13 days alone. Surrounded by a sentient population of mountain caribou in the most spectacular wilderness on 🌎
The ‘culture’ of these caribou are timelessly imprinted on the land and within the people who are closest to them.
Good account to follow for accurate long-range forecasts.
For most ungulates in Rocky Mountain ecosystems, these "stochastic" late winter/early spring snow and cold events are bad news. Becoming more frequent with climate change.
But is the United States done with deep cold? Not so fast.
Forecasters are eyeing a unique climate driver, called a sudden stratospheric warming, that may cause another blast of frigid conditions later in March — along with the potential for more snow and ice.
What an incredible day it was for Bighorn Sheep in the Okanagan as we began administration of the Psoroptes Drug Trials with this big, old ram.
We can't wait to share a pile of updates with you all over the coming weeks and months.
Checkout Okanagan Bighorns page on Instagram
KPUE can be an especially informative piece of data in declining populations (as observed with the Revelstoke moose pop).
Check out our recently published manuscript on this system.
https://t.co/SNwZK54ixk
Hunter harvest data is important.
Digging through old figures from my MSc, I came across this one that illustrates the correlation between voluntary hunter harvest data (Kill Per Unit Effort) and aerial moose survey data in the Revelstoke Valley, British Columbia...
Kill per Unit Effort is measured as the number of days a hunter spends to harvest an animal.
This information should be considered an "index" — i.e., not as robust or precise as aerial surveys yet an important line of evidence to collect.
In most of the world day-to-day weather variations are still much larger than long-term global warming.
As a result, both daily record highs and daily record lows remain common.
However as the world warms, new daily record highs consistently far outnumber new daily record lows.
Believe it or not, the usual suspects are trying to sell the little blip at the end of the Antarctic ice loss curve (due to a few strong snowfall events in East Antarctica) as proof that "global warming is a hoax".
It just shows once again that "climate skeptics" just fool you.
The 2001 roadless rule has made for excellent elk and deer hunting in the west. The land is so much bigger when you need to traverse it on foot. Almost creates de facto wilderness… bummed to see it go.
BREAKING: The Roadless Rule was just rescinded — and most people don't even know what we're losing.
For over 20 years, this Clinton/Gore-era policy has quietly protected 58 MILLION acres of national forests in nearly every state. These untouched lands provide clean water, shelter endangered species, and preserve our last wild spaces.
The excuse? "Wildfire prevention." But here's the truth: roadless areas are actually 4x LESS likely to catch fire than areas with roads and logging, according to a 25-year study by The @Wilderness Society.
This isn't about safety — it's about opening pristine forests to logging companies. We're trading decades of conservation for corporate profits.
Our wild places don't have a voice. But we do. 🌲🌲🌲
These wild places don’t just hold our footsteps—they hold our story.
Pick up the phone. Call (202) 224-3121. Tell your senators: not one acre.
Not now. Not ever.
https://t.co/l5Kqc0YFkK
@Backcountry_H_A
Thank you Honorable @randene_neill for your time discussing the critical importance of dedicated funding for BC wildlife science, gov staff, and Indigenous partnerships to ensure we safeguard BC’s wildlife and land for future generations 🙌🏼🙏
An incredible summary of Lake Babine Nation’s precedent setting Moose Enhancement Plan led by their Guardians, in collaboration with the British Columbia government and many other dedicated partners 🙌🏼
https://t.co/1urFeOl8Gd
@wyokauffman Incredible how quickly things can go downhill 😥 us Canadians look at the Coop model as a world class model of wildlife science, management, academia working together.... Sorry you are going through this Matthew 🙏
The polar vortex may have set a new record by ending its season early. After a strong winter, it broke down in March and won't recover, one of the earliest stratospheric vortex collapses in history.
NEW PAPER: looking into the erosion of southern mountain caribou migrations. Over 35 years, migration distances shrank 15-25%, and elevational migrations are collapsing. Habitat loss, not weather, likely the main culprit. Major conservation challenge ahead
https://t.co/53OWC6z29g
"The collective of local communities & land users who attended the 24' Northern Mountain Caribou Summit expressed a unanimous goal: maintain & cultivate an abundance of caribou populations for future generations" - Tahltan, @BiodivPathways@Y2Y_Initiative
https://t.co/FYw6zefesz
Relieving some climate anxiety by getting some burning done in ponderosa pine stands in Cool yesterday with the El Dorado Amador Prescribed Burn Association. Lots of private landowners are getting their burns done this month by taking advantage of this dry January.
Saturday we had the UBC Okanagan BHA members down (second year) for a duck hunt. Rains didn’t dampen the moods and everyone found success as the birds finally did it right! Thanks to @DeltaWaterfowl for their support of this group! #pittwaterfowlers#reliableinthefield
Maps are like campfires - they bring people together and prompt knowledge exchange.
For moose and caribou stewardship - the power of maps encircled by local land-users is timeless, irreplaceable…