The Hub Conservation Area - Montanans 4 Safe Wildlife Passage

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negotiated grazing agreements on the east endof the linkage area, and additional conservationefforts are possible. There have been recentconservation efforts in the Flint Creek-MillCreek area. Due to the large amount of publicownership, establishing a safe passage acrossI-90 would make this area very secure and thuswould be a valuable use of conservation dollars.Several groups are interested in the preservationof the valuable wildlife/open space in Fleecerlinkage, including the Anaconda Sportsman’sClub, the Foundation for North American WildSheep, and Five Valleys Land Trust. Deerlodgecounty commissioners are looking at exurbanprivate land subdivision from the cost to taxpayersstand point; this may encourage smartgrowth practices.Also, there are a strong number of wetlandrestoration efforts underway at the UpperClark Fork River Basin Superfund site withinthe Deerlodge Valley, which may present anopportunity for collaborating on mitigation andconservation easements.97
Gallatin CanyonSpeciesGeographic BoundaryThis linkage extends along the GallatinRiver from Four Corners west of Bozemanto the Gallatin-Porcupine WildlifeManagement Area at the confluence ofBeaver Creek and Porcupine Creek withthe Gallatin River. Highway 191 runsthrough the middle of the linkage area.Importance of Linkage AreaThis narrow linkage lies betweentwo areas of core habitat, and largeradjoining linkages, in the northwesterncorner of the Greater YellowstoneEcosystem. It is a critical link tomaintaining regional population andhabitat integrity, particularly for largecarnivores.Mountain ranges connected in thislinkage: Gallatin Range, Spanish Peaks,and Madison Range.Ecological SettingThis narrow linkage follows the GallatinRiver from the Four Corners area, westof Bozeman, upstream to just above BigSky. The river corridor is bounded bysteep forested mountains and riparianhabitat is dominated by conifer andherbaceous species, primarily Engelmannspruce (Picea engelmannii), ratherthan deciduous species. Douglas-fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii) and lodgepolepine (Pinus contorta) are common on thelower slopes adjoining the river. Highway191 follows the river corridor throughoutthe linkage, and supports significanttraffic yearlong. Dispersed residences,small subdivisions, and businesses havedeveloped on private lands along theriver, partly as an outgrowth of the BigSky resort at the southern end of thelinkage. As a result of this development,there are places where roads parallel98both sides of the river. Elevation of thelinkage ranges between 5,000 feet and7,000 feet.WildlifeAlthough this is a small linkage, it iscritical to wildlife movement acrossthe Gallatin River, and throughout thewhole area. Wildlife movement betweenseasonal habitats is constrained to thenorth by development at the mouth ofthe Gallatin Canyon and further into theGallatin Valley, and to the southwestby development around the Big SkyResort. The area lies within yearlongand seasonal habitat for wolves, grizzlybear, wolverine, elk, moose, bighornsheep, and black bear, and nearly anylong range movement within the arearequires passing through Gallatin Canyon.Habitat for any of these species withina half mile of the Gallatin River itself isrendered unsuitable simply because of thelevel of traffic on Highway 191 and humandisturbance.Conservation ThreatsDevelopment: Private lands within theriver corridor are being developed forresidences or businesses.Recreation: Even though a large portionof the linkage lies on public lands wheredevelopment is precluded, the level ofhuman presence, either along the highwayor on the river, potentially displaceswildlife use.Highways: Wildlife mortalities fromvehicle collisions are commonplace in thecanyon, and nearly all species of wildlifenoted above have been involved. Thisnot only represents an ecological loss butalso is a serious threat to human safety.Highway 191 is a primary route to WestYellowstone and southeastern Idaho, and
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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
Page 47 and 48: Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus)
Page 49 and 50: GUIDE TO READINGPRIORITY LINKAGE AS
Page 51 and 52: Absaroka to CraziesSpeciesGeographi
Page 53 and 54: BangtailsSpeciesGeographic Boundary
Page 55 and 56: Bear CreekSpeciesGeographic Boundar
Page 58 and 59: Big BeltsSpeciesGeographic Boundary
Page 60 and 61: to disease transmission between dom
Page 62: sightings in the Birch Creek area.
Page 65 and 66: Elk move within this linkage for wi
Page 67: south of the linkage area.Wolverine
Page 70 and 71: ange for about 200 elk, and the Spr
Page 72: winter range is private land on the
Page 75: e using the Little Belt Mountains,
Page 78 and 79: Front south along the Continental D
Page 80 and 81: Clinton to DrummondSpeciesGeographi
Page 82 and 83: There has been a settlement with At
Page 84 and 85: Mountain Goats: The highest density
Page 86 and 87: suspected in very low levels, even
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 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 and 132: Lost TrailSpeciesGeographic Boundar
Page 133 and 134: MacDonald Pass toFleecer/Mt. Haggin
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
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Page 147 and 148: persistent snow pack.Lynx: Boles Cr
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Potter BasinSpeciesGeographic Bound
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150
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Mountain goats exist in small pocke
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Rocky Mountain Front to Big BeltMou
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Disease between bighorn sheep and d
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the linkage, grizzly bear forage in
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influencing how wildlife connectivi
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Several bighorn sheep herds form am
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Silver StarSpeciesGeographic Bounda
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controlled. In recent years, approx
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esulting from livestock depredation
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StickneySpeciesGeographic BoundaryT
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SulaSpeciesGeographic BoundaryThe S
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Tom Miner to Mill CreekSpeciesGeogr
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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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