In the Picabo Hills

There are so many great views at Silver Creek, but my favorite is one high above the preserve, in the Picabo Hills.

Looking down, you can see the creek as it meanders through the valley, and you can see all that beautiful open space--the farms and ranches that are going to stay that way because of 22 conservation easements that protect these properties from development.

When I'm up there, I can often hear duck quacks echoing in the valley, and usually can count on mule deer moving from the preserve to the hills.

It's nice to know it's going to stay this way.

Well, almost.

You see, there is one key property adjacent to the preserve that remains unprotected. It could become homes, or a lodge, or some other use. It is the property directly to the south of the preserve, the view you see from the visitor center when you look back towards the road.

We need your help!

The Nature Conservancy is in the process of purchasing a conservation easement on the property directly across from Silver Creek Preserve. It would protect 320 acres from development, now and for future generations. We are looking to our members, visitors and the local community to help fund the purchase of the easement.

Properties like this one protect what we value about Silver Creek: the beautiful views, the abundant wildlife, that glorious open space.

I know when I am high up in the Picabo Hills, I don't want to see houses when I look down. I prefer to see the deer and the elk, the eagles and the herons.

Please consider giving to this effort today, as I have.

Every donation counts.

If you have visited the preserve, you know this is a special place. You know this is worth protecting. Thank you in advance for your support. You are continuing the amazing conservation legacy at Silver Creek.--Matt Miller

Rep. Simpson Secures Funding for Henry's Lake Conservation

The Nature Conservancy would like to take this opportunity to extend a big thanks to U.S. Representative Mike Simpson for his role in securing funding for Henry's Lake conservation in the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act.

Senator Mike Crapo has also long been supportive of the Henry's Lake area and helped make this conservation funding possible.

$2 million dedicated to conservation of land at Henry's Lake is included in the act, an incredible benefit for one of the most special places in Idaho and its working ranches, wildlife and open space.

A visit to Henry's Lake--located in east Idaho just 15 miles west of West Yellowstone--quickly reveals why it's so important for conservation. Yellowstone may be famous for its wildlife, but it's an incredibly inhospitable place in the winter. Big game animals like elk, moose, mule deer and pronghorn migrate to and from the park to public lands to spend the winter.

To get there, they pass through private ranches, like those found at Henry's Lake.


The ranching culture is an integral part of Henry's Lake, a fact not lost on many visitors to the area who enjoy the scenery, visit rodeos and soak up the Western atmosphere.

This also happens to be one of the fastest growing areas in Idaho. As more people call this area home, ranchers face pressure to sell their lands for development. When this happens, wildlife habitat and the rural economy suffer--and what drew people to the area in the first place is diminished.

Henry's Lake conservation will be funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a federal program that funds land conservation from off-shore oil royalties.

The Nature Conservancy believes that it is a priority to keep working ranches working at Henry's Lake. Representative Simpson recognized the importance of these ranches and requested the funding in this package.

Thanks to Rep. Simpson's and Sen. Crapo's efforts, there's a hopeful future at Henry's Lake--for people and wildlife.

70,000 Geese

Now is the perfect time to catch one of Idaho's great bird spectacles: Thousands of migrating white-fronted and snow geese resting at the Fort Boise Wildlife Management Area south of Parma. How to get there.

The Golden Eagle Audubon Society last week estimated 50,000 snow geese and 20,000 white-fronted geese on the wetlands there.

Seeing the huge flocks circle overhead and then settle onto the ponds is a spectacular sight. The best time to see large numbers of birds is between 9 am and noon, when they return to the safety of wetlands after a night of feeding in local fields.

The geese are resting here before continuing on a long migration that will end in the Arctic. You should be able see large numbers of geese for at least the next couple of weeks.

There are also tundra swans, various ducks and many other birds visible on the wildlife management area. A trip to Ft. Boise is a great way to start the waterfowl watching season.

Waterfowl make migration appear effortless but it's a taxing journey. Without wetlands, ducks and geese would have no place to rest and feed along the way. That's why The Nature Conservancy has a goal to protect, restore and enhance 7500 acres of wetlands in Idaho over the next 3 years. --Matt Miller

Hells Canyon, Oregon

The Nature Conservancy has been working in Hells Canyon in Idaho since 1987, when it acquired approximately 15,000 acres of land. Since that time, the Conservancy has been working to detect and control weeds in this stunning landscape, which includes the deepest canyon in North America.

Across the river in Oregon, another Hells Canyon conservation success has been announced.

There, the Nature Conservancy has purchased 27 parcels of private land located primarily in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Surrounded by National Forest, these lands are home to Oregon's largest herd of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.

The U.S. Forest Service proposes to acquire the properties from the Conservancy using funds dedicated to land purchases. Public ownership would ensure public access for fishing, hunting and hiking on lands previously closed to the public.

The 27 land parcels, totaling 6,673 acres, are private inholdings surrounded by National Forest, concentrated mainly along seven miles of the Imnaha River and six miles of tributary creeks.

Hells Canyon is big, big country, the kind of place that can humble and scare you. It's a land of bighorns and rattlesnakes, jaw-dropping vistas and wide-open spaces, wildflowers and rugged cliffs. It's a great place for people and for animals.

Acquisitions like the one announced by the Conservancy's Oregon Chapter will keep it that way.

Green Tech Review: Will the Kindle Save Trees?

