HOTSPOTS, HABITAT CONNECTIVITY, AND POTENTIAL MITIGATION IN THE MADISON VALLEY

摘要: The Madison Valley is situated in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and plays a key role in connecting this ecologically intact ecosystem to other intact areas of the Central Rockies, particularly the wildlands of central Idaho and the Selway-Bitterroot Ecosystem. US 287 and MT 87 were hypothesized to form a partial barrier for wildlife movement between protected lands around Yellowstone National Park, Hebgen Lake, and a large block of core wildlife habitat on public lands in the Gravelly, Snowcrest, and Centennial Mountains. These highways also bisect important winter range for ungulates. Traffic volumes are likely to increase in coming years, along with risk to motorists and impacts on wildlife. The overall objective of this project was to investigate the effect of the major highways in the Madison Valley on wildlife mortality and movement patterns. If data such as these are available in the early planning …