Editor’s Note
Western Confluence has grappled with some controversial topics, but as the editorial crew planned this issue, a focus on endangered species felt especially fraught.
Path to Recovery
Map of the Endangered Species Act
By Emilene Ostlind and Gary Beauvais
Avoiding Extinction on a Warming Planet
Can the Endangered Species Act protect wildlife in a changing climate?
On a summer day in 2011, a group of US Geological Survey researchers hiked through the wildflowers high above Glacier National Park’s tree line
Coping, Not Overcoming
Scientist discovers pikas’ strategies for dealing with heat
By Alanna Elder
Just like the creature she studies, Embere Hall spends much of the winter beneath the snow. Her office is tucked in a network of hallways beneath the University of Wyoming’s older science buildings.
Lost Seas
When the Soviets started draining their inland sea
to grow cotton in the desert,
a Kremlin engineer said it is obvious to everyone
Return of the Grizzly
No longer federally protected, is the great bear ready to strike out on its own?
In the early 20th century, tourists gathered around dump pits in Yellowstone National Park to watch grizzlies devour trash.
New Neighbors
Wyoming ranchers are key to black-footed ferret recovery
Lenox Baker’s hands gripped the steering wheel, and the large silver ring on his finger glinted, revealing an outline of a black-footed ferret.
A Tale of Two Species
Plants and animals receive different protections under the Endangered Species Act
In 1998, the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed a small brown mouse with large hind feet and a 6-inch-long whip-like tail as threatened
Mapping Recovery
Once missing from Yellowstone, reintroduced wolves make a comeback
On a crisp March morning in 1995, wolf biologist Doug Smith and colleagues from the National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service made their way toward a makeshift pen in Yellowstone National Park’s northern range.
Collaborate or Litigate
Local collaboration faces off against outsider litigation in the long, slow process to help a threatened species
From his Chevy Silverado, Phil Fine watched heavy rain fill up an irrigation ditch on his family farm in central Oregon.
Modernizing the Act
As calls for ESA reform have conservationists on high alert, western governors offer a way forward
“Here’s the problem. The Endangered Species Act isn’t working today,”
Laser Focus on Sage Grouse
Researchers deploy cutting-edge technology to understand sage grouse and their habitat
Alarms wake the researchers, students, and technicians living in “Chicken Camp” at 3:45 a.m. this chilly April morning.
Time Warp
Wyoming plants of bygone eras
We have all seen movies where characters step back in time.
Bighorns Back from the Brink
Science and the recovery of an alpine specialist
It was shaping up to be a brutal winter.
Endlings
When the last passenger pigeon dies in the Cincinnati Zoo,
it is autumn,
a hot September day,
Staying Vigilant
Scientists are on the lookout for white-nose syndrome in Wyoming bats
Just miles from Devil’s Tower National Monument, the sun was dropping in the sky, and Ian Abernethy, lead vertebrate zoologist for the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database
Gone
A meditation on extinction
No more northern white rhinos live in the wild, and the three in captivity are too old to reproduce.
Wyoming’s Only Endangered Plant
A tale of re-discovery
In the 1850s, the geologist Ferdinand Hayden crossed the Nebraska Sandhills on an expedition to map uncharted territory and chronicle its natural resources.
A Win-Win Situation
What’s good for sage grouse is good for landowners
I met Peter John Camino in the lobby of the Johnson County Public Library in Buffalo, Wyoming.
To the Bat Cave!
Conservationists turn to tourism to protect endangered bats
In the 1980s, more than 50,000 visitors toured Colossal Cave annually.