Madison Valley Conservation Assessment

WCS involvement in the West began nearly 100 years ago with a campaign to conserve bison, and continues today with several wildlife research and conservation projects in Greater Yellowstone. With the greatest concentration of large mammals in the lower 48 states and a full suite of native carnivores, it is one of the few temperate ecosystems where ecological processes such as predator-prey interactions are still in place. The integrity of this ecosystem depends on conservation of the public-private lands interface where WCS is working at the landscape scale to help set priorities for conservation of wildlife populations and their habitats.

The Human Aspect
Conservation planning for wildlife in Greater Yellowstone also involves planning for the needs of people. Human activity has a variety of impacts on wildlife and their habitats.  Our goal is to promote Greater Yellowstone landscapes that accommodate both human and wildlife needs and maintain intact ecosystems.

Threats
Land-use change is rapidly occurring within Greater Yellowstone.  A growing human population and the shift from a resource extractive economy to a more amenities-based economy have driven much of this change.  Conversion of private lands from agricultural to residential use and increasing recreation on public lands are two of the most significant threats to wildlife in the region.

WCS Activities
We are working with a variety of public and private organizations such as the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group and the Craighead Environmental Research Institute to conserve wildlife in the Madison Valley watershed – one of the more ecologically intact valleys remaining in Greater Yellowstone.

By mapping the habitat and population needs of landscape species  (e.g. grizzly bear, elk, wolverine, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, westslope cutthroat trout, greater sage grouse) as well as several other habitat-restricted wildlife species (e.g. black-backed woodpecker, Columbia spotted frog, red-naped sapsucker), WCS biologists and planners have developed a blueprint for conserving the majority of wildlife species in the valley as well as the habitats and ecological processes that sustain these species.  We used state-of-the-art computer software to map human land uses and activities.  By overlaying maps of human land use with lands and waters critical to the long-term survival of wildlife populations and their habitats, we have identified potential conflict areas and have developed strategies that may reduce or eliminate these conflicts in the future.

Project Reports

High-Quality Connectivity Areas for Grizzly Bear, Wolverine, and Pronghorn

The Madison Valley is an important wildlife linkage zone between core habitats at the center of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and habitats at the western edge of the GYE and beyond. This report identifies lands in the Madison Valley watershed which are significant for conservation based on the common occurrence of key threats to wildlife and their critical habitats and migration corridors. The species emphasized in this study - grizzly bear, wolverine, and pronghorn antelope - were selected for their need to move across or along the valley to maintain traditional migration routes, enable genetic exchange across the valley, or expand into unoccupied habitat. The selected species are also intended to serve as umbrellas for other species with similar connectivity or habitat requirements, meaning that conservation efforts that are focused on these species will also likely benefit other species with similar needs.

The specific objectives include:

• assess current stresses to focal wildlife species
• identify landscape species’ effective habitats
• identify areas of high connectivity
• identify additional wildlife values

(map of High-Quality Connectivity Areas for Grizzly, Wolverine, and Pronghorn)

(report "High-Quality Wildlife Connectivity Areas in the Madison Valley Watershed" PDF 6MB)

Wildlife Conservation Assessment

An Area of Abundant Wildlife
The Madison Valley is a place of natural splendor with spectacular scenery and an abundance of wildlife found few places in the United States. Although the past 100 years have brought significant changes to the valley and its wildlife, the area contains most of the wildlife species present in the valley when the first Europeans explored the region in the 19th century. Today, the Valley still boasts such icons of wild places as wild carnivores like grizzly bears, wolves,and wolverine; abundant herds of elk, and migrating pronghorn antelope. The Madison River supports a blue ribbon trout fishery that attracts anglers from around the world. However, the Madison Valley is beginning to feel the pressures of change as shifting economies and increased growth present new challenges for conserving the area’s wildlife. Land use practices that tend to maintain wildlife habitat and open space such as farming and ranching are becoming less profitable, while the economy shifts to income sources that favor subdivision of land into smaller parcels. Without proper planning, such subdivision could fragment wildlife habitat and adversely impact the valley’s abundant wildlife resources. 

An Area of Regional Importance
The Madison Valley’s importance for wildlife conservation extends well beyond the valley boundary. Located at the western edge of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the valley forms a linkage between the mountains of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and areas farther west. Maintaining wildlife habitat connectivity between Yellowstone and surrounding regions may be vital for maintaining the long-term health of wildlife populations within the Yellowstone system. Maintaining the outstanding wildlife resources of the Madison Valley in the face of a growing human population and increased demand for land will require careful planning and foresight. To provide necessary information for making sound decisions, the Wildlife Conservation Society, in cooperation with the Craighead Environmental Research Institute and the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group, has completed a wildlife conservation assessment for the Madison Valley. The purpose of this assessment is to provide information to set wildlife conservation priorities and guide conservation activities that will secure a future for all wildlife species native to the valley.

Planning for the Future
The assessment focuses on 15 wildlife species that were chosen to represent the habitats of all species of wildlife native to the valley. Our approach is based upon the “Umbrella Species” concept where it is assumed that conserving habitat to support one species, also provides necessary habitat for other species with similar habitat requirements. We used the Landscape Species Methodology to select 15 focal or umbrella species from a pool of 63 candidate species. The Landscape Species Methodology uses a mathematical ranking system to rate each species according to how much area they require, how many different habitat types they use, whether they provide important ecological functions (e.g. creating wetlands), their socioeconomic importance, and their vulnerability to threats. For each of the 15 species, we developed habitat models to estimate the quality and location of potential habitat in the valley. We also determined the most serious threats to each species by conducting interviews with wildlife experts. These threats were then mapped on a computer and overlaid with potential habitat maps to estimate the current quality of available habitat.

These analyses provide four important types of information:

maps of where high quality habitats for each species likely currently exist
information about the most important threats that may impact current or future populations of the species
areas where habitat could possibly be restored if threats in those areas were reduced or eliminated
estimates of how much habitat has already been lost due to one or more threats

The results from the 15 umbrella species were summarized to determine the most important wildlife conservation proirities for the valley.  These priorities include areas needed to protect the greatest number or most threatened species, areas needed to maintain wildlife habitat connectivity through the valley, and the conservation threats or issues having the widest and most severe impact on wildlife in the valley. We are currently continuing to work with stakeholders and partners including county planners, local conservation organizations, key private landholders, and state/federal natural resource agencies to design and  implement effective conservation strategies to mitigate threats to wildlife.

(map of Effective Wildlife Diversity Potential for the Madison Valley)

(Executive Summary for the report "A Wildlife Conservation Assessment of the Madison Valley, Montana" PDF 1.2MB)

(full report "A Wildlife Conservation Assessment of the Madison Valley, Montana" PDF 18.2MB)

(to request any of these reports in hardcopy or PDF on compact disc)