Introduction The Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Pioneers Alliance, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are conducting a study of pronghorn migration in south-central Idaho. We are working in collaboration with many partners at a landscape scale to maintain connectivity for pronghorn and other wide-ranging wildlife species in the vicinity of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and the Pioneer Mountains. Protection of migration corridors is essential to the conservation of wildlife at a time when threats to those corridors are increasing as the human footprint expands across the Intermountain West. Since October 2008, we have been tracking pronghorn using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars to document their migration routes.
Project goals and objective
Identify crucial seasonal habitats for pronghorn (e.g., winter, summer, and fawning ranges);
Delineate pronghorn migration routes that connect these seasonal habitats;
Identify existing impediments to pronghorn movements and locations of potential bottlenecks;
Provide National Park Service staff with information needed to facilitate pronghorn migration in and around Craters of the Moon National Monument.
Identify important parcels of private, state, and/or federal land that facilitate pronghorn movements between seasonal ranges;
Recommend management changes, if needed, to better accommodate migrating pronghorn.
Progress-to-date We are now in the second year of a two year study. The GPS collars from the second group of collared animals are scheduled to release in early August. We periodically track the collared pronghorn that have returned to their summer range in the Pioneers Mountains. We are eager to recover the collars and see whether the migration route is different from the first year.
What we’re learning At the time the study was initiated, biologists and residents were aware of an east-west migration for pronghorn in the Pioneer Mountains, but were not sure whether some of the pronghorn in the Pioneers were heading east while others were heading south to wintering areas along the Snake River Plain. In addition, it was not known how far east they traveled and many assumed the pronghorn didn’t travel further than Arco. During the tracking, the collared pronghorn were first observed in the Arco area. To the surprise of all involved on the project, the majority of the collared pronghorn traveled to the base of the Little Lost River and Birch Creek in eastern Idaho. So far, all of the animals from this study have headed east and actually north to reach their winter range. The majority have traveled over 100 miles. The animals in the Birch Creek area have joined quite a large herd of pronghorn, which are likely gathering from many different parts of Idaho. It is currently estimated that approximately 1,000 pronghorn are wintering in the general vicinity of Birch Creek and the lower Little Lost. The winter range is primarily federal land managed by the Idaho Bureau of Land Management and the Idaho National Laboratory. Some of the winter range is also private land.
We’re learning that these animals traveled further than we anticipated, but we do not know how much the use of winter range may vary across years. We will be watching as the animals return to their summer range and looking to see whether there are staging areas which seem to be important. We will also try to determine whether they are fawning prior or after their spring migration.
Collaboration We are grateful to the many partners who have contributed to the project including:
Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation
Wildlife Conservation Society
Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Kim Murray, Lava Lake Science and Conservation Advisory Board Member
Bureau of Land Management
Carey area landowners and ranchers
Craters of the Moon Natural History Association
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Hornocker Wildlife Institute
Idaho Conservation League
LightHawk
National Park Foundation
National Park Service - Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
The Conservation Fund
The Nature Conservancy
The Pioneers Alliance
Wood River Land Trust
The maps produced by this study will be used to improve conservation and management to ensure the persistence of regional pronghorn migration corridors.
