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Where no fish has gone before: Can the ESA remake habitats for struggling species?

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A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.

Where no fish has gone before: Can the ESA remake habitats for struggling species?

Where no fish has gone before: Can the ESA remake habitats for struggling species?

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Editor's note: This story is part of 'ESA at 50,' a series that examines the past, present and future of the Endangered Species Act. Often called the "pit bull of environmental laws," the ESA has provided federal protection to nearly  2,000 animals and plants. On its 50th anniversary, it grapples with political uncertainty and unforeseen ecological challenges.

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NPS fisheries technicians Ben Weber and Alexis Ballerstein measure water flows coming out of Gunsight Lake's outlet stream for a potential native fish restoration project.

NPS

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Outdoors

Listen: Endangered Species Act turns 50 and Montana has been the battleground

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Chris Downs, GNP fisheries biologist, measures a lake trout pulled in from Quartz Lake in this 2015 file photo.

Tom Bauer, Missoulian

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Download PDF Buffalo-Creek-Complaint-Filed-11-8-2023.pdf

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See which species are endangered in the U.S.

Explore which species in your state have made the endangered species list. 

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National Park Service fisheries technician Adalyn Vergara sets up a bathymetry measurement tool to map the habitat of Gunsight Lake in Glacier National Park for a potential native fish restoration project.

NPS

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A mature bull trout can measure 2 or 3 feet long like this one captured in the South Fork of the Flathead River by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries manager Mark Deleray.

Courtesy Montana FWP

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State

Bitterroot grizzly transplant appeals dropped

50 years of the ESA: Explore this series, in photos

Erin Fenger, conflict prevention specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park, throws old cattle bones into a dump trailer on a ranch outside Valier, Mont. in Sept. 2023. Montana FWP’s prairie bear team routinely picks up bone pits and carcasses from ranches to prevent grizzly bear attraction to the operations.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Henry Becker, pets Zia, an anatolian shepherd, on the Stickleg Ranch outside Conrad, Mont. in Sept. 2023.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Range rider Sigrid Olson rides her horse Jake on public land in search of cattle outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Range rider Sigrid Olson rides her horse Jake on public land in search of cattle outside Potomac, Mont., in October 2023.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Range rider Sigrid Olson rides her horse Jake on public land in search of cattle outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

A major aspect of Sigrid Olson’s job as a range riding is documenting the condition of cattle on the range and signs of predators in the area. She produces a report from her notes that she shares with producers and wildlife agencies.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Range rider Sigrid Olson poses for a portrait after a day of range riding outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Range rider Sigrid Olson loosens the saddle on her horse Jake after a day of range riding outside Potomac, Mont. in Oct. 2023.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Kristina Harkins of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks walks down a hillside near Ambrose Creek northeast of Stevensville after using a radio receiver to locate sharp-tailed grouse on Nov. 16. Harkins is a field coordinator for FWP's effort to reintroduce the species west of the Continental Divide, where they haven't been seen for decades. 

JOSHUA MURDOCK, Missoulian

Harkins uses a handheld radio antenna to listen for collared sharp-tailed grouse near the MPG Ranch in the northern Bitterroot Valley on Nov. 16.

JOSHUA MURDOCK, Missoulian

Kristina Harkins, in the driver seat of an FWP truck near the MPG Ranch Nov. 16, listens for signals from radio-collared sharp-tailed grouse using an omnidirectional antenna mounted atop the truck cab.

JOSHUA MURDOCK, Missoulian

Male sharp-tailed grouse dance on a lek in early morning light in spring 2023.

Photo by Kristina Harkins, Montana FWP

An estimated 300 wolverines prowl the snowy elevations of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and parts of Washington, Utah and Colorado. Their hard-to-find nature has challenged the ability of biologists to confirm wolverines' population in the Lower 48 states.

Kalon Baughan

A wolverine triggers a remote camera in the Helena National Forest. The elusive carnivore depends on deep snow for breeding and scavenging food. Climate change and habitat fragmentation have made it a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act on its 50th anniversary. 

Kalon Baughan

Staff from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks re-introduced Arctic grayling in French Creek in the Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area in early October 2023. The fish have genetic ties to river-dwelling Arctic grayling in the Big Hole River. French Creek is a tributary to the river. 

Duncan Adams, The Montana Standard

Fish, Wildlife and Parks Fisheries Biologist Jim Olsen, right, and Region Three Supervisor Marina Yoshioka hold buckets for transporting Arctic grayling during a repopulation project on French Creek on Oct. 2 in the Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area.

JOSEPH SCHELLER, The Montana Standard

Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries technician Lance Breen releases Arctic grayling into French Creek during a repopulation project in the fall of 2023 in the Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area near Anaconda. 

JOSEPH SCHELLER, The Montana Standard

Fluvial Arctic Grayling

Courtesy of Mark Conlin

Fluvial Arctic Grayling

Michael (Josh) Melton/USFWS

It's unusual to see Park Service personnel, or anyone, in Yellowstone National Park carrying a weapon. But this summer a crew used an air rifle to shoot darts to collect DNA samples from bison. The sampling is a small part of the work being conducted as the animals are considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Jacob W. Frank, NPS

Bison close up in a snow storm in Yellowstone National Park.

NPS/Neal Herbert

Bison herd with calves in Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park.

NPS/Neal Herbert

A herd of bison in Yellowstone National Park.

NPS/Neal Herbert

A bison cow and calf walk in the road in Yellowstone National Park.

NPS / Jacob W. Frank

A herd of bison move through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.

NPS / Jacob W. Frank

Cow and calf run through the sage in Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.

NPS / Jacob W. Frank

The ancient bison, Bison antiquus, was taller, had longer horns, and was 25% more massive than living American bison (Bison bison). It was roughly 7.5 feet tall and 15 feet long, weighing approximately 3,500 pounds. Bison had bone horn cores on their skull that served as a base for a longer horn made of keratin, the protein that makes up our fingernails. The span of the horns of Bison antiquus was approximately 3 feet.

NPS illustration by Benji Paysnoe

Wesley Sarmento, prairie bear specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, left, talks with Jennie and Seth Becker on the Stickleg Ranch outside Conrad, Mont. in Sept. 2023.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

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Bull trout

A mature bull trout can measure 2 or 3 feet long like this one captured in the South Fork of the Flathead River by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries manager Mark Deleray.

National Park Service fisheries technician Adalyn Vergara sets up a bathymetry measurement tool to map the habitat of Gunsight Lake in Glacier National Park for a potential native fish restoration project.

NPS fisheries technicians Ben Weber and Alexis Ballerstein measure water flows coming out of Gunsight Lake's outlet stream for a potential native fish restoration project.

Chris Downs, GNP fisheries biologist, measures a lake trout pulled in from Quartz Lake in this 2015 file photo.

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