Note: As a book fanatic, I've been somewhat ambivalent about devices like the Kindle. But my collegue and fellow bibliophile Megan Grover makes a strong case that the Kindle has some very real benefits for the environment. Megan will now be blogging at Idaho Nature Notes on green technology and green living.--Matt Miller

Will Amazon’s newest Kindle have readers seeing green?

Later this month, Amazon will be shipping out the next generation of its portable wireless reading device, the Kindle 2.0.

This updated version will provide a sleeker design, improved display and a battery with 25% more life. Like its predecessor, the Kindle 2 allows you to wirelessly download books and periodicals in less than 60 seconds using a cellular network, so no searching for a WiFi hotspot.

Even more impressive, weighing in at less than 11 ounces, this handheld gadget is able to store an incredible 1,500 books on the memory card that comes standard. Unlike most e-readers that use a backlight similar to a computer screen, the Kindle’s electronic ink technology reads just like real paper and doesn’t strain your eyes. Other irresistible features include a built-in dictionary, a highlighter to mark your favorite passage, and a feature that allows you to dog-ear a page.

While dedicated bibliophiles may not be convinced by the Kindle’s technological prowess, its green implications might be more persuasive.

According to the report Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry prepared by the Green Press Initiative, the creation and distribution of a conventional book releases up to 8.85 pounds of greenhouse gases.

For an industry that produces over 14 billion books a year that equates to approximately 12.4 million metric tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere.

With the use of recycled paper in the production of books at only 5%-10%, it takes more than 30 million trees to produce the virgin paper used for the books sold in the U.S. annually.

Amazon anticipates the average Kindle reader will download between 10 to 15 books a year. With 750,000 Kindles expected to be in circulation by 2009 U.S. book production would be reduced by 11,250,000. That is a reduction of 45,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases.

Anticipated sales for 2010 put 2.2 million units into circulation. That is a reduction of 33 million books produced annually.

The Kindle also shines as an electricity miser. The electronic ink system doesn’t require power to maintain the screen; it is only required to change the display. Reading power is measured in page turns instead of operating time. With the wireless turned off, you can literally read for days or weeks on a four hour charge.

Although the Kindle doesn’t look to be threatening the existence of your local library or bookstore, its future looks bright – or at least green. But beyond this green potential, you will find a device that will change the way you read. With over 240,000 books, magazines, and newspapers at your fingertips you won’t ever catch yourself thinking "I wish I had something to read" again. --Megan Grover

Pack Rats

Thump, thump, thump, thump: Throughout the night on Saturday, I was awakened by the sound of a critter running around the walls and ceilings. I was staying at a cabin in the Boise National Forest near Lowman, and it was easy to figure out the culprit: the bushy-tailed woodrat.

Woodrats are more commonly known as pack rats, and while they're quite common, you might not know they're around until one wakes you up in a forest cabin.

Pack rats figure prominently in Western lore. Prospectors found out the pack rat's love of shiny object the hard way, as gold nuggets, coins and belt buckles disappeared. The pack rat reportedly will drop food for the chance to gather shiny objects--what biologists call "trading."

Pack rats don't hibernate. They store enough food in caches to get them through the winter.

They also collect debris into large piles called middens. The middens serve nests to protect them from predators. They can be used by generation after generation of wood rat--becoming as high as ten feet tall.

Pack rat urinate on their middens; in a protected area, this urine solidifies over time, becoming hard and crystallized. As such, they can remain preserved for 40,000 years or longer.

Due to the pack rat's collecting habits, it's hard to predict what might turn up in a midden. Some sources report items like diamond rings, guns and even a human skull.

More importantly, ancient middens of tremendous value for paleontolists, climatologists and conservationists. Researchers can determine how plant composition of an area has changed over time. The presence of animal bones and dung can help determine population densities of Pleistocene fauna. As such, they can help track climate change, species declines and extinctions and long-term habitat trends. --Matt Miller

Non-Native Birds at the Feeder

Photos courtesy of Tom Grey of Tom Grey's Bird Photos.

Looking at results from this year's Great Backyard Bird Count, it's easy to see that some of the most reported birds are non-native species. In Idaho, chances are that a number of non-native species could make an appearance in your backyard, including house sparrow (above), starling, house finch, California quail, rock dove and others.

What does this mean for bird conservation? What impacts are these birds having on native species? Should we be concerned? Should we be doing something?

In some cases, like the house sparrow and the Eurasian starling (above), these birds clearly have a negative impact on native species. Starlings were introduced to New York City's Central Park in 1890 as part of a horribly conceived effort to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works to North America. The starlings quickly spread across the continent and now number some 200 million here. Oddly enough, they are in long-term decline in their native Europe.

But are all non-native species bad? Some conservationists believe so. But the reality is more complex. Some species may be merely filling habitats created by humans. Suburban and urban environments are not suitable for many birds. Is it a bad thing that non-native species have filled the void?

House finches (above) are not native to Idaho. They thrive in backyards. Periodically, an eye disease reduces their numbers. Are they really a problem, or just a new addition to Idaho's bird life?

At least one study has reported that, in most instances, non-native species do not reduce overall biodiversity.

Conservancy biologist Erik Meijaard reports that in Indonesia, despite a tremendous diversity of birds, very few exist around homes--probably because they are not adapted to do so. Is it really worse to have non-native birds in human-altered environments than none at all?

Species move around, with or without humans. Is the fact that they were moved by humans always bad, or just another evolutionary adaptation? Issues around non-native species need more study and thought.

