Navigating the quickly changing landscapes and growing communities of western Montana isn’t easy when you are a grizzly bear or other animal.
This is especially true around Missoula, where the number of obstacles seem to be increasing each day, running alongside established habitat corridors that connect mountain ranges.
But now, bears and numerous other species will benefit from a newly-protected piece of open land in a key movement area linking the Rattlesnake and Ninemile Mountains. This is thanks to Y2Y and Vital Ground Foundation who completed the purchase of 55 acres (.22 square kilometers) in Evaro Canyon this week.
The steep, forested property just east of U.S. Highway 93 sees heavy traffic from wildlife moving between the Rattlesnake and Ninemile ranges, including grizzlies. Bordering U.S. Forest Service and railroad-owned lands, the property faced the threat of subdivision and development that would create a significant conflict risk for bears and other wildlife.
“That area is a pinch point where mountain range touches mountain range,” says Jamie Jonkel, wildlife management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “Going east to west, the natural flow of wildlife movement goes right through that area. It’s a heavily used migration trail by elk, moose, bears, mountain lions, you name it… We’ve had multiple grizzlies show up in that area, and with so much grizzly activity in the Ninemile, I know they come through that stretch.”
The site serves as part of a geographic funnel into nearby Marent Gulch, a location where animals frequently cross Highway 93 and move into the Reservation Divide area and the Ninemile Range.
Among the grizzly bears that Jonkel and other biologists have documented in the corridor, the wide-roaming bear known as Ethyl crossed Evaro Canyon during her famed walkabout through Montana and Idaho a decade ago.
With the Rattlesnake Mountains forming the southern toe of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) that includes Glacier National Park, and the Ninemile Range serving as a connection point to the Bitterroot and Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems, the project protects a modest acreage with outsized significance for regional wildlife connectivity.
“We’re grateful people and partners came together quickly to ensure this 55-acre property, situated in a critical wildlife corridor, is protected,” says Jordan Reeves, director of landscape connectivity for Y2Y.
“Standing on the land, it’s easy to see why. Two expanses of wilderness funnel here, each one extending out into western Montana and northern Idaho. This valuable corridor also sits very close to the Bitterroot Mountains, just across Interstate 90, making the goal of reconnecting the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem to the Bitterroot Range that much closer.”
Establishing more secure linkages between ecosystems is especially vital for grizzly bears. While the NCDE hosts the Lower 48’s largest population of the species at roughly 1,000 bears, the Cabinet-Yaak is home to just 50-60 grizzlies and the Bitterroot does not contain a resident population of the bears despite serving as a federally-designated grizzly bear recovery zone.
Biologists and conservationists across many agencies and organizations consider genetic connectivity between grizzly populations to be essential for the species’ long-term survival in the Lower 48.
Evaro Canyon was one of several dozen priority areas that more than 60 federal, tribal, state and independent biologists prioritized for habitat protection in Vital Ground’s One Landscape Initiative in 2019. The effort aims to protect key habitat linkages on private lands across western Montana and northern Idaho.
“These micro sites that are private that connect forestland to forestland are key,” says Jonkel. “They’re not glamorous, but they’re very, very important. It’s preserving linkage into perpetuity as Montana’s getting built up so quickly.”
Vital Ground will own and manage the property to maximize its habitat value for diverse wildlife. Additional support for Evaro Canyon project came from the Heart of the Rockies Initiative’s Keep It Connected program.
For years, Y2Y, Vital Ground and other partners have been working to recover the local grizzly population and improve wildlife corridors in northwest Montana and northern Idaho.
