JHWF Blog

Thanks for visiting! Here, we feature the writing of staff members, board members, partners and friends as we celebrate wildlife. We’re excited to include stories about wildlife encounters, reflections on wildlife conservation and personal depictions of our on-the-ground work. We’ll keep you posted on what we’re up to, but also share stories about the work of our partners that benefits wildlife – and inspires us. If you would like to contribute, please email your interest and idea to info@jhwildlife.org. We hope you enjoy the writing you find here!

Owls of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

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...

Bear Wise Jackson Hole Season in Review

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

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

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

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...

Are Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions on the Rise?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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!

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

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...

Spring Emergents and Arrivals: First of Year (FOY)

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

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!

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...

JHWF Receives Bear Wise Jackson Grant

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...

Why Should I Care About Winter Range?

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

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

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

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

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...

Message from JHWF Executive Director April 12th, 2021

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

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...

What Happens to Your Nature Mapping Observations?

What Happens to Your Nature Mapping Observations?

By Hanna Holcomb In 2009, local volunteers and biologists launched Nature Mapping Jackson Hole under the Meg and Bert Raynes Fund as a way to document local wildlife. Since then, more than 500 citizen scientists have logged over 70,000 observations. But as Nature...

Counting Crows: Corvids in the Spotlight

Counting Crows: Corvids in the Spotlight

By Frances Clark The members of the Corvid or Crow family are smart, often showy, and have a reputation. As a group they are omnivores, eating a range of food from carrion to berries to bugs. They are known for their intelligence, such as remembering locations of food...

New Flashing Radar Signs Ordered for Wilson

New Flashing Radar Signs Ordered for Wilson

By Renee Seidler Sign, sign, everywhere a sign… And these ones are meant to preserve the scenery, as opposed to the signs in Les Emmerson’s song (1970). I know many of you have been long awaiting the fixed radar speed limit sign installations in Wilson. Where are...

Give Wildlife a Brake Updates

Give Wildlife a Brake Updates

By Renee Seidler This month, the Teton County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Agreement to Render Services (ARS) that allows Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to conduct the planning, engineering, design, permitting and construction of two...

Jackson Hole’s Awesome Amphibians

Jackson Hole’s Awesome Amphibians

By Debra Patla The tiny Boreal Chorus Frog owns the natural soundscape of Jackson Hole wetland areas during mild weather in May and early June. Each male chorus frog sends out a trill, lasting about one second and repeated 30 or more times per minute. Each responds to...

Moose Day Jackson Hole (Unofficial) 2020 Results

Moose Day Jackson Hole (Unofficial) 2020 Results

By Frances Clark | Lead Nature Mapping Volunteer The data is in: 127 moose, 100 volunteers in 32 teams, who donated over 350 hours!  Wow, thank you all. Teams ranged north to Arizona Creek in Grand Teton National Park, east out the Gros Ventre, west to Alta, and south...

Onward and Upward: Transition at JHWF

Onward and Upward: Transition at JHWF

By Jon Mobeck, Executive Director | The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation had a terrific year in 2019, making meaningful contributions to our wild community in a variety of ways. Our work to make roads safer for people and wildlife, which began at our founding 26 years...

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