The Wildlife Committee provides a collaborative community forum to address all wildlife issues. It is by nature a slow process because it strives to insure all voices are heard. It tends to create more trust among stakeholders when they are honest about their concerns. We meet the first Wednesday of each month at 6:00 pm at the Ennis Fire Hall for a potluck meal and then a meeting. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Madison Valley ranchlands provide a range of habitat types and migratory corridors for a host of species, including moose, elk, deer, grizzly and wolf. The same grasslands, timbered uplands, and riparian areas that provide excellent habitat also provide the foundation for the livestock ranching economic base of our area, as well as the visual beauty for tourism.
The Madison Valley Ranchlands Group works to protect the biologically healthy open spaces on which ranching depends. Together with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, sportsmen’s groups such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and conservation organizations from The Nature Conservancy to the Wildlife Conservation Society, we support conservation strategies that protect ranching and wildlife.
From a cooperative agreement on grizzly research to a carefully managed elk hunt on private lands to the promotion of wildlife-friendly ranching practices, follow the links on the left to learn more about our wildlife activities.
The number of wintering elk in the valley is both spectacular and concerning. We also have large numbers of antelope and deer which winter in the valley bottoms. The size of elk and their expanding numbers have a much greater impact on the landscape. As they move across ownership boundaries they devastate fences. When they congregate in large numbers they impact winter and spring forage dramatically. Often this is forage reserved for livestock operations that exist on the ranches in the valley. Recent indications of elevated levels of brucellosis in these elk herds have huge implications on the economy of Montana.
The Madison Valley Ranchlands Group has supported the formation of a Wildlife Committee for the Madison to bring together stakeholders who have concern regarding these issues. Landowners, sportsmen, outfitters, local businesses and agency personnel have a stake in the wildlife population of the Madison valley. The collaborative process brings all stakeholders to the table and moves toward finding local solutions to local problems. It requires great trust, much patience and perseverance for the process to be successful.
In the Madison valley, elk often come down onto private lands after the general hunting season. To achieve effective harvest and also provide a consistent dispersing impact on the elk under these circumstances requires cooperation and ingenuity. In the past, late season hunting has been effective in providing that management tool. A new elk plan embraced by FWP will eliminate late season hunts except under limited circumstances.
As land ownership changes occur in this valley and many others across Montana, we see a higher tolerance for elk numbers. We also see less interest in hunting under new ownership. This will lead to continued increases in wildlife numbers which will create wildlife management challenges different from the past.
One of the more controversial wildlife species which frequent the Madison valley is the wolf. There are not a lot of neutrals at the table when you start to discuss wolves. The Madison Valley Ranchlands Group has members at all positions on that spectrum of opinion. We have wolves in the valley, they do on occasion cause death and injury to livestock and pets. By federal law, individuals are limited in their responses to this specie. We have found that proactive and collaborative approaches to conflict, serves all stakeholders if they stay engaged in the process.
In 2004, in partnership with Predator Conservation Alliance, Wildlife Services, FWP and Turner Endangered Species Fund, MVRG initiated a Range Rider program. Grants were received from the McCaw and Arthur B. Schultz Foundations to pay for two range riders. The purpose of the riders is to provide a consistent human presence in areas where cattle are grazing in remote landscapes. These are areas where wolves have killed livestock in the past. The riders use non-lethal means to harass wolves which get close to livestock or are passing through pastures. If wolves equate humans with harassment they may choose to avoid areas where the human presence is detected consistently.
The range riders are individuals having significant experience with livestock, horses, and wildlife. They keep track of wildlife activities and numbers. They look for signs of predators and depredation. They are not researchers and have one major objective in their efforts, they strive to minimize wolf/livestock conflict in a non-lethal proactive manner. If livestock are not killed by wolves then wolves are not killed. This keeps all parties out of conflict.
2005 is the second season in the Madison for Range Riders. The same Foundations have contributed to sustain this effort. There are also Range Rider programs this year in Paradise valley and the Boulder valley south of Big Timber.
In the spirit of proactive efforts, MVRG is working to initiate a community foundation approach to reducing wolf/livestock conflict. There are many individuals throughout the nation who are supportive of wolf reintroduction. They are willing to support that effort financially. In areas such as the Madison where conflict is inevitable, how can we minimize that conflict and yet realistically compensate livestock producers for the losses which are incurred? With the establishment of a community foundation which has a three prong approach we can meet the needs of a broad constituency. A compensation fund, directed by a local board, will address livestock losses. A proactive fund will assist livestock producers to implement activities or tools to minimize wolf/livestock conflict. A scholarship fund will provide incentive for locals to become more collaborative in addressing local issues. More funding becomes available for community use as depredation decreases, depredation decreases as proactive efforts are increased. This is a simplistic model but it is based on the concept of increasing community collaboration and enlisting the support of those who really can and want to support the wolf population on a broad landscape.
Wolves and livestock will always have conflict when they occupy the same habitat. Livestock producers provide critical wildlife habitat for ungulates which are a significant part of the wolf prey base. There are large tracts of wilderness and national parks which can support a sustainable population of wolves. As those populations grow and expand, the wolves disperse into areas of livestock production and inevitably there will be conflict and livestock loss. In the United States there are huge numbers of wildlife killed on public highways. We live with that and accept it as a part of the wildlife/human interface. If we want a sustainable wolf population in some areas of the United States we will eventually live with the reality of the wolf/livestock interface. We certainly don't consider shutting down portions of the nation's transportation corridors because wildlife are being killed by cars and trucks. It would be just as illogical to think that shutting down the livestock production industry is an acceptable solution to the centuries old wolf/livestock conflict. Dialogue and collaboration will be the means of discovering workable solutions regardless of the source of conflict. This requires suggestions and participation by you and all other interested parties.