WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN NORTHWEST ECOSYSTEMS

Spring Quarter 2011

ESRM 459 - 3 credits: Field trip: 19-26 March 2011

AND SIMULTANEOUS REGISTRATION IN

ESRM 490 - 2 credits of pre- and post-trip discussion, skill building, and research experience

 

 

Instructors

John Marzluff                                 L. Monika Moskal                          Aaron Wirsing

123E Anderson                            334 Bloedel                                   101 Winkenwerder                                 

corvid@u.washington.edu           lmmoskal@u.washington.edu      wirsinga@u.washington.edu         

 

Readings and Web Site

Introductions to the issues currently defining the Yellowstone Ecosystem as studied by previous ESC 459 classes are available at: http://www.cfr.washington.edu/classes.esrm.459/yellowstone/

 

There are two required text books. Read them prior to departing on the trip and bring a copy with you:

 

·        Dog Days, Raven Nights by John and Colleen Marzluff

·        Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone by Douglas W. Smith and Gary Ferguson

 

Two resources concerning geospatial analyses also require your attention

           

 

General reviews of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem can be found in:

·        T. W. Clark, M. B. Rutherford, and D. Casey (editors). 2005. Coexisting with Large Carnivores—Lessons from Greater Yellowstone. Island Press.

·        Keiter, R.B. and M.S. Boyce. 1991. Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America’s Wilderness Heritage. Yale Univ. Press.  

·        Chase, A. 1986. Playing God in Yellowstone. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

·        Frederic H. Wagner, Wayne L. Hamilton and Richard B. Keigley. 2006. Yellowstone's Destabilized Ecosystem: Elk Effects, Science, and Policy Conflict . Oxford University Press.

 

Theme Song

Jimmy Buffett—Ringling, Ringling---get it for your mp3 player.

 

Background

This course will provide an opportunity to examine and analyze wildlife conservation issues in Yellowstone National Park.  Management of Yellowstone’s natural resources generates significant controversy because diverse and powerful stakeholders recognize that Yellowstone often acts as a conservation “weathervane” for other national parks. As usual we will also do other neat things like catch golden and bald eagles, explore the thermal features of the Mammoth basin, eat pizza in Gardiner, and look for otters, bighorn, pronghorn, and deer.  You will be required to develop an oral presentation as a group on a topic related to the data we gather while in the park.  These group projects will be presented later in Spring quarter.

 

What You Might See

Our travels bring us up close to a large variety of birds and mammals.  Our full list includes over 80 bird species and nearly 20 mammals.  Highlights are American Crows, Common Ravens, and Gray Jays.  But you will also likely get a look at wolves, elk, and if we’re lucky a grizzly bear.  Download the checklist for your trip.

 

Fees

The course fee will be approximately $500. That includes transportation, lodging (hotels with 2 or 3 of you per room) breakfast, and lunch (and expert guiding!). Dinners are on your own, but pretty cheap in the Gardiner and Bozeman area.

 

Meals

We will purchase food for our breakfasts and lunches, but each person is responsible for planning and obtaining their dinners during the trip while we stay at motels in Bozeman and Gardiner.  We will stop at grocery stores and fast food “restaurants” during travel days. 

 

What to Bring

Be very prepared for cold, windy, and wet weather.  It is winter in Yellowstone in March, so warm waterproof clothing and boots are a must.  We will be outdoors and away from shelter for most of each day.

For the 2011 trip you will need snowshoes; options are being communicated through email with students enrolled in the course!

 

warm clothes (wool, fleece, layers)

duffel or small suitcase (no expedition packs)

camera (optional)

notebook  and animal checklist (linked above)

boots (hiking and snow)

small backpack (daypack), refillable water bottle

GPS (optional, we will have a few for you to use)

personal toiletries

gloves, hat, warm socks, extra socks

swimsuit and towel if you want to go in hot springs; water shoes for hot springs

compass (optional, we will have a few for you to use)

hand/foot warmers

rain jacket/parka

binoculars (a must)

sunglasses and sunscreen

cash (~$100)

 

 

Course Requirements

Before leaving for Yellowstone:

 

1. Orientation to equipment we will use during the trip: GPS data loggers and linked Rangefinders

 

1. Reading (textbooks and other background reading) prior to the trip.

2. Surfing - go through the entire interdisciplinary web site (linked above)

3. Google Earth exploration of the park (specifically the northern access road from Gardiner to Cook City.

 

During the field trip:

1.      Each student will have ½ day responsibility of keeping the field trip list of sighted birds and mammals.

 

Post-field trip meetings and assignment:

We will every other week in Spring Quarter so that each of you may organize, work on, and present your project to the class.  Presentations should use computer software (PowerPoint or an html browser) to walk the class through your project (see below).

 

We will meet in mid May to discuss our research findings.  This will be a formal presentation of your impressions from the trip to the public.  Each student (small teams can work together on a topic of mutual interest as well) will be responsible for investigating some aspect of our research in Yellowstone and MAKING THIS RELEVANT TO CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON.  Each group will develop a 2-4-page factsheet and 20 min oral presentation on their topic.  Details and expectations will be discussed during the field trip.

 

Tentative Daily Itinerary

 

Saturday March 19st

Depart Seattle for Gardiner, Montana

Land Use Patterns – Wildlife Implication

Columbia River Overlook

Silver Valley Idaho

Arrive in Gardiner at Best Western Gardiner (800 828-9080)

Evening discussion with Kurt Ault in Gardiner, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks in Bozeman (406 570 1690) to discuss management issues

 

Sunday March 20st 

Early morning wildlife viewing and identification in YNP

Exploration and use of the GPS devices in the afternoon

Evening in Gardiner; might do owl calling later in the evening

 

Monday March 21nd 

Early morning with wolf crew and raven sampling (Ky and Lisa)

 

1:00 – Meet with Doug Smith, Leader Yellowstone Wolf Project. Lecture on wildlife issues in Yellowstone National Park

Evening in Gardiner

 

Tuesday March 22rd 

Early morning with wolf crew and raven sampling

Evening in Gardiner

 

Wednesday March 23th

Early morning with wolf crew and raven sampling

 

3:00 Meet with Dr. Rick Wallen, NPS Bison Research Leader, Gardiner, (406) 581 9040, discussion Evening in Gardiner

 

Thursday March 24th

Early morning with wolf crew and raven sampling

 

3:30 Remote Sensing and carnivores of Yellowstone with Bob Crabtree, YERC, Bozeman

Evening in Bozeman at Best Western City Center (800 870 3661)

 

Friday March 25th

Eagle tracking and trapping with Al Harmata (Montana State University) and Marco Restani (St. Cloud State University)

Belgrade, Montana

Evening in Bozeman

 

Saturday March 26th

Depart Bozeman for Seattle

Discuss paper topics reroute

Evening in Seattle

Pool winner announced for closest ETA