I like watching the California quail that scurry around Boise. They are one of a list of species introduced to Idaho for hunting purposes: chukar, gray partridge, turkey, ring-necked pheasant. One wonders why they were brought here, given that Idaho has so many native species.

On the flip side, these non-natives sometimes live in places where native game birds fare poorly. Pheasants live in farm fields; quail inhabit cities; chukars thrive on cheatgrass.

But that doesn't mean we should introduce more game birds. Certainly in some instances such introductions have been disastrous, particularly in the case of fish. Lake trout illegally thrown into Lake Yellowstone are gobbling up the native cutthroat trout, a horrible loss. Feral pigs released for hunting purposes have become a major nuisance. Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and not intentionally introduce more animals--there will be plenty enough unintentional introductions.

The Eurasian collared dove( above) population stems from escaped domestic birds. Bird counters noted 9 birds in 2006, 56 in 2007, 83 in 2008 and 311 in 2009. This bears watching. Maybe hunters should be encouraged to take these birds now, to keep populations managed before they become a problem.

Non-native birds are here to stay. Why do some spread and others survive in low numbers? What species are at risk of becoming harmful, and what species actually add to our native diversity? Questions like these don't have easy answers. But hopefully citizen-conservationist projects like the Great Backyard Bird Count can help us better understand our birds, both native and non-native.--Matt Miller

Close Encounters of the Bird Kind

The Great Backyard Bird Count, held last weekend, helps researchers determine long-term trends in bird populations by having thousands of people across the country record what birds they are seeing.

Together, it can help determine bird population trends.

I think it can also help people appreciate the surprising wildlife that can be found right in their backyards.

Yesterday, I joined 63,000 other bird counters and sat quietly in my own backyards, city parks and open spaces.

I didn't see any rare species. I saw 8 species, most of them birds I regularly see around the yard--house finches, American goldfinches, robins, juncos, valley quail, house sparrows, mourning dove and a Coopers hawk.

But I did have a surprising experience.

At one point I was amazed to count 66 American goldfinches were at our feeders.

I was more amazed when two of those goldfinches landed on my head. They fluttered and pecked around up there for about a minute, and then flew to a feeder. I've never had a bird mistake me for a roost before.

You never know what wildlife experiences are out there. The backyard bird count is over for the year, but make it a point to sit quietly out in nature--even if it is just in your backyard or a local vacant lot. --Matt Miller

East Idaho Wolverine

Photos courtesy Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Wolverines are one of the most secretive animals of Idaho; little is known about their numbers or travels. Known as an animal of the wilderness, they nonetheless ocassionally turn up in some unexpected places.

That's the case for this wolverine, which was caught by a recreational trapper in the Menan Hills, just north of Idaho Falls. Fortunately, the trapper called the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) to rescue the animal.


As reported by IDFG: "Wolverines are a protected nongame species, and thanks to a modern foothold trap, the animal could be sedated and removed without incident. It was then whisked by Aber to the Driggs Veterinary Clinic, vets who have helped with wolverine research in the past. After a thorough checkup, doctors implanted an internal radio transmitter in the young male wolverine to allow wildlife biologists to track his movements."

The wolverine was released in more suitable habitat.

Wolverines have large home ranges. Instances like this highlight the need for large, wild landscapes where they (and lynx, grizzlies, fishers and others) have room to roam.

Another wolverine was recently documented by a camera trap in the Boise National Forest. Perhaps with technology like camera traps and radio transmitters, biologists will learn more about wolverine habits. But due to their secretive nature, many aspects of a wolverine's life history will remain a mystery.

Most of us will never see a wild wolverine. But Idaho's wild country seems a bit more, well, wild knowing that this fascinating creature is out there. --Matt Miller

Yips and Howls

Coyotes are vocal animals, and never more so than this time of year. It's their mating season, and at night the canyons and valleys echo with their yips, barks, howls and yelps.

Howling appears to serve a variety of purposes for coyotoes. A pack of coyotes will howl to inform other coyotes of their territorial boundaries, thus minimizing the risks of fighting.

At this time of year, a male coyote howls to let other males know to stay away, while inviting females into his territory.

You can hear coyotes on nearly any Nature Conservancy preserve in Idaho, and for that matter, nearly any open space with a little cover. They're incredibly adaptable animals and have actually increased their range as the North American continent was developed.

They thrive close to humanity--I hear them frequently along the Boise River Greenbelt--but they are most active at night to avoid people. Let's keep it that way. Feeding coyotes and acclimating them to humans only leads to trouble, as evidenced by recent coyote attacks on humans in Colorado and California.

So listen from afar, and enjoy the winter chorus of one of our most vocal animals. --Matt Miller

Photo by photo by Christopher Bruno on Wikipedia -published under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license versions 2.5

Idaho Round-Up

Conservation news and stories from around the state (and beyond).

From Idaho to Colombia: Journey with Idaho Nature Notes editor Matt Miller to a ranch called hope, where landowners are shaping a new future after decades of violence. (Colombian round-up pictured above).

Be Outside!: A new effort launced by First Lady Lori Otter aims to get more get kids outside.

Elk Alert: Motorists should be aware of elk on I-84. And check out our tips for lending wildlife a "helping hoof" this winter.

The High Value of Wildlife: The Idaho Statesman's Roger Phillips reflects on why wildlife makes our state such a special place.

