DENVER - Wildlife is being fenced in across the West, and researchers are now mapping these lines to understand how they affect animals.

In some rural areas, fences outnumber roads, but they're much harder to pinpoint and map. Simon Buzzard, wildlife project coordinator in Missoula for the National Wildlife Federation, is leading an effort to find fences, and overlay that information with movement data for pronghorns in southwest Montana. He said the project is prioritizing fences that can directly hamper the species' migration patterns, and can find trouble spots.

"Where we see a stark line - where, all of the sudden, all the animals move in a 90-degree angle - and we see there's a fence there, we go out on the ground and take stock of what type of fence it is," he said. "Is the landowner interested in discussing opportunities for modification? Is it on public land?"

He said identifying fences on the landscape that can be more wildlife-friendly is important, not only for pronghorn, but other species - elk, mule deer, moose, as well as ground-nesting birds, such as sage grouse. There are more than 77,000 pronghorn in Colorado, according to the state Division of Wildlife.

Fences can be hard barriers for pronghorn to cross, since they're not good jumpers and have to crawl underneath. Buzzard said even for species adept at jumping, juveniles can struggle and get caught in the barbed wire. But he noted that a bigger problem is the indirect effect the barriers present.

"As more fences get erected on the landscape, say with subdivision or with roads - as we build roads, we generally build fences - it's possible for that increase in fence density to reduce the amount of available habitat," he said.

Buzzard said the effects of roads on wildlife are clear, as are solutions - such as crossings to maintain migration routes. But fence ecology is a burgeoning field.

"On a landscape level, we haven't really looked at fences well enough yet," he said. "We don't have a lot of data on the cumulative impacts that fences have, when we know that they're impacting wildlife movement for different species. And so this is just the beginning, I'd say, of this process in the West."

He added that the project has partnerships at the state level in Montana, with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, nonprofits and the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, which works with private landowners.

Today is Earth Day, and one initiative in southern Arizona is helping build public gardens providing beneficial habitat for pollinators, from Monarch butterflies to bees and bats.

Emily Bishton, founder and coordinator of the Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project, said the human population depends on these animals and insects, as many of our foods and plant-based products require pollination. But human activity and climate change have put pollinators in jeopardy and Bishton wants to increase awareness of how crucial they are.

"The best chance you have for attracting and nurturing pollinators is with the species that they've co-evolved with," Bishton explained. "They will instinctively know that is food for them, or a place they can lay their eggs. They also are more likely to be able to put up with the way our climate is now and the way it is changing."

Bishton pointed out one focus of the project is to get Arizonans to plant more native species like milkweed, which is especially critical for Monarch butterflies. She would also like people to reconsider the use of pesticides since they do kill pests but also other beneficial insects. She suggested contacting a local county extension service or master-gardener program for alternative methods.

Madian Romero, technical assistant supervisor for the Caviglia-Arivaca Library, has been responsible for getting teenagers in the area to participate in the Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project. They not only help build garden spaces around town but grow their knowledge behind the importance of pollinators, as well as community building.

"The teens, they've come up with ideas on how to fundraise for the projects," Romero emphasized. "Each business that agrees to have a garden, it can be free."

Romero added the project has also been a character-building exercise for the young people of Arivaca, and hopes it is an experience they will cherish.

The state Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University are looking for volunteers to help create a new Bumble Bee Atlas.

Bees are an important part of the ecosystem, and scientists are figuring out their habitats to help them thrive.

Iowa is home to at least 14 species of bumble bees that help pollinate native wildflowers and flowering crops in farm fields and backyard gardens.

Iowa State University University Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and plant pathologist Matt O'Neal said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently listed several bee species as endangered.

"And that includes the Rusty Patch bumble bee," said O'Neal, "20% of what it used to be, and that includes parts of Iowa. There is also evidence that other bumble species are in decline and so, this survey will give us a chance to see where those bees are and how abundant they are."

With that information, O'Neal said scientists can work to protect the bees' habitats and create Iowa's Bumble Bee Atlas.

It's part of a larger project to map the bees and foster bee development nationwide. Sign up online to volunteer.

The national project is part of a collaboration with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Some 900 people have volunteered for the national atlas project, and counted more than 20,000 bumble bees - which O'Neal said face several major threats.

"Pesticide exposure, parasite and pathogens," said O'Neal, "and then the last 'P,' and probably the most important, is poor forage."

The researchers will work to alleviate those threats by knowing where the bees are.

Volunteers have discovered species thought to be gone from their states, contributed to new field guides, and improved scientists' understanding of bumble bee populations across the country.




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A coalition of conservation groups has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for refusing to relist wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

Helena-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies is part of the suit. The Alliance sued to successfully overturn the wolf's delisting in 2012 but the move fell victim to congressional funding bill negotiations.

Mike Garrity, executive director of the alliance, said the wolves clearly qualify to be protected under the Act and hunting is driving down their numbers, which could cause problems for the animals.

"As their numbers decline, they are at greater risk for inbreeding," Garrity pointed out. "Once inbreeding sets in, the population is sunk."

Livestock and cattle owners argued wolves are a threat to their flocks and herds and want their numbers reduced. The suit was filed in federal District Court in Missoula.

Beyond keeping a robust population of wolves on Montana's lands and helping their species thrive, Garrity noted wolves can also help reduce the population of diseased animals.

"We're starting to have disease in deer, such as Chronic Wasting Disease," Garrity explained. "Predators like wolves are really good at focusing on the sick animals, so that's an excellent way to control Chronic Wasting Disease."

Garrity added wolf management policies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, all of which allow aggressive hunting of the animals, fail to protect wolves and all native species for future generations, the primary mandate of the Endangered Species Act.