Park asks folks to help with wildlife crossings on Highway 2

Glacier National Park is asking local residents to join an ongoing effort to record evidence of wildlife crossing roads and rivers in the U.S. Highway 2 corridor.

The wildlife crossings “map-a-thon” will document past wildlife crossings along the U.S. 2 corridor. Observations of past animal crossings or attempted crossings can help identify potential locations for wildlife crossing structures or other mitigation efforts to help wildlife migrate safely through the larger Crown of the Continent region.

The public is invited to two different events in September:

A research presentation on the wildlife crossings project by Tabitha Graves, research ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey is Tuesday, Sept. 17, from 1-1:30 p.m. at the Yellow Bird Woman Building Room 135, Blackfeet Community College. The presentation is part of BCC’s “Days of the Piikani” events

Another open house is Tuesday, Sept. 24, 6-8 p.m. at the Hungry Horse Ranger District office. The open house will start with a short presentation about wildlife and highways. Then participants can report observations of any wildlife sightings along the Highway 2 corridor. Anyone with information about animals moving along the highway and river corridor (successfully or unsuccessfully) may meet with staff, who will record where the animals were seen and any other details available, such as season, time of day, or year.

Observations of animal crossing and movement in the Highway 2 corridor also may be shared with biologist Brad Anderson by emailing him at brad_anderson@partner.nps.gov or by setting up an appointment with him.

The map-a-thon began earlier this summer and has collected almost 300 wildlife crossing observations from highway travelers. Sightings of grizzly bear, moose, wolverine, and even otter have been recorded. The research team also has spent time identifying and mapping existing game trails along the highway corridor. Collecting more observations will allow the team to better understand the places different wildlife species most frequently cross the highway.

“We invite people who have seen wildlife crossing the highway and river corridor to share their observations on where, when, and which species they saw crossing the corridor,” said John Waller, a wildlife biologist in Glacier National Park. “We are interested in both common species such as deer, and less common species such as lynx, bears, or wolverines.”

U.S. 2 between West Glacier and East Glacier is an important transportation corridor and an important wildlife movement corridor. In 2018, an interagency group of researchers and managers began a project to identify options for preserving migrations and movement of animals, plants, and ecological processes. For more information about the project, visit https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/619278.

Glacier National Park offers various Citizen Science projects for people interested in exploring the park, learning about important resources, and helping collect valuable data for managers. Participants can help with one or more projects on an ongoing basis, or attend a one-time citizen science event.

The next planned Citizen Science event is Glacier’s Fall Fungus Bioblitz on Oct. 12-13. Volunteers also may join the ongoing Huckleberry Phenology project at the park. For more information on Citizen Science projects at Glacier National Park, visit the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center’s Citizen Science webpage, or phone 406-888-7986.

Glacier National Park Conservancy and its donors make these projects possible through their support.