OUTDOORS REPORT NONGAME WILDLIFE SURVEY FINDINGS
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Average inches of annual precipitation at a site roughly 12 miles northeast of Bozeman, making it the wettest spot in Montana.
SOURCE: The National Climatic Data Center.
Skwala!
Fly anglers are turning their attention to western Montana right about now, anticipating the Skwala stonefly hatch. This smaller cousin of the famous salmonfly starts coming off the water between mid-March and late April. Top waters include Rock Creek and the Bitterroot, Clark Fork, and Big Hole Rivers. Don’t expect solitude. Anglers from Idaho and Washington especially are dialed in to the hatch and regularly cross the border to fish for trout feeding on Skwala duns or underwater nymphs. Call local fly shops for details, patterns, and conditions.
Burrowing owls don’t seem like long-distance trav- are declining in the United States, and the species elers. One of the few birds to nest underground— is listed as endangered in Canada—mainly caused an adaptation to their treeless prairie environment— by the conversion of shortgrass prairie to crops, the 9-inch-tall raptors feed on grasshoppers, mice, habitat becoming fragmented by roads, vehicles voles, birds, and snakes they catch within a rela- colliding with the low-flying birds, and increased use of pesticides that kill grasshoppers. tively small home area. The satellite transThat’s one reason mitters weigh just 6 why the researchers grams, about the with the Idaho Coop same as a quarter, Research Unit and and contain small Environment Cansolar cells that reada were surprised charge the batteries. to document burThree burrowing rowing owls flying owls from Montana nearly 2,000 miles were tracked by the from eastern Monteam. One ended up tana to central Mexin west-central Mexico last year. ico, another landed The team fitted 30 burrowing owls Researchers tracked owls flying nearly 2,000 miles to Mexico. outside the city of Guadalajara, Mexin western Canada and the United States with tiny backpack- ico, and a third was found dead before it was able mounted satellite transmitters. The devices emit to migrate south. Of the 22 owls that migrated signals that researchers track to learn migration with their transmitters, 17 wintered in Mexico. The two surviving Montana owls will soon fly routes and destinations. The goal, says project leader David Johnson, is to develop a conservation back to the C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge plan to ensure the owl doesn’t end up on the en- to breed. The birds nest in abandoned badger, dangered species list. Burrowing owl populations swift fox, or prairie dog dens. ■
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY SURVEY FINDINGS
Fishing out their wallets Elk hunters: $139 million A new study by FWP shows that hunters and Pheasant hunters: $16 million anglers spend nearly $1.3 billion each year across Lake and reservoir anglers: $183 million Montana on gear, food, motel rooms, rental cars, River and stream anglers: $724 million guides, gas, and other trip expenses. Department analysts conducted surveys to For report details, visit fwp.mt.gov and click on find out how much hunters and anglers spent on “Doing Business,” “Reference Info,” “Surveys,” their most recent fishing or hunting trips. They and “Social & Economic Surveys.” ■ then multiplied the average amounts by the number of days that hunters and anglers spend hunting and fishing in Montana each year. Examples from the expenditures report (total dollars spent on trips each year, residents and nonresidents combined):
8 MARCH–APRIL 2015 FWP.MT.GOV/MTOUTDOORS
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CARTOON ILLUSTRATION BY MIKE MORAN; KEN ARCHER; GLOBAL OWL PROJECT; JOHN LAMBING; MONTANA FWP; MONTANA OUTDOORS; SHUTTERSTOCK
Prairie owls go the distance