Keep Farms as Farms, Not Houses: The Idaho Working Lands Coalition's new web site tells how you can protect working farms, ranches and forests.

New Conservation Blog: The Nature Conservancy now has a national blog, Cool Green Science. Read the daily opinions and essays by 15 Conservancy writers and scientists.

The Elk Zone

Last night, KTVB-Channel 7 reported on people feeding elk right in their backyards in Garden Valley. Apparently, some elk will eat right out of human hands.

It's hard to believe these are the same animals that so successfully elude hunters in the high country. But elk are opportunistic animals, and they're not going to pass up easy food during the harsh winter months.

Elk feeding has a long tradition in the West. In some areas, like Donnelley, ranchers feed elk from sleds--bringing in money from tourists and keeping elk away from their cattle. The most famous feeding area, the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming, draws about 11,000 elk (plus some bison and equally opportunistic wolves) each year.

Elk feeding areas are controversial, with some conservationists claiming that they become reservoirs for disease, with so many animals feeding in a concentrated area. Others believe large numbers of elk would not make it through the winter without them.

Which begs the question: How did elk survive the winter before feeding areas?

The unfortunate truth is that many of the places elk spent the winter are now covered in houses. The valleys where snowfall is light are often the first places to be developed. The town of Jackson cut off many migration routes, which is why the National Elk Refuge is necessary.

Of course, the best conservation option now is to ensure that important big game wintering areas and migration routes remain undeveloped. Many such areas are ranches, farms and private forest lands, all of which face increasing pressures from developers. Conservation incentives like easements to keep these lands in production--and open for wildlife--makes more sense than trying to make feeding areas compensate for a lack of habitat.

You can also help by avoiding areas used by big game animals--the stress of your presence burns calories they'll need to get through the season.

Elk can be amazingly adaptable animals. One well-known bull elk hung out with a herd of cattle last winter right off the Boise Greenbelt, no doubt enjoying the easy food and safety. After a brief hiatus this fall, he returned to his adopted herd for this winter.

But as adaptable as elk are, they still need good habitat. No feeding area will make up for the loss of natural feed to shopping malls, roads and housing developments.--Matt Miller

Bud Burst

Is climate change affecting when flowers bloom, when fruit appears, when trees bud?

You can help researchers answer that question. Project BudBurst is asking you to report when buds and flowers first appear on trees, shrubs and wildflowers.

While the plants in your own backyard by themselves won't determine long-term trends, when tracked with thousands of plants across the nation a clearer picture emerges.

Participating is easy--simply follow the instructions on BudBurst's web site and be sure to report your observations on-line.

"Citizen-science" projects are a great way to help scientists, but they can also help you better understand the nature that is around you--in your backyard, around your neighborhood, in a city park. The Great Backyard Bird Count has been highly successful in tracking bird population and migration trends, for instance.

Now it's time to watch your backyard trees. While spring may seem a long time from now, keep an eye out on those trees, and give researchers a helping hand. --Matt Miller

Robins Return

Yesterday I saw the first robin of the year, singing cheerily at the Ted Trueblood Wildlife Area near Grand View.

I recall the first robin once being a sure sign of spring's imminent arrival. But lately, it seems as if robins are arriving earlier each year. Are they really? And if so, what's going on?

As with so many natural history questions, the answers are a bit more complex than it might first appear.

For one thing, robins are short-distance migrants. They don't go all the way to South America each year, but rather just head south far enough to avoid cold weather. However, a certain small number of robins have always stayed in place and braved the cold weather. The robin I saw could have been a bird that never left.

And actually, more robins are staying in colder climes because of changes to habitat. Suburbia--with more fruit trees and more shrubs--are ideal conditions for robins. Additionally, backyards offer high numbers of earthworms. To see an illustration of this, dig up a shovel of earth in your grassy lawn, and then dig up a shovel out in the Owyhees.

Finally, there is research to suggest that migratory robins are indeed showing up earlier, probably due to climate change.

My lone sighting doesn't mean much beyond satisfying my personal interest. But with other observations, it can help ornithologists detect long-term trends. Bird observation is one area where amateur observers are still making a difference.

Backyard bird counts can help scientists track population trends, species declines and changes in range introduction. This winter, sign up for the Great Backyard Bird Count or Project FeederWatch, two great ways to help bird conservation just by observing birds in your neighborhood, city park or own backyard. Your observations can help shape inform scientists so that we better understand--and can better conserve--our feathered friends.--Matt Miller

Photo courtesy of Tom Grey.

Wildlife Adventure...At the Dump

Where do the wild things roam? If you look to nature shows and nature books, the answer is clear: Far, far away. Nature, we learn, is some place out there, free from human influence. The otherwise excellent Planet Earth series, for instance, features almost no footage of humans in its grand tour of human habitats. After finishing Rick Bass' recent memoir, Why I Came West, I was disheartened by Bass' assertion that only in wilderness areas can humans truly connect with the natural world.

I'll state up front that I believe we need the large wildernesses full of large predators and large herds and migrating fish. We need to protect what remains of these places for future generations. But conservationists are sending entirely the wrong message if we're communicating that nature can only be found in such big places.

The truth is, wild nature can be found all around us. Conservationists are often not made in the wilderness; they're made in woodlots and farm fields and little streams and vacant lots.

