WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN NORTHWEST ECOSYSTEMS
Spring Quarter 2012
ESRM 459 - 3 credits: Field
trip: 17-24 March 2012
AND SIMULTANEOUS
REGISTRATION IN
ESRM 490 - 2 credits of
pre- and post-trip discussion, skill building, and research experience
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
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
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.
Theme Song
Will
the Wolf Survive?—Los Lobos---get it for your mp3 player.
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.
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.
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.
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.
|
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, water shoes, and towel if you want
to go in |
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) |
Before leaving for
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
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
Tentative Daily
Itinerary
Saturday
March 23rd
Depart
Land Use Patterns –
Wildlife Implication
Columbia River Overlook
Silver Valley Idaho
Arrive in
Sunday March 24th
Early morning raven trapping with Drs. Al Harmata (
Afternoon arrival in YNP for orientation, owl
calling, etc
Evening at Best Western Gardiner (800 828-9080)
Monday March 25th
Early morning Safari, check in with wolf crew
Hike with bighorn sheep
Evening in Gardiner
Tuesday March
26th
Early morning Safari and raven survey project
(weather pending)
Evening in Gardiner
Wednesday
March 27th
Early morning Safari and raven survey project (weather
pending)
3:00 Meet with Dr. Rick Wallen,
NPS Bison Research Leader, Gardiner, (406) 581 9040, discussion Evening in
Gardiner
Thursday
March 28th
Early morning Safari
Early afternoon Meet with
Doug Smith, Leader Yellowstone Wolf Project. Lecture on wildlife issues
in
Travel to
Evening in
Friday March
29th
Eagle tracking and trapping with Al Harmata (
Presentation by Tom Milesnick about ranching and recreation. Learn about his MZ Bar Ranch here
Evening in
Saturday
March 30th
Depart Bozeman for Seattle
Discuss paper topics reroute
Evening in Seattle
Pool winner announced for closest ETA