Logan Pass researchers tracking goats - and humans

Sarah Markegard sits on a rock along Glacier National Park’s Hidden Lake Trail. Across the path just up the slope, a huge billy mountain goat pants in the sun.

A young hiker walks by and stands near the goat so a companion can take picture. Markegard keeps silent, taking notes with her iPad.

The University of Montana graduate student has spent hour after hour this summer at Logan Pass, watching the goats and the people and the way the two species interact.

There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence on the relationship between goats and humans at the pass. One theory is that goats use humans as shields against predators. A goat at Logan Pass might be more secure than a goat in a backcountry location because a predator like a grizzly bear is less likely to get close to humans in pursuit of a goat.

But there’s a larger question of whether goats are being harmed by humans. Does the person who gets too close to get a picture change the goat’s behavior in a negative way?

The idea behind the study is to get some hard data from observations, notes Wayne Freimund, a professor at the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana.

Freimund says it’s nearly impossible for a mountain goat at Logan Pass to not interact with a human on the Hidden Lake Trail. During the peak visitor season, so many people are on the trail during the day that a goat along the trail sees a human every few seconds — not minutes.

Markegard’s research is separate from biologist Joel Berger’s research at the pass, which aims to track goat movements throughout the year using radio collars. She said she’s been tracking about 25 goats through the summer. Her work will continue into September, and she’ll finish her thesis next spring.

Markegard’s data will be used as part of the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor management plan, which the Park expects to have in draft form next year. The management plan will be a blueprint on how best to manage the busy road and the trails that extend from it into the future.

Freimund and his staff continue to look at other trends in the Park as well. They use trail counters to track the number of people on various hikes. They’re also looking at the impacts of social trails on the landscape at Hidden Lake Overlook, Haystack Butte and Preston Park.

Use of those trails has surged since the Park implemented a free shuttle system. In 2009, surveys showed that 84 percent of the hikers on the Highline Trail used the Park shuttle to facilitate their hike.

Compared to 1988, when a trail study last took place, trail hiking in Glacier Park — particularly day hikes — has become far more popular. The shuttle certainly has caused a surge in traffic on trails like the Highline Trail and trails at Siyeh Bend, Freimund notes, but other social factors are at work as well.

For one, the population is aging, and people are taking more day hikes than overnight backpack trips. Secondly, Flathead County’s population has increased. The number one visitor to the Park is not from some far off state — they’re from Montana, research has shown.

In 1990, the population of Flathead County was 59,000. By 2012, the population had increased to more than 91,000. Living close to Glacier Park and recreating there is a major draw to the valley.