Flathead National Forest

Abstract Environmental DNA analysis has revolutionized the way we study rare, invasive, and endangered taxa. However, if eDNA testing is to become an increasingly reliable tool, high detection sensitivity is crucial. Current eDNA sampling methods, like filtration and precipitation, can only process small volumes of water per sample. If only a few samples are collected, eDNA from the target organism might be missed, leading to false‐negative results. We developed an eDNA collection method for lentic systems that improved detection sensitivity while keeping the total number of samples low. Unlike filtration and precipitation, which mainly target extracellular DNA, this method specifically targets eDNA in larger particle sizes and is not limited to processing small volumes of water. A 64‐micrometer mesh tow net was used to process >3,000 L of water per eDNA sample. We compared the tow net method to a common collection method, a 0.45 μm cellulose nitrate filter that processes about 1 L of water per eDNA sample. Paired tow and filter samples were collected at 37 locations and tested for two taxa: an aquatic plant, Northern watermilfoil ( Myriophyllum sibiricum ), and aquatic mollusks, including Helisoma anceps, using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) assays. We detected M. sibiricum significantly more frequently in tow samples than filter samples. Mollusks were detected in all eDNA samples (tow nets and filters), but when eDNA samples were diluted 25‐fold to mimic a low target concentration scenario, mollusk DNA was detected significantly more frequently in tow samples than filter samples. This high‐volume eDNA sampling method, using a tow net to process thousands of liters of water, can improve detection sensitivity for multiple taxa, making it a useful tool for researchers and managers.

Jeffrey J. Yeo, James M. Peek, William T. Wittinger, Craig T. Kvale, Influence of Rest-Rotation Cattle Grazing on Mule Deer and Elk Habitat Use in East-Central Idaho, Journal of Range Management, Vol. 46, No. 3 (May, 1993), pp. 245-250

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is an ecologically important subalpine and treeline forest tree of the western U.S. and Canada. It is categorized as endangered by the IUCN and by Canada under the Species at Risk Act and was recently proposed for listing in the U.S. as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Whitebark pine populations are declining nearly rangewide primarily from the spread and intensification of Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch., the exotic, invasive pathogen that causes white pine blister rust (WPBR); recent, large-scale outbreaks of mountain pine beetles (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins); altered fire regimes; and, multiple impacts from climate change. For more than two decades, researchers and managers within the U.S. Forest Service and Canadian forestry agencies have been developing restoration and conservation tools and techniques to help mitigate these threats. Four conservation and restoration principles for whitebark pine were previously emphasized: (1) conserve genetic diversity, (2) promote WPBR resistance, (3) protect seed sources, and (4) deploy restoration treatments, while mitigating for climate change. These principles are served by ten additional management or conservation actions that form the basis of a restoration and adaptive management plan but apply primarily to regions with moderate to high levels of WPBR and MPB outbreaks. Where the pathogen and MPB are absent or present at low levels, managers can implement proactive management to build resilience to prevent the future loss of ecological function. Here, we review the key management actions currently used for whitebark pine conservation and restoration in the U.S. and Canada, which include gene conservation, increasing natural genetic resistance to C. ribicola, cone collections, growing and planting seedlings or directly sowing seeds, protecting seed sources, prescribed fire and silvicultural thinning to reduce competition in late seral communities, proactive intervention, stand health surveys and monitoring, and monitoring the impacts of restoration for adaptive management. This review is the outcome of an experts’ workshop held in association with the development of the National Whitebark Pine Restoration Plan (NWPRP), a collaborative U.S. multi-agency and tribal effort initiated in 2017 in consultation with the U.S. Forest Service and facilitated by the non-profit organizations, the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation and American Forests.

The precipitous decline of the keystone species whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) has resulted in dramatic changes to many high elevation ecosystems in the western U.S. and Canada. To restore these ecosystems, there is a need to establish populations of whitebark pine that will persist in the face of both natural and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. climate change, white pine blister rust [Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisher]). The listing of whitebark pine as endangered in Canada and its recent proposed listing as threatened in the U.S. reinforce the urgency of the need to act. This paper presents a six-step methodology for whitebark pine restoration planning in a GIS environment, that was developed as a pilot on a 5-million-acre (2-million-hectare) subset of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (CCE). The methodology synthesizes the best available datasets and science into a flexible, data-informed decision-making process that can be applied consistently across large geographic areas. The end-product is an action plan that guides implementation of treatments with a high likelihood of success at an appropriate scale to address the enormous need for restoration. The methodology begins by mapping where whitebark is capable of existing, then quantifies the priority conservation values it provides, the stressors affecting those conservation values, and how those stressors could affect the likelihood of restoration treatment success. Based on those results, priority core areas for restoration are identified. Finally, a restoration plan assigns and prioritizes site-specific actions that protect and restore genetically diverse, evolutionarily stable populations of whitebark pine that are well-distributed across the area of interest. This methodology can be scaled up as demonstrated by its use to identify core areas in Region 1 of the USDA Forest Service. It can also be applied to other species as demonstrated by the addition of limber pine (Pinus flexilis James) when the methodology was used to develop a restoration strategy for the full 18-million-acre (7-million-hectare) CCE (Summary Report in progress).

