WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
IN NORTHWEST ECOSYSTEMS
Spring
Quarter 2019
ESRM
459 - 3 credits: Field trip: 23-30 March 2019
AND
pre-
and post-trip discussion, skill building, and research experience (an optional
2 credits in ESRM 490 can be taken)
John
Marzluff L. Monika Moskal
Aaron Wirsing
123E Anderson 334 Bloedel 101 Winkenwerder
corvid@uw.edu lmmoskal@uw.edu wirsinga@uw.edu
Introductions to the issues currently
defining the Yellowstone Ecosystem as studied by previous ESC 459 classes are
available at: http://fs-web.sefs.uw.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
· American
Wolf by Nate Blakeslee
You May also want to
read:
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
(checked out) |
sunglasses
and sunscreen |
cash (~$100) |
Before leaving for
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 be
available to meet weekly during 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 Seattle
for Bozeman, Montana at 6:00 AM (arrive at 5:45 to load vehicles)
Land
Use Patterns – Wildlife Implication
Columbia
River Overlook
Silver
Valley Idaho
Arrive
in Bozeman at Lewis and Clark Motel, Bozeman, MT (824 W Main St, (406) 586-3341)
Sunday March 24th
Travel to
Yellowstone, orientation to the park, scope out
possible raven trapping sites
Evening at
Best Western Gardiner (800 828-9080)
Monday March 25th
Morning safari
in park and possible raven trapping
Meet with
ranchers Hanibal Anderson, Malou
Anderson, Dre Ramirez, and Hilary Anderson—Tom
Miner Basin (130)
Evening at
Best Western Gardiner (800 828-9080)
Tuesday March 26th
Early morning
Safari and cougar/wolf research with Connor Meyer
Evening in
Gardiner
Wednesday March 27th
Early morning
Safari and raven trapping
Carcass
necropsy with Elise Loggers and cluster crew
Afternoon
in Mammoth to Meet with Doug Smith, Leader Yellowstone Wolf Project.
Lecture on wildlife issues in Yellowstone National Park
Evening in
Gardiner
Thursday March 28th
Early morning
Safari
Afternoon hike
with bighorn sheep
4:00 Meet with
Dr. Chris Geremia, NPS Bison Research Leader,
Gardiner, (406) 581 9040, discussion Evening in Gardiner
Friday March 29th
Morning in
Park and depart for Bozeman
Rancher
discussion with Tom Milesnick
Drone
Demonstration with USGS scientists, Aaron Johnston
Evening in
Bozeman at Lewis and Clark Motel, Bozeman, MT (824 W Main St, (406) 586-3341)
Saturday March 30th
Depart Bozeman
for Seattle
Discuss paper
topics reroute
Evening in
Seattle
Pool winner
announced for closest ETA