Readings

• The Winter Field Studies reader includes segments of relevant Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service documents, articles in conservation biology, essays by early homesteaders and trappers, and natural history essays.  Authors include Wallace Stegner, Bernd Heinrich, Mary Hartwick, Bud Moore, Reed Noss, Barry Lopez, Howard Quigley, Paul Paquet, and Mary Oliver.

Itinerary

Pre-Assignment -- Wildlife in Winter

• Self-directed journal assignments:  Natural history observations

Day 1 -- Orientation 

• 4 p.m.    Arrive at Northwest Connections facility
• 5 p.m.    Introductions -- students/staff
• 6 p.m.    Group Dinner
• 7 p.m.    Discuss pre-assignment   

Day 2 -- Swan Valley Biogeography

• Interpretive snowshoe/hike up on Swan-Clearwater divide
• Evening activity:  Mapping watershed/topographic features of the Swan Valley
• Reading:  "The Rise and Fall of Natural History" by Robert Michael Pyle 

Day 3 -- Forested Habitats

• Lecture:  W. Montana habitat types and land use patterns
• Outdoor field session:   Winter tree/shrub identification
• Readings:  Selections from A Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats by Janine Benyus
• Selections from the Wildlife Landscape Assessment, Swan Valley.  USDA Forest Service.

Day 4 -- Animal Tracks 

• Lecture:  Animal tracking:  gate patterns, prints, habitat selection
• Outdoor field session:  Track Identification
• Speaker:  Jay Kolbe, USFS wildlife biologist: "Forest Service lynx research"
• Evening activity:  "The Wild Bunch," a video on lynx, fisher, marten, wolverine
• Readings:  Selections from The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores, USDA Forest Service

Day 5 -- Animal Behavior

• Reading:  Selections from Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez
• Outdoor field session:  Interpreting carnivore behavior via snow tracking
• Evening speakers:  Joe Miller and Bud Moore, local trappers: "Trapper’s Perspectives on Carnivore Management"

Day 6  -- Winter Field Work

• Conduct carnivore survey route up Jocko Ridge Trail near Lindbergh Lake
• Track survey/ Documentation of carnivores
• Establish winter camp on Jocko Ridge 
• Readings:  Selections from Mountaineering Freedom of the Hills  

Day 7 -- Winter Field Work/Winter Safety

• Lecture:  Avalanche safety
• Practicum:  Analyzing the snow pack
• Continued carnivore track survey into the Mission Mountains Wilderness
• Speaker:  Scott Tomson, USFS wildlife biologist:  "Current Issues in Forest Carnivore Management"

Day 8 -- Conservation Strategies

• Reading:  Draft Lynx Conservation Strategy, USDA Forest Service
• Discussion:  Current status of forest carnivores
• Return trip from Mission Mountains

Day 9 -- Social Dimensions of Carnivore Conservation

• Visit with early residents of Swan Valley about carnivore conservation
• Readings:  Selected articles from local authors, "Conservation Biology and Carnivore Conservation in the Rocky Mountains" by Reed Noss et al.

Day 10 -- Conclusion

• Final Exam
• Course evaluation
• Final Journals

Post Assignment

• Write a 5 -7 page paper referencing readers, speakers, field experiences, and at least 2 additional outside sources.  This assignment is an opportunity for you to focus on and gain a greater depth in a specific aspect of ecology, management or policy that interested you during the course. 

[Note:  All activities subject to change due to weather and availability of speakers]