Last week, my wife and I walked with our nephew Jacob down a snowy Iowa farm lane: Not wilderness, but full of tracks of deer and rabbit and turkey and pheasant and coyote and vole. Jacob loved trying to figure out what creatures had passed, where they may have headed, what stories were written there in the snow. I was reminded that such great conservationists as Aldo Leopold and John Madson were not first introduced to wild things in the great Rocky Mountain wildernesses, but rather on Iowa farms much like the one we were exploring.

The curious naturalist knows that the wonders of nature are not just out there, but often right before us--sometimes in the most unlikely of places.

Like the city dump. This weekend, you can see some of that wildness yourself. Hard-core birder R.L. Rowland leads his annual gull watching trip to the Boise Landfill, beginning at 9 AM. In what is perhaps the most bizarre Idaho nature trip you'll ever take, R.L. will help you identify the many gulls that visit this landfill--as many as twenty species some years. As with all of the always excellent Golden Eagle Audubon Society field trips, this one is free. Call 336-9808 or email R.L. to sign up.

Even in a city, there is wildness to explore. Chances are, you had no idea that twenty different gull species, right now, are circling over Boise. Let's keep working to protect the big wildernesses, but let's also not lose sight of the wonders that are all around us, every day. --Matt Miller

Silver Creek in the Winter

Photo: Swans in winter, taken by Sam Stronach near the Hemingway Monument

Most people visit Silver Creek Preserve during the summer to fish, hike, bird, or just look around. Not too many people think about coming during the winter months but winter is actually a great time to visit the Preserve. The visitor center is closed but the Preserve is open to snowshoeing, skiing, birding, and on some days, waterfowl hunting (please sign in at the visitor center prior to entering the Preserve and check the posted rules).

Often it is possible to have the Preserve completely to yourself—a quiet and beautiful retreat. This winter, several rare birds (for this area) have already been seen. Harris Sparrows, White throated sparrows, and a Mockingbird were sited in November and December. I find ‘the regulars’ just as exciting and these include Western Harriers, Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, waterfowl of all kinds, Tundra and Trumpeter swans, to name a few. You may also see moose, elk, coyotes, deer, fox, bobcat, otter, mink, and other critters. One of my favorite activities is to grab a cup of hot chocolate and hang out on the deck of the visitor center and just look. Or, better yet, take a long ski around the Preserve and end it with a hot drink on the deck.

Please call for private tours, 788-7910 or 208-720-5465. Hope to see you this winter!

Dayna and the Silver Creek staff.

Summer Dreams for North Idaho

With much of the Idaho Panhandle receiving 34 inches of snow in 34 hours, summer vacation there seems a long, long way away.

But this just-released video celebrates North Idaho in the summer, specifically The Nature Conservancy's Ball Creek Ranch Preserve.

Jeff Wilson, of HGTV's Regular Guy series, visited the preserve last July as part of his Green Family Summer. His recently released set of videos include ideas for summer vacations around the west, including Nature Conservancy preserves. Wilson recommends Ball Creek as an off-the-beaten path destination great for wildlife and beautiful scenery.

But you may want to wait a few months before visiting.--Matt Miller

Holiday Gifts, Part IV: Good Conservation Books

For me, the holiday season without some good books under the tree would be like Thanksgiving without the turkey. For the book-loving naturalist on your list--or if you're looking for something to pack along on your holiday travels-- here are some of my favorite recent releases.

Take away large predators from a landscape, and the whole ecosystem collapses. That's the intriguing premise of Where the Wild Things Were, by former Nature Conservancy magazine writer William Stolzenburg. In this well written book, Stolzenburg shows a growing mound of research that demonstrates the disastrous impacts on all species when large predators are removed--and how quickly whole ecosystems can recover when predators are restored. This is not a dry collection of research statistics--it's full of stories of otter-eating orcas, elk without fear, raccoons gone wild, anti-social howler monkeys and more. If you read one nature book this year, make it this one.

The lives of humans and the lives of insects are inextricably connected, in more ways than we realize--including our warfare. Jeffrey Lockwood's Six-legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War may seem an obscure subject. But history enthusiasts will find a lot of interest here, from new looks at key battles to intriguing tactics by top generals. The book examines the human-insect connection in many conflicts, from hurling wasp nests over castle walls to the use of fleas to carry bubonic plague in World War II. Most chilling is Lockwood's analysis for insects' potential uses in bio-terrorism. Lockwood is an entomologist who is also an excellent writer; his books Locust and Grasshopper Dreaming also examine the ways humans interact with insects--and why we should all care.

The comparison has probably already been made, but Bryan Christy's The Lizard King features a cast of characters, a plot and a setting that seem pulled from a Carl Hiaasen novel. This, though, is a true story. Christy delves into the little-known world of reptile smugglers,

a world of organized crime, shady characters and obsessed reptile afficionados who pay exorbitant sums to own rare and endangered species. This is a page-turner, and the scope and extent of endangered species poaching is shocking. Christy, a reptile enthusiast, treats all the people involved (including the smugglers) with fairness and respect, which makes this a richer, more complex story. Aldo Leopold still looms large over the conservation landscape. His ideas stand the test of time, and few have written as beautifully about the central issues as he did in A Sand County Almanac and other writings. Leopold's land ethic was the result of an evolution of thought, as described by Julianne Lutz Newton in Aldo Leopold's Odyssey: Rediscovering the Author of A Sand County Almanac. The author traces how Leopold's life experiences, education and scholarship developed into his land ethic--a mindful journey that included changes of opinion and rethinking strong personal beliefs. Perhaps today, Leopold would be called a "flip-flopper." But I don't think one can read this book without recognizing a truly great mind at work. For the avid life lister on your list, it would be hard to beat Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding by Scott Weidensaul. Famous explorers, egg collectors, hawk shooters, angry activists, inspired teenagers and obsessed listers all play a role in this story. Weidensaul is one of the best nature writers working today; more people should read his work.

