A Message From The President

Dear Friends of American Prairie Reserve,

As this is our first newsletter of 2009, I have to take a moment to thank our growing group of supporters who made 2008 our best year of financial support by far since the beginning of the project in 2002. Donations to the project increased an astounding 257% over the previous year. The APF Board, National Council, Science Advisory Council and staff are hugely grateful to each and everyone of you who contributed. The long term vision is coming to fruition in many, many ways and future generations will owe it all to you for so generously funding this effort. Thank you!

Winter is a relatively quiet time of year on the Reserve, but much is happening that may not be immediately apparent. Remote cameras set out by our partners at World Wildlife Fund Northern Great Plains are gathering data that will tell us how easily all forms of wildlife are navigating our temporary bison fence. A large-scale project to create one of the most comprehensive weather data collection projects anywhere in the Great Plains took an incremental step forward with the installation of yet another weather station, this time on a Malta public school. A special thanks goes to APF Board member Elizabeth Ruml for underwriting this extensive and exciting project. National Geographic is preparing for a year’s worth of filming on American Prairie Reserve and while visiting this week were treated to a rare sight - an unusually large herd of 600 to 700 pronghorn moving across the snow-covered prairie.

We hope you will consider a winter visit to see the many sights unique to this season. Call us anytime and we’ll tell you about our favorite hotels and eateries in Malta, Lewistown and other towns in the surrounding area. We hope to see you out there soon!

Sincerely,

Sean Gerrity
APF President

Malta High School Installs Weather Station, Receives APF Grant

American Prairie Foundation has embarked on an ambitious long-term and thorough study of the American Prairie Reserve area’s weather. Partnering with local organizations and individuals, APF will place ten weather stations across a 50- mile swath of northeastern Montana. When all stations are operational by mid-to-late 2010, this system will provide the most comprehensive weather data on the Great Plains. This project took a great step forward last month when APF partnered with Malta High School to install the first weather station.

Malta High School students Ted Ost and Warren Abrahamson and teacher Marty Demarias are developing a science fair project using the weather station. The students will calculate the moisture content in ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ snow. Bryce Christensen from APF, Dennis Jorgensen from WWF, and the Malta school staff braved frigid winds to place the weather station on the highest point in Malta, the school gym. Pictured with the new weather station are Ted Ost, Bryce Christensen, Warren Abrahamson, Marty Demarias and Dennis Jorgensen. Our thanks to Dollyann Willcutt, APF’s Educational Coordinator, for facilitating these opportunities.

Additionally, APF’s Community Outreach Program granted $1000 to the Malta High School science department for the purchase of a water distiller and science fair materials. Previously, because the science department used tap water in its experiments, many false reactions occurred. This grant also enables ten students to complete science fair projects, two of whom are growing native grasses from the American Prairie Reserve area hydroponically.

WWF Update: Bison Fencing Design Research

WWF works to decrease fragmentation of the Northern Great Plains to improve the quantity and quality of effective habitat available to wildlife. Fences that were not constructed for wildlife passage are one common source of fragmentation. Using remote camera traps to take photographs and record 30-second videos, WWF biologists have been monitoring wildlife passage under or over bison fencing on American Prairie Reserve. These fences incorporate wildlife-friendly specifications, while ensuring bison containment. Numerous photos have documented that the current bison fencing permit mule deer, white-tailed deer and pronghorn antelope crossings in the area. Additional research will attempt to document elk passage. This is believed to be the first systematic, long-term study of the effectiveness of a variety of fence configurations. The study’s findings will inform construction of additional fences that allow the greatest freedom of movement for wildlife.

Pronghorn Antelope on the Winter Prairie

We are often asked what kind of wildlife activity a visitor to American Prairie Reserve can see in the middle of the winter. A group of APF staff, along with Andy Mitchell, a filmmaker from National Geographic, were treated to an excellent example of winter wildlife behavior last week. A cold, snowy, and windy winter has covered the Reserve in snow. For pronghorn antelope, severe winters necessitate a long distance migration in search of food. All ages and both sexes congregate in large winter herds to migrate toward areas of more moderate conditions, especially areas where they can browse on sagebrush. One such herd was spotted just south of the Reserve – a group of 600 to 700 pronghorn spread out over a distance of approximately a mile. This spectacular scene capped a tour which included sightings of lots of sharptail grouse, Hungarian partridge, pheasants and mule and whitetail deer, as well as a group of six bull elk. It was a great introduction to the area for Andy, who plans to make a film about prairie wildlife and restoration efforts on American Prairie Reserve.

What We’re Reading Now...

Backtracking by Foot, Canoe and Subaru Along the Lewis and Clark Trail
by Benjamin Long

In Backtracking by Foot, Canoe and Subaru, Montana author Benjamin Long narrates his journey along the trail of Lewis and Clark from the area surrounding the current day American Prairie Reserve to the Columbia River estuary. With a gift for writing colorful descriptions, Long tells the story of the trail through its flora and fauna and the scientists who study them, from bison to beaver to whitebark pine. His trip includes a spin through southern Phillips County and the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge to meet Randy Matchett and learn about his black-footed ferret restoration efforts. Long writes that the spectacular and abundant wildlife seen by Lewis and Clark on the Great Plains was “perhaps the greatest concentration of large mammals that ever graced Planet Earth.” At American Prairie Foundation, we hope to restore a representation of such ecological splendor to American Prairie Reserve.

An easy and entertaining read, Backtracking is a personal journey, but one rich with historical tales about the Corps of Discovery and the characters who made up the expedition.

Correction

A story in our November newsletter about swift fox in northeastern Montana neglected to mention the critical role of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, led by Les Bighorn and Robert Magnan, in this wildlife restoration effort. The tribes’ leadership on this study is important not only to swift fox restoration on tribal lands, but also in laying the groundwork for regional restoration of this prairie species. We regret this editing error.