Blog Along with Us
Insights and Action for WIldlife Conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Wildlife Conservation in Action: Our Stories and Projects
Thanks for visiting! This blog celebrates wildlife through stories from our staff, board, partners, and friends. Discover wildlife encounters, reflections on conservation, and insights into our on-the-ground work. We’ll also share inspiring updates from partners making a difference for wildlife.
The Mountain Bluebird: A Welcome Sign of Spring
There are few sights in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem more uplifting than the flash of brilliant blue wings cutting across a wide-open field. That’s the male Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)—a vibrant burst of color against the earthy hues of Wyoming’s...
Moose and Red Fox in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
When people think of wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, they often picture bears and wolves. These apex predators attract thousands of visitors each year hoping for a glimpse. But just as majestic—and often easier to spot—are the moose and red fox. They...
Wildlife on the Road – Springtime in Jackson
As spring arrives, wildlife activity increases, posing challenges for safe coexistence on roadways.With the onset of spring, Jackson Hole becomes a hub of wildlife activity. Animals such as elk, deer, and moose embark on their traditional migration journeys, often...
Our Moose Mission: The Importance of Moose Day
Moose Day: Contributing to Moose ScienceEvery winter, moose in Jackson Hole face extreme challenges. They rely on shrubs like willows and aspen for food, but deep snow and cold temperatures make survival tough. Unlike deer or elk, moose don’t migrate long distances to...
Elk Migration and Movement in Jackson Hole: Protecting Wildlife and Drivers
Migrating Wildlifedo not look both ways before crossing the roadThousands of elk migrate from the higher elevations of Grand Teton National Park and surrounding areas to lower valleys, seeking food and shelter each winter. This seasonal journey is essential for the...
Grizzly 399’s Legacy: Protecting Wildlife on our Roads
Mourning a LegendThe Life and Legacy of Grizzly 399On the evening of October 22, 2024, a routine commute through the Snake River Canyon turned tragic. Near milepost 126, a grizzly bear and her cub were feeding on an elk carcass when they attempted to cross the road. A...
A SUMMER OF HABITAT IMPROVEMENT
Restoring Natural Landscapes and Preserving WildlifeThis summer, our team embarked on an ambitious journey to improve local wildlife habitats by tackling an incredible 12 fence modification projects and a major weed removal effort. With the invaluable support of 89...
OCTOBER IN JACKSON HOLE MEANS BEARS PREPARING TO HIBERNATE
What Pre-Hibernation Means to the CommunityAs October arrives in Wyoming, it marks a pivotal time for both black bears and grizzlies. The region’s bears are now entering the critical pre-hibernation phase, preparing to settle into their dens for the winter. This...
Protecting Wildlife in Teton County, Idaho and Wyoming
Protecting Wildlife in Teton County, Idaho and WyomingBlurred Boundaries between Teton County Idaho and WyomingMigrating wildlife do not recognize human-imposed boundaries.lDid you know Teton County, Idaho, has a Wildlife Advisory Committee appointed by the County...
REVIVING ECOSYSTEMS: HOW BEAVER DAM ANALOGS ARE RESTORING WYOMING’S RIVERSCAPES
Beaver Dam Analogs Restoring Wyoming Landscapes and Reviving EcosystemsDid you know that humans are now helping nature by building beaver dams? The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation (JHWF) staff recently participated in a fascinating project that involved doing just...
LIVING SAFELY WITH BEARS IN JACKSON HOLE
Dealing with Bears in Your Own BackyardAt the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, we strive to create a safe environment for both residents and wildlife. One of our critical initiatives, as part of our Bear Wise Jackson Hole partnership, is promoting and helping to...
GET INTO THE WEEDS WITH US AT COBURN MEADOWS
Creating Healthier Foraging for WildlifeWhile it is always good to eat your vegetables, wildlife thrives on native plants. Invasive weed removal re-establishes a healthy foraging environment for wildlife. Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation is committed to treating...
Owls of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Did you know that March is when many owls become more vocal and increasingly noticeable on the landscape? To prepare for this exciting time of year, we're thrilled to host our second Continuing Education Seminar of the year, with Teton Raptor Center’s Dr. Katherine...
A Story of Conservation, Friendship, and Surprise Wildlife Sightings in Rafter J
By Hilary Turner The following is a story from Nature Mapping Jackson Hole. Citizen science is valuable because it engages community members in long-term data collection. Through the process of becoming involved in a monitoring project like Nature Mapping JH, folks...
Balancing Progress and Conservation: A Sustainable Approach to Northern South Park Ensuring Open Space Protections
By JH Wildlife What's in store for Northern South Park Since 2020, the owners of this land have been engaged with local government and community groups regarding the development of their private property in Northern South Park (NSP). The landowners’ intent is to...
The Link Between Daylight Saving Time and Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions
By Renee Seidler Sunday November 5th at 2 am is the end of Daylight Saving Time! Why do we care? The end of Daylight Saving Time, an age-old practice that is supposed to give us more waking daylight hours, is the number one worst day for wildlife-vehicle collisions in...