Finally, for the hard-core nature enthusiast, Whit Bronaugh's Wildlife of North America: A Naturalist's Life List is a great addition to the library. This book features complete species lists of the most "watchable" wildlife: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies and dragonflies. There is space to record dates and notes of sightings. A large-format, 512-page work, this is not one to carry into the field, but serves rather as a master list for your outdoor ramblings.

As the snow falls outside, it's the perfect time to curl up with a good book. I hope you enjoy these holiday recommendations, and feel free to suggest your own.--Matt Miller

Holiday Gifts, Part III: Wooden Toys, Jewelry and More

A few weeks ago, I walked up a trail in the Kootenai Valley of northern Idaho, looking for deer. In the mud and snow patches, I saw all the creatures that had also passed this way: deer, elk, moose, grizzly, pine squirrel, turkey, grouse. I wasn't on public land, but rather a privately owned forest.

Increasingly, conservationists realize that these private forests are critically important to a wide variety of wildlife species. It helps, of course, if they're managed sustainably. The Forest Stewardship Council is a third-party certification to ensure that private forests are managed in a way that benefits wildlife, clean water and local communities. FSC is the most rigorous sustainable forest certification, and is endorsed by a wide range of organizations, including The Nature Conservancy.

It's a worldwide program, so it also ensures that your wood product purchase isn't from wood illegally cut in Borneo (as much as 25% of all hard lumber and plywood on the market today is from wood illegally harvested or unsustainably managed). When you buy FSC-certified products, you're helping grizzlies and orangutans, and communities in the Rocky Mountains and Indonesia.

It can admittedly be a challenge, though, finding FSC-certified products. That's why The Nature Conservancy's on-line FSC gift guide is such a handy reference: There are lots of cool wooden products to buy, all guaranteed to be from sustainably harvested forests. The guide tells you what's available and where to buy them.

There' s a diversity of items, like the Natural Pod toy chef kitchen (pictured above). Natural Pod has a variety of home toys--all wood--that receive rave reviews on-line. There are also other toys from Toys R Us, earrings, ornaments and many other items.

We need wood products, and we need well-managed forests. Buying FSC-certified products is a great way to support those forests, and the wildlife and communities that depend on them. --Matt Miller

Holiday Gift Ideas, Part II: Plant a Billion Trees

This holiday season, you can buy that conservationist a gift that will benefit millions of people: A tree. Not just any tree, but a tree in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Each dollar donated to the Plant A Billion Trees Campaign plants a tree in Brazil. Consider planting one--or a whole patch--for your friends this season.

Forests, of course, provide so many benefits to us: They store enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, stabilizing climate change. They reduce erosion, keeping water clean. And they provide habitat for a multitude of creatures.

Few forests are in such trouble as Brazil's Atlantic Forest. There are some protected tracts, like the forest around Iguassu Falls (above). But only 7% of this forest remains, mainly in isolated patches.

This forest may not be as well known as the Amazon, but it's still one of the most important places on earth for wildlife. Many of the remaining forest tracts are located near Brazil's famous coastline, providing a beautiful backdrop.
More of this forest can be restored, and every dollar helps.

With a goal of having all the trees planted by 2015, the reforestation effort will remove 10 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year (the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off the road). It will provide 70,000 new jobs. It will reduce erosion, providing cleaner water for nearly 120 million people. And it will provide homes for a whole host of creatures (including coatis, pictured below).

How many times can you give a dollar and benefit millions of people, create jobs, reduce the impacts of climate change and lend wildlife a helping hand? Buy a tree this holiday season, and help restore another special place for people and nature. --Matt Miller

Holiday Gift Ideas, Part I: Mochilas for Monkeys

For the next several weeks, Idaho Nature Notes will feature some special gift ideas for the conservationist on your list this season. Cotton-top tamarin monkeys (above) are found in the tropical dry forest of Colombia, but they face major challenges to their survival.

You can help cotton-top tamarins, also known as titi monkeys, by purchasing a mochila bag on-line from Proyecto Titi, a Nature Conservancy partner dedicated to conserving cotton-top tamarins.

Two problems plague the tropical dry forest of Colombia. Communities surrounding the tropical dry forest face high unemployment, so to survive they often extract from the forest: they cut trees, poach wildlife for food and collect the endangered monkeys to sell to the black-market biomedical industry.

The other problem is a lack of refuse collection, leading to an astounding number of plastic bags in the countryside. The solution: Mochilas for monkeys.

First, a local community collects clean plastic bags, which are then cut into strips by women (and one man) in the village.

The bags are then sewn into mochilas, beautiful hand bags. They are sold on-line and at places like Disney's Animal Kingdom. The proceeds go back to the community.

The bags are all quality tested for strength and uniformity. The sale of these bags has completely transformed the community. They no longer have to poach in the forest, they have cemented their floors, their schools have improved.

The community celebrates this improvement by recognizing the monkey, holding a titi festival every year and crowning a titi queen (above), who greets all visitors to the village. She takes her job very seriously. School children learn about the monkeys and perform songs about them.

