Endangered Mountain Caribou Protected by LightHawk

According to wildlife experts, there are only approximately 30 mountain caribou remaining in the lower 48 states. These few survivors are found in the Idaho Panhandle and Colville National Forests of northern Idaho. Mountain caribou are regarded as the most endangered large mammals in North America. They are well adapted to the snowy winters in the northern Idaho panhandle, with enormous hooves that allow them to move about in deep snow at high elevations, which helps protect them from predators and human interaction.

Unfortunately, the growing popularity of lighter, more powerful snowmobiles has brought snowmobilers higher and deeper into the backcountry, with devastating results for the caribou. Wildlife biologists note that the machines not only frighten the skittish caribou from feeding and calving grounds, but the compacted trails create walkways for predators and competitors, such as cougars and deer.

For the past five years, LightHawk flights have enabled partners such as Selkirk Conservation Alliance (SCA) to survey caribou locations and gather photographic documentation, substantiated by GPS, of violations in the Selkirk Mountain caribou recovery area by snowmobile users. This documentation has been critical in ongoing litigation intended to protect the caribou and their habitat.

SCA and its allies are currently involved in a case against the U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho Department of Lands for Endangered Species Act violations. The rulings in this ongoing case have swung between opening and closing the critical areas to snowmobile use. In February, the caribou got a reprieve when a U.S. District Court judge barred snowmobiles from an important corridor that allows caribou passage between habitat in the U.S. and Canada.

The aerial photographs provided by LightHawk flights were critical to this important victory. LightHawk volunteer pilot Dick Walker has been a key supporter of this effort, having flown for five years to conduct snowmobile monitoring with our partners at