A first-of-its-kind study by UC Berkeley researchers found that wildlife restoration efforts are more likely to succeed if conservationists partner with local communities.
Two state agencies have teamed up to make safer wildlife migration a priority in Utah. The Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative relies heavily on GPS tracking data received from mammals, birds and fish, which gives coordinators a good picture of where animals are spending time, the routes they take, and areas where safe migration routes are needed. It is a joint project of the state s Division of Wildlife Resources and Department of Transportation. .
Migrating wildlife can struggle with the extensive fencing throughout the West, and a new study is filling in the gaps on where these fences are in southwest Montana. Simon Buzzard, senior coordinator of wildlife connectivity for the National Wildlife Federation and the report s lead author, said the variety of wildlife in the region is extensive, from large mammals such as pronghorn, mule deer and grizzly bears, to ground-nesting birds such as sage grouse. "This host of species that migrate between public lands and private lands, across elevation changes and across state borders; we don t know how fences are impacting those movements," Buzzard pointed out. " .
A controversial proposal to let individual hunters kill two bears per season instead of one is on the agenda at a meeting of the California Fish and Game Commission s Wildlife Resources Committee tomorrow and Thursday. The state allows hunters as a group to kill 1,700 hundred black bears per year, and 1,300 were taken in 2022. Judie Mancuso, founder and president of the group Social Compassion in Legislation, opposes hunting. .