By purchasing mochila bags on-line from Proyecto Titi, you are benefiting monkeys, the tropical dry forest and people. You are helping to create a future of hope--a future where local communities can prosper along with, rather than against, wild animals. --Matt Miller

Owl Courtship

When you think of birds courting, displaying and breeding, you most likely start thinking about spring. It's when sage grouse strut, turkeys gobble, ducks pair off and robins build nests.

But great horned owls begin calling to potential mates as early as October. They will pair off this month. They can often be heard calling to each other at this time--what is called "duetting." Perhaps you've heard this recently. Over the weekend, two were calling just outside our bedroom window--a dramatic series of calls that only faintly resembled hooting. On a long walk, I came across another pair hooting to each other. One was so intent it was not bothered by my presence, despite me standing just a few feet away.

The owls will breed in January and February--among the earliest of any birds on the continent. If you take an evening walk this month, listen carefully--you may hear the haunting hoots echoing across the landscape.

And you have a good chance of hearing great horned owls wherever you are in Idaho. They are one of the most adaptable birds in the Americas, found from Canada to Tierra del Fuego, in small woodlots and vast wilderness, in sagebrush and city parks, in deserts and along rivers. The same, by the way, is not true of all owls. Great horned owls may be very adaptable to a wide variety of habitats, but many owl species have very specific needs. Like burrowing owls (pictured above).

These little owls actually live underground in abandoned holes. They thrive in grassland and shrubland. They can be spotted in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Idaho, but their real stronghold once was the Great Plains, where they lived among the vast herds of bison and huge prairie dog colonies.

One can only imagine how many of these owls could be found on the plains. I had a taste of what it must have been like on a recent trip to Colombia, in the Orinoco Grasslands. There, one of the most intact grasslands left on earth, burrowing owls were all over the place. One rancher told a story of catching 20 by hand as a youngster (her mother made her return the owls to their burrows).

Owls are, to my mind, among the coolest looking creatures on the planet, and burrowing owls especially so. Some, like great horned owls, will thrive without our help. But many other species need our help to survive. --Matt Miller

A Hooray for Flat Ranch Volunteers

A fun way to help the wildlife and nature of your local area is to volunteer at your local nature preserve. There are lists upon lists of projects to be completed every year, and many call for more hands than we have on our staff. These volunteer days are fun ways to give your time and lend a helping hand to Mother Nature. This summer at the Flat Ranch we had two such volunteer opportunities.

The week of August 18 we built just over a kilometer of four-strand, wildlife-friendly fence. The trick to making a wildlife-friendly fence is making sure the bottom strand of wire is high enough that antelope can run under it without stopping, and the top strand of wire is low enough that larger mammals like elk can jump over it without stopping. The fence posts must also be set a certain distance apart to ensure room for wildlife crossing. Let-own fences are constructed with “runners” and “dancers”. The runners used on the Flat Ranch are 6-7” 8 foot long fence posts spaced 16 feet apart. The dancers are 4-5” 5 foot long posts that are held against each runner with wire. The barbed wire is stapled onto the dancers, and the dancers are laid down every winter when the cattle are not on the ranch. Constructing a fence with this many posts, staples, and exact specifications is no easy task for The Nature Conservancy’s work force. This new fence would not have been possible without the help of our volunteers who worked countless hours in less than perfect conditions to help us build it.

On October 23 we had our second volunteer day at the Flat Ranch. On this day we planted 200 5-gallon willows. These willows were custom grown for the Ranch, and planted to continue our woody riparian vegetation restoration on the Henry’s Fork. This restoration work began as an effort to reduce sedimentation in the Henry’s Fork that was detrimental to the native fishery. With one skid-steer mounted auger, one two-man power auger, shovels, gloves, and a lot of determination, our volunteers closed the final chapter on the active vegetation work. Several of the willows were marked for survival studies that will help in future vegetation work on the ranch. The day went smoothly with all 200 willows in the ground in about 4 hours. It never would have been possible without the help of so many conservation minded people, and I would like to thank everyone who came out and pitched in. --Dava McCann, East Idaho land steward

Fencing Volunteers: Matt Frazier, Dannye Hanrahan, Dennis Hanrahan, Lee King, Phyllis King, Jerry Linderman, Marilynne Manguba, Anne Marie Emery Miller and Gretchen Vanek.

Willow Planting Volunteers: Jen Chutz, Jim DeRito, Sarah Grigg, Lee King, Anne Marie Emery Miller, Nancy Olson, Melanie Sessions, Bob Stantos, Steve Trafton, Ron Troy

Here Come The Deer

At first, the signs are subtle: A hoof print in your backyard, a small herd of deer moving into the foothills, a solitary animal crossing the road. But, soon, places absent of deer for the past five months will suddenly be alive with them. The deer are on the move, heading towards lower elevations.

The past two blogs have explored winged migration--but throughout Idaho, it's also the season for a hoofed migration.

Each year, mule deer--and elk, moose and pronghorn--migrate from the mountains to the valleys to escape heavy snow. In the low-elevation sagebrush, they find better weather, and, at least in the past, better nutrition and less stressful living conditions.

Idaho is blessed with large tracts of public lands which support animals that need a lot of space to thrive, like mule deer and elk. But many of those public lands are not viable for the animals in the winter and early spring.

Yellowstone National Park, for instance, is known as a haven for wildlife--but its high elevations make it an inhospitable place in the winter. And so big game moves out. Five of the twelve longest large mammal migration routes on earth are located in the Greater Yellowstone area.

