Over the years, Diana and I have noticed the steady decline of insects where we live in southwest Montana. Bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and even flies (we don't get to pick and choose), are all far scarcer. Some of the more charismatic species, like butterflies, are finally receiving research attention. And the findings are truly discouraging. Researchers investigating the status of 114 species of butterflies in the United States found that populations are decl

A mountain goat in Montana In a status review of Montana's mountain goats that a colleague and I completed in 2017, we found that Montana's native mountain goat populations had declined 70% since the previous statewide assessment 70 years earlier. Yes, 70%! We attributed much of the decline to excessive sport harvest of the species during the mid-1900s. A lack of reliable population management data, limited knowledge of the species' population biology, human habitat

Dead elephant seals Do you know what's happening to plant and animal species that Indigenous peoples rely on in Amazonia? How about Siberian tigers in the taiga? Or the miniscule Macaya breast-spot frog of Haiti? Because there are so many consequential environmental and conservation issues, taking in the full scope of the challenges facing nature can feel overwhelming to me. But if we don't know about them, we won't care. And if we don't care, we aren't spurred to a

Congress has begun nullifying resource management plans that were developed and implemented to guide long-term stewardship of federal lands. Plans cooperatively developed by the federal Bureau of Land Management in Montana, North Dakota, and Alaska -- in consultation with scientists, conservation groups, indigenous peoples, industry, and other users of these tracts of federal lands -- are the first on the chopping block. These Resource Management Plans (RMPs) provide stabil