Abstract Verifying the abundance and distribution of species of conservation concern is necessary for land management agencies to determine potential impacts of management actions and for monitoring long‐term population trends. In the Rocky Mountains of the United States, Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis ) and wolverine ( Gulo gulo ) are currently species of management importance for federal land management agencies. Optimal winter methods for detecting the 2 species differ in that wolverines are generally detected using bait stations and lynx are most efficiently detected through snow‐track encounters. There has been interest in value‐added approaches such as observing track encounters while traveling to and from bait stations, to improve multispecies detection probabilities. To estimate the value of adding a track survey to bait station travel (referred to as en route surveys) compared to a stand‐alone snow track survey, we conducted both types of surveys in an area where bait stations were located in western Montana, known as the Southwestern Crown of the Continent, from 2013–2016. We collected genetic data (backtracking to genetic material once a track was encountered) and recorded the distance surveyed from both types of track surveys. Our results showed that stand‐alone track surveys were more efficient for detecting lynx than en route surveys in 2015 and 2016 and that there was no difference in track survey efficacy for wolverines across all survey years. In addition, for wolverine, both types of track surveys detected only 3 additional individuals not identified from bait stations (33 individuals total), suggesting that bait stations were the more effective method to detect wolverines. The opposite was true for lynx, with only 5 of 39 individuals identified during the study detected only from bait stations and not by track surveys (4 males and 1 female). In addition, distance surveyed during track surveys was a significant predictor of detection for both species. Our results suggest that ecology and behavior should be considered when designing noninvasive surveys for multiple target species and that complimentary and concurrent, but separate, efforts are likely more efficient for detecting species with differences in ecology and behavior.

The wildlife health surveillance program on the National Bison Range was designed to assess the presence and prevalence of diseases in wildlife populations. Annual sampling and disease testing has been conducted at the range for decades. Starting in 2000, a statistically derived disease detection model for bison was designed and implemented to enhance detection of several diseases, including M. paratuberculosis. This disease, commonly known as Johne’s disease, is a bacterial intestinal disease that causes diarrhea, severe weight loss, and eventual death in bison and cattle. Targeting analysis of both populations as a whole and the status of individual animals, the program includes; (1) year-round direct observations aimed at detecting acute injuries, chronic conditions, mortalities, and emerging disease, and (2) regular diagnostic laboratory testing for a suite of diseases of particular concern and to evaluate exposure to several viral, parasitic and bacterial diseases common in the cattle industry. Information from direct observation is documented and shared with staff experienced in dealing with injuries, mortalities, and necropsies. Diagnostic analysis depends on routine coordination with our wildlife health office in Bozeman, Montana, by providing guidance concerning disease or other life-threatening conditions, and annual summary analysis of data. This is a long term adaptive process that includes periodically assessing local and regional wildlife threats, updating protocols according to sample results and providing management with necessary information to maintain healthy wildlife populations within a fenced boundary.

The Swan Valley Grizzly Bear Conservation Agreement (SVGBCA) was initiated in 1995 between the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, Flathead National Forest, Plum Creek Timber Company and the Montana Dept. of Natural Resources and Conservation to address grizzly bear habitat management concerns on ~ 370,000 ac of intermingled ownership located between the Mission Mountain and Bob Marshall Wilderness areas in northwestern Montana. The general objective of the SVGBCA is to implement a multi-landowner management plan that would contribute to the conservation of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) while still allowing cooperating landowners to realize the economic benefits of their lands. The specific biological goals are to maintain connectivity between the Bob Marshall and Mission Mountain wildernesses and minimize the risk of death or injury to grizzly bears using suitable habitat within the valley. The general conservation approach is to designate linkage zones to facilitate bear movement between wilderness areas, rotate forestry activities in the landscape to minimize disturbance, limit open road densities, and implement habitat management guidelines at the landscape and site-specific levels. Research and monitoring was initiated in 2002 with the inclusion of MDFWP in telemetry studies of grizzly bears using the SVGBCA. Detail on SVGBCA implementation and effectiveness monitoring is presented. Key findings are that connectivity objectives are being met regarding both east-west connections between the wilderness areas and north-south movements between important habitats outside the Swan Valley. Bears stayed in the Swan Valley generally, with little altitudinal migration. Grizzlies used all ownerships in the valley and habitat use varied between nocturnal and diurnal activity periods. High levels of mortality were documented in 2003 and 2004. Landownership changes within the 15-year-old SVGBCA resulting from the Montana Legacy Conservation Land Sale are discussed.