And what do wildlife need when they get to their winter range? Good nutrition, for one thing. Sagebrush is very important to the diets of deer and pronghorn, comprising as much as 90% of winter nutrition in some areas. Bitterbrush (pictured above) and similar shrubs complement this diet nicely. (Some ecologists call bitterbrush "deer candy").

Unfortunately, cheatgrass and other non-native weeds start a fire cycle that eventually eliminates these shrubs. Deer will eat green cheat grass, but it's not as nutritious and often provides very little cover. Some deer herds have disappeared when the sagebrush vanishes, as in the case of the foothills around Twin Falls.

In addition to good, nutritious shrubs, deer (and other big game) need areas free of disturbance. Right now, that often means working farms, ranches and private forests. Many of these lands offer "funnels" for animals to migrate from one public land area to another. As an example, elk and pronghorn migrate out of Yellowstone using a funnel at Henry's Lake, which then leads them to winter range on Saint Anthony Sand Dunes or Montana's Madison Valley. Develop that funnel, and the animals' ability to migrate is in jeopardy.

Big game animals can't burn precious calories during a tough winter, and farms and ranches offer them plenty of space. Cover those lands with houses, and deer suddenly have to contend with more roads, more dogs and more recreation.

The Idaho Working Lands Coalition is dedicated to finding solutions to protect these private lands. The coalition has a new web site, and you can sign up to become a Working Lands Advocate. With your support, we can work towards providing incentives that keep farmers, ranchers and forest owners on the land--and keep mule deer and elk on their winter range, too.--Matt Miller

Snow Geese Overhead

For the past several nights, I've heard overhead the sound of geese: Not the familiar Canada geese so common on our golf courses and farm fields. This is a higher-pitched call, yet still unmistakably emanating from geese. Early in the morning, I've seen them flying, their white forms and black wing tips visible even as they soar high overhead. Snow geese.

Most of these birds won't stop here: They're moving with purpose, heading straight for the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California.

They're on an almost incomprehensibly long flight, one that biologists are just beginning to fully understand.

Snow geese breed and spend the summer in various locations of the Arctic. The ones you'll see in Idaho in the spring and fall nest very far north, on the Wrangel Island on the Gulf of Alaska. Wildlife biologist John Takekawa, as reported in Wild Bird magazine, was part of a team of scientists that tracked this population.

As it migrates in the fall from Wrangel Island, the population moves along the coast of Alaska and British Columbia. About half the population goes on to Puget Sound.

The other half, though, makes a rather long detour, heading east to Alberta. These are the birds you'll see here. From there, the birds head south to Montana, then southeast through Idaho and Oregon to the Klamath Basin.

In the central part of the country, snow geese populations have exploded as they feed and thrive on rice farms. Many biologists believe they exist at such high densities that they destroy their own nesting habitat in the Arctic. Solving that problem will take creative management and solutions that challenge our various values about nature.

The other challenge faced by snow geese is loss of wetlands. On a migration that spans such a huge distance, winding from the Arctic to the British Columbia coast to the Canadian prairie to Idaho to California--these birds need places to rest along the way. Places like the Conservancy's Ball Creek Ranch in North Idaho and Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Ft. Boise Wildlife Management Area in South Idaho are both perfect places to see the importance of wetlands for snow geese.

Tonight, listen overhead, and wish these long-distance flyers good luck on their ultra-ultra-marathon.--Matt Miller

The Dragonfly Migration

Autumn is a time in Idaho when the wonders of migration are everywhere to be seen: Dark-eyed juncos, after spending a winter in Canada, start showing up at birdfeeders. Large flocks of ducks and geese can be seen swimming in ponds, wetlands and rivers. Look closely in the mountains and you may see an increase in hawks, as these birds mass along the ridges before their long southward journey across the sagebrush desert. Soon, herds of mule deer and elk will roam out of the mountains to the valleys, their winter range.

Those migrations are all quite visible--and well-studied. Less well known is the annual flight of the dragonflies. Like birds, many dragonfly species fly south for the winter.

An Idaho species, the green darner, migrates each year to the southwestern United States. There, it lays eggs, which turn into aquatic nymphs. The nymphs hatch in the spring, and return to Idaho. How they know where to go--the adults have long since died so the young have no one to lead the way--remains a mystery.

Just as some marshes serve as resting places for mind-boggling numbers of migrating ducks, some habitats attract huge swarms of dragonflies on their migration. Interestingly, many of these are the same places that attract birds--places like Cape May, New Jersey and Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania.

Near Hawk Mountain kestrels and dragonflies share similar migration routes. While migrating in the morning, the kestrels do not hunt the dragonflies. But when both stop to rest, the kestrels actively bulk up on the ready supply of these insects.

Dragonflies are enjoying a surge in popularity lately. They're recognized for their voracious appetite for mosquitoes. They're also beautiful and interesting creatures to watch. Contributing information on dragonfly migration is still an area where amateur naturalists can contribute a lot to research. There is even a small but growing group of dragonfly watchers, who keep life lists and go on local and international trips much like birders. There are some fascinating species to be seen--like the huge one above that I photographed in the Llanos grasslands of Colombia.

Not all dragonflies migrate; many nymphs in Idaho are deep underwater, awaiting spring. But when you see a flock of ducks, or a sharp-shinned hawk, flying overhead, look closely: There may be a flight of dragonflies flying nearby.--Matt Miller