Bear Wise Jackson Hole Season in Review
By Kole Stewart - Bear Wise Jackson Hole Program Manager It’s been a busy summer for the Bear Wise Jackson Hole (BWJH) partnership. In the last few months alone, BWJH has had the opportunity to attend over a dozen events aimed at reducing human-bear conflict in Teton...
August Shorebird Watching in the Greater Yellowstone
By Hilary Turner Fall is the best time to observe shorebirds in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. A few locally breeding species are present during summer, such as the ubiquitous Spotted Sandpiper, the vociferous Killdeer, and grassland obligate Long-billed Curlew;...
Bluebird Update 7/3/2023
By Kyle and Vicki What purpose does our nestbox trail serve? Mountain bluebirds are a cavity nesting species which rely mainly on holes in trees, often created by woodpeckers, to raise their young. This species of bluebird is believed to be on the decline in the West...
Stilson Lot Proposed Development
By Renee Seidler At a recent County Commission meeting, Commissioners decided to hold a workshop to discuss proposals to develop the Stilson lot at the corner of WY22 and WY390. Proposals from Teton County Parks and Recreation may include: multiple softball and soccer...
There’s the Rub: Winter Range Closures Effective This Year
Kyle Kissock If you've been out exploring the Snow King area trails recently you might have noticed an unusual amount of wildlife “browse” on young aspen trees and willows. The sheer quantity of new browse is one indicator of the importance of this low elevation...
Are Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions on the Rise?
A roadside elk near Hoback Junction (photo Mark Gocke). Have you had a chance to read the 2023 Teton County Annual Indicator Report? Being a science-based conservation organization, we love that Teton County created measurable, achievable goals to strive toward the...
How to help ungulates this winter
By Hilary Turner As you can imagine, it has been a difficult winter for many ungulates (hoofed mammals) in the Jackson Hole area. Nature Mappers have reported many dead animals, which have succumbed to vehicle collisions, predation, apparent malnutrition, and other...
2023 Moose Day
We want to give a final shout out to the 139 volunteers who joined us for our 14th annual Moose Day survey last month. As far as we know this was a record number of participants, as this Jackson Hole (and now Teton Valley) community tradition continues to grow! In...
Data Vetter Added to Nature Mapping JH
NMJH Welcomes Bernie McHugh! This March, we're excited to welcome Bernie McHugh as a new data vetter for Nature Mapping Jackson Hole. Bernie is a longtime bird enthusiast and Wilson resident. As a data vetter, Bernie will review wildlife observation submissions and...
New ramps help wildlife negotiate Snake River levees
By Kyle Kissock Riprap forming the levee system along the Snake River can be challenging and dangerous for wildlife to navigate. This summer, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation (JHWF) collaborated with Teton Conservation District, Teton County, Wyoming Game and Fish...
Fins, Feathers and Fur Tackles Wildlife Science at JHMS
By Hilary Turner This winter, The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation has been lucky enough to get to play a small role in helping students at Jackson Hole Middle School (JHMS) start an afterschool club called Feathers, Fins, and Fur. The club is the first of its kind at...
Winter Backyard Birds of Jackson Hole
By Alex Patia Alex Patia is a birder and naturalist who works for Teton Science Schools as a wildlife guide. He lives in Jackson with his husky, Mia. It’s no secret that winter in Jackson Hole is harsh for wildlife. Many animals migrate out of the area to avoid the...
Simple Steps to Save More Birds
By Hilary Turner I was recently reminded of the importance of taking small, individual, and conservation-minded actions. John Norton and Kathy O’Neil, Nature Mappers with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, reached out to me with some questions about how to make...
Won’t You Join us in Celebration?
By the JHWF Staff As wildlife conservation professionals, we remind ourselves to celebrate the successes. Sometimes we get so wrapped into understanding and mitigating the challenges facing wildlife that we feel frustrated. In these moments, it is sometimes in our...
Beaver Project
By Jeff Burrell and Hilary Turner Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation is excited to announce a new partnership with beaver researcher and hydrologist Jeff Burrell and a new project for interested Nature Mappers – Beaver Project! In Beaver Project, Nature Mappers will...
A Weekend on the Wind River Indian Reservation
By Charlie Brandin The great debate - bison or buffalo? I spent last weekend at the Wind River Indian Reservation learning how western science (which classifies the animal as bison) and indigenous knowledge (which classifies it as buffalo) come together for an...
Nature Mapper Profile: Meet Kathy O’Neil and John Norton!
By Hilary Turner As Nature Mapping Jackson Hole nears its landmark 1000th certified Nature Mapper, I thought it would be fun to write an article featuring a couple of newer Nature Mappers who were just trained in the last year. Many of you have participated in Nature...
Meet our Summer Bird-Banders
This year, Vicki Morgan and Kevin Perozeni will head up our MAPS bird-banding stations at Boyle's Hill and the Kelly Campus of the Teton Science Schools. Vicki will be returning for her third summer in a row, while Kevin will be joining us for the first time! Vicki...
Nature Mapping Summer Challenge with Maven® Binocular Giveaway
Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation is proud to partner with Maven® Outdoor Equipment Company in a Nature Mapping Summer Challenge! Maven® has graciously donated a pair of C.1 10x42 binoculars (MSRP $425) to the JHWF to be given away to a Nature Mapper who completes the...
Spring Emergents and Arrivals: First of Year (FOY)
Nature Mapping Enews – April 4, 2022 – Written by Frances Clark “I saw my first robin!” “I saw bluebirds!” “Did you hear the sandhill cranes the other day?” “No, but I heard meadowlarks up in Antelope Flats.” “The bears are out.” “Have you seen an...
Moose Day 2022
By Frances Clark A valiant cadre of over 95 volunteers ventured out on a frigid morning to scout for moose with great accomplishment. The latest count, still to be verified, is 94 moose. This compares well with Moose Day 2021 when 109 volunteers recorded 106 moose....
Thanks for a Great Hosted Moose Day!
We'd like to extend a special thank you to all the new participants and visitors who joined us at Rendezvous Park in sub-zero temperatures on the morning of February, 26th for Hosted Moose Day. While only one of our hiking groups spotted a moose, it's important to...
Where does the chicken cross the road? Thoughts on the things we wouldn’t know without your help
By Dr. Hannah Specht, University of Montana Citizen scientists, the world round, invest in data collection on the understanding that this effort will contribute to expanding knowledge and the hope that it will move us forward. The timeline for knowledge expansion, and...
JHWF Receives Bear Wise Jackson Grant
Did you know that Teton County experiences an average of 71 human-bear conflicts per year? Sadly, in 2021 alone, six grizzly bears were euthanized because of human food-conditioning. Now more than ever, we believe bears need our...
Grand Teton National Park’s Bird Program: a Collaborative Approach to Preservation
By John Stephenson, Grand Teton National Park wildlife biologist While people flock to Grand Teton National Park for its spectacular wildlife often hoping for a glimpse of an elusive wolf or grizzly, most visitors are all but guaranteed sightings of remarkable bird...
Why Should I Care About Winter Range?
By Morgan Graham, Teton Conservation District Growing up in Pennsylvania, I was not intimately familiar with the concept of winter range. Seasonal shifts were marked by hundreds of Canada geese gorging on leftover corn and soybeans. Over time more and more of those...
Beavers: We need them but they need our help
By Jeff Burrell - Hydrologist and former director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Northern Rockies Program. Cover Photo from Neil Herbert (Yellowstone National Park) There’s been a growing appreciation of the important role beavers can play in creating and...
Protect our Bears by Keeping Them Wild
Holy cow. I am impressed at the boldness of bear 399. She is a survivor and is imparting this skill and resourcefulness on her four cubs. How did we get from the near extirpation of grizzly bears to bears walking through Jackson? The incredible foresight of the...
Meet the Neighbors to Nature Volunteers
By Hilary A. Turner, JHWF Neighbors to Nature (N2N) is a community science project supported by the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation (JHWF) and our partners – The Nature Conservancy of Wyoming (TNC), Friends of Pathways (FOP), and the Bridger-Teton National Forest...
August is for the Shorebirds
Hilary Turner | Nature Mapping Program Coordinator Fall migration is a fun time for birders and it is the only time of year we Wyomingites get to examine many members of one of my favorite groups – the shorebirds. These members of the order Charadriiformes can be...
June Update: Bird Banding and Mountain Bluebird Nestbox Monitoring
Hilary Turner | Nature Mapping Program Coordinator MAPS Bird-Banding Our MAPS bird-banding program is experiencing an eerily slow start to the 2021 banding year. So far, we have captured 193 birds of 32 species. Of those 130 were newly banded, 47 were recaptures, and...
Bluebird Bliss: An Interview With JHWF Bluebird Nest Box Monitoring Volunteers Patti and Andrew
How long have you been involved in Mountain Bluebird Nest Box Monitoring and do you have an estimate for how many active bluebird nests you've monitored? Patti - We first volunteered in 2018 and 2019. We watched a set of 10 nest boxes, in 2018 we had 3 nest boxes...
Message from JHWF Executive Director April 12th, 2021
By Renee Seidler | Executive Director What a great time to be out traveling between Victor Idaho and Farson Wyoming! On Friday, a beautiful sunny spring day, wildlife was on the move and easily seen from the road. My wildlife sightings list in one short day included...
Moose Day 2021 (Unofficial) Results
By Frances Clark | Nature Mapping Ambassador All 2021 Moose Day Volunteers, Thank you for your extraordinary participation in Moose Day 2021. At this time, we have preliminary totals of 106 moose and 109 volunteers who spent 300 hours scouting! The majority of you...
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