhabitat.WildlifeThis area currently functions as amovement corridor for grizzly bear,wolves, wolverine, lynx, moose, andelk. The east-west movement across thelinkage area from Elliston to TenmileCreek is very important; the variedtopography of canyons and mountainranges is great for wildlife movement.Wildlife also moves south along thelinkage area above and east of Elliston,wildlife follow the Little Blackfoot River
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Executive SummaryMaintaining the ec
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Map 1. The Hub Conservation Area ma
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Map 3. Major elk linkages identifie
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Map 6. Major mule deer linkages ide
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Map 8. Major wolf linkages identifi
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Map 10. Major grizzly bear linkages
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For information regarding contents
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American Wildlands’ PriorityLinka
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Georgetown Lake,photo by Grace Hamm
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Beaverhead Mountains to the south,
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with mountainous wet meadows and ri
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irds). This step was repeated for c
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Figure 4. Hierarchical breakdown of
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sanitation and conflict issues betw
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Literature ReviewThis review is mea
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that this impediment is deleterious
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may not provide functional connecti
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available during dispersal, and new
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and desert; this reflects overall a
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Photo by Denver Bryanpopulations. L
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Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus)
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GUIDE TO READINGPRIORITY LINKAGE AS
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Absaroka to CraziesSpeciesGeographi
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BangtailsSpeciesGeographic Boundary
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Bear CreekSpeciesGeographic Boundar
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Big BeltsSpeciesGeographic Boundary
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to disease transmission between dom
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sightings in the Birch Creek area.
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Elk move within this linkage for wi
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south of the linkage area.Wolverine
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ange for about 200 elk, and the Spr
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winter range is private land on the
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e using the Little Belt Mountains,
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Front south along the Continental D
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Clinton to DrummondSpeciesGeographi
Page 82 and 83: There has been a settlement with At
Page 84 and 85: Mountain Goats: The highest density
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Page 88: dispersal corridor for all of these
Page 91 and 92: the area. Hunting access in general
Page 93 and 94: with the Elkhorns.Wolverines are kn
Page 96 and 97: FleecerSpeciesGeographic BoundaryFl
Page 98 and 99: negotiated grazing agreements on th
Page 100 and 101: traffic volumes are increasing sign
Page 102 and 103: pack in the linkage. The large size
Page 104 and 105: Garnets to BouldersSpeciesGeographi
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Page 108 and 109: persistent spring snow and may be k
Page 110 and 111: Garnets. The Clark Fork River Corri
Page 112 and 113: Horseshoe HillsSpeciesGeographic Bo
Page 114 and 115: Hound CreekSpeciesGeographic Bounda
Page 116 and 117: Jefferson SloughSpeciesGeographic B
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Page 120 and 121: Willow packs moved here from the po
Page 122: the high potential for conflict wit
Page 125 and 126: the Castle Mountains south of Whets
Page 127 and 128: Lolo to TurahSpeciesGeographic Boun
Page 129 and 130: path; this could further fragment w
Page 131: Lost TrailSpeciesGeographic Boundar
Page 135 and 136: claims within the area and 75 are b
Page 137 and 138: Conservation ThreatsDevelopment cou
Page 139 and 140: MaxvilleSpeciesGeographic BoundaryT
Page 141 and 142: Norris HillSpeciesGeographic Bounda
Page 143 and 144: PipestoneSpeciesGeographic Boundary
Page 145 and 146: 144
Page 147 and 148: persistent snow pack.Lynx: Boles Cr
Page 149 and 150: Potter BasinSpeciesGeographic Bound
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Page 153 and 154: Mountain goats exist in small pocke
Page 155 and 156: Rocky Mountain Front to Big BeltMou
Page 157 and 158: Disease between bighorn sheep and d
Page 159 and 160: the linkage, grizzly bear forage in
Page 161 and 162: influencing how wildlife connectivi
Page 163 and 164: Several bighorn sheep herds form am
Page 165 and 166: Silver StarSpeciesGeographic Bounda
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Page 169 and 170: controlled. In recent years, approx
Page 171 and 172: esulting from livestock depredation
Page 173 and 174: StickneySpeciesGeographic BoundaryT
Page 175 and 176: SulaSpeciesGeographic BoundaryThe S
Page 177 and 178: Tom Miner to Mill CreekSpeciesGeogr
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Page 181 and 182: development. Subdivision, fencing a
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Townsend from 1000 to 300 animals.
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These appear to be important for gr
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Other existing packs include the Wo
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Creek and the Boulder River south o
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Harestad A.S., and F.L. Bunnell. 19
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Trakhtenbrot, A. R. Nathan, G. Perr
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Appendix 1 (cont.).Table 1Mammals o
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Appendix 2 (cont.).Table 2Home Rang
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Appendix 3 (cont.).Table 3Migration
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Appendix 4 (cont.).Table 4Dispersal
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Appendix 5 (cont.).Studies Demonstr
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American Wildlands ~ Winter 2008
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The Hub Conservation Area - Montanans 4 Safe Wildlife Passage

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