Ungulate Pathways of the West: Challenges and Opportunities for Conserving Ungulate Migrations in the western U.S.

Abstract

Historically and ecologically important long-distance migrations by herd-living mammals, such as ungulates, have been lost in a growing number of places around the world, including North America. These journeys are phenomena of ecological significance and are an area of priority for conservation work. With the ecological value of migration clearly established in the scientific community, it has become well accepted among conservation biologists that increased connectivity across landscapes benefits other species. Until the recent fragmentation of landscapes by human settlements, most species lived in habitats with a high degree of connectivity. Understanding linkages between areas used by animals throughout the year is critical to their effective conservation because it allows efforts to be directed at critical breeding and wintering sites. Thus the question, how are long-distance, terrestrial migrations being conserved? By taking an in-depth look at current conservation strategies and challenges associated with three contemporary efforts to conserve ungulate migrations in the Western U.S, this study aims to add a ground-level analysis to the current universe of more general recommendations currently provide in literature for the successful conservation of overland migration corridors. Through a case-study approach, the goal of this study is to provide insight into on-the-ground best practice techniques and tools which could improve migratory species conservation efforts. Our conclusion involved additional analysis to identify the key challenges and best practices for conservation of ungulate migration corridors. Despite the challenges and constraints faced by governmental and non-governmental organizations, the study found opportunities for conservation and we present examples of an array of successful conservation strategies being carried out on private and public land.