Carcass count

The stalking relationship between predators and livestock is part of the rhythm of life in Madison County. It unfolds on private ranchland and public range deep in the backcountry where the full extent of livestock loss can’t be calculated until the herds come down out of the high country in fall. 

Helping to document and remove livestock carcasses—no matter the cause of death—is Linda Owens, project director with the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group (MVRG).

Owens, a founding member of MVRG since 1996 and its project director since 2017, lives on her family ranch northwest of McAllister. When a rancher needs help removing livestock carcasses, Owens shows up with her dump trailer and winch, then hauls them away to the carcass composting site in Norris. Frontier Rustic Design, the place that mills its own wood to build greenhouses, provides Owens with a steady supply of woodships and ranchers throw in manure cleared out of their feedlots. 

That’s how carcasses become compost great for landscaping and flower gardens, but not allowed for growing food. It’s also how Owens helps reduce predator and livestock conflicts. 

 "A rancher just calls me, and it's usually like an old horse or a horse that broke its leg, cow calves, anything. We pick those carcasses up so the bears, the wolves don't come in. They can smell so well. And so we're trying to reduce that conflict of them coming down and scavenging those carcasses," she explained. 

When it looks like a predatory kill by a wolf, grizzly, mountain lion or coyote, investigators from USDA-Wildlife Services forensically examine the carcass, or what’s left of it. Sometimes everything’s been devoured. Sometimes the missing livestock completely vanishes in the backcountry—because the wilder the place used for grazing, the harder it is to find evidence of predatory kills, said Owens. 

To address this challenge, MVRG is working on increasing the number of range riders and securing funding for increased patrols. Additionally, Owens hopes to enhance the capacity for picking up carcasses and transporting them to one of the two carcass composting sites in Madison County.

In addition to the site in Norris, there’s another one in Sheridan, which is currently full. 

“So they're hauling their animals, their carcasses are coming over to the Norris site because I was able to build ours larger. We have so much more room," said Owens. 

When a carcass can’t be transported, the Forest Service sends in its dynamite team. 

"The Forest Service has two technicians who are trained to use dynamite to blow up those carcasses to reduce that danger to the public," Owens said. 

STATE OF THE UNION FOR GRIZZLIES AND WOLVES

"It's been a good summer so far," offered Owens, excited to share news about a major addition to officially recognized grizzly habitat. "We did end up getting the documentation necessary to prove that there are grizzlies inhabiting the Tobacco Roots, which the locals have known for a long time. We finally got one on a game camera this spring in May. And so we sent it on to Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and they now recognize that there are grizzlies in the south Tobacco Roots here. So that's been huge."

In fact, this summer, grizzly bears and wolves have been particularly prominent in the news. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte remains vocal about his desire to delist grizzly bears, citing the success of conservation efforts in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). 

"After decades of work, the grizzly bear has more than recovered in the NCDE, which represents a conservation success. I’m proud of our progress with the federal government to delist the grizzly in the NCDE, opening the door to state management of this iconic American species," Gov. Gianforte said in a recent press release.

The delisting debate continues across Madison County. Owens said she does not support delisting. 

“That’s not going to solve our issue,” said Owens. “We have people on both sides of that issue. What we want is management opportunities if they (grizzlies) are in our livestock.”

In a development highlighted by Gov. Gianforte, two grizzly bears were recently translocated from the NCDE in Montana to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) in Wyoming. This effort was part of a partnership between FWP and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), aimed at ensuring the long-term genetic diversity of the GYE grizzly bear population. The translocation was carried out under the Tri-State Memorandum of Agreement, which involves Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

The bears, a subadult female and a subadult male, were captured in a remote portion of northwest Montana by FWP and transported safely to Wyoming. On July 30, the subadult female was released in the Blackrock drainage approximately 35 miles northwest of Dubois, Wyo. The following day, Yellowstone National Park personnel released the subadult male within the park boundaries, in a remote area south of Yellowstone Lake.

This translocation addresses concerns cited by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 2019 Crow Indian Tribe v. United States case, which required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to ensure the long-term genetic diversity of the GYE's grizzly bear population. Both Wyoming and Montana have engaged in legal efforts to delist the grizzly bear in the GYE, with Gov. Gianforte and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon advocating for state management of the species.

"Montana has worked diligently to set up a framework to take over management of grizzly bears in our state," Gov. Gianforte said. "This translocation effort demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the conservation of bears in the NCDE and the GYE. It’s time to delist the grizzly bear and let the states take over management."

Gov. Gordon echoed these sentiments, highlighting the challenges faced in grizzly bear recovery efforts. 

"Wyoming’s grizzly bear recovery efforts are monumental and expensive. It is frustrating that time and time again, we meet a bar set by the court, only to see the goalposts moved yet again," Gordon said. "This week’s effort assures genetic connection can be achieved through active management to address the court’s requirement where a healthy number of grizzlies, and an ever-expanding range have not been sufficiently convincing to the Ninth Circuit."

Meanwhile, newly released data offers details about Montana’s wolf population. According to the 2023 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Wolf Report, the state's wolf population is healthy, with an estimated 1,100 wolves. Despite an increased harvest during the 2023 wolf season, the population has not yet shown a decline. However, FWP biologists anticipate a moderate decline in wolf numbers next year due to the increased harvest in early 2024.

"We are committed to following the law to reduce wolf numbers to a sustainable level, which means ensuring Montana has a healthy state-managed population," said Quentin Kujala, FWP chief of conservation policy. The estimated statewide wolf population for 2023 was 1,096, just one less than the 2022 estimated population and slightly below the 10-year average of 1,140 wolves but well above recovery thresholds, reported FWP. 

The number of wolf packs was 181, spread over 66,000 square miles. Total wolf harvest for the 2023-2024 season was 286 wolves, an increase from 258 in the previous season. Livestock conflicts, confirmed livestock losses, and wolf removals were all down considerably in 2023. Wildlife Services confirmed the loss of 32 livestock to wolves, including 23 cattle and eight sheep; one livestock guard dog was also killed by wolves.

"Moving forward with proposed wolf regulations, we will continue to provide the Fish and Wildlife Commission with our best science and lessons learned from Montana wolf management to date," Kujala said. 

At the upcoming Aug. 16 FWP Commission meeting, FWP will propose wolf and furbearer regulations for the 2024/2025 seasons, with a proposed total wolf harvest quota of 334 wolves, up from 313 for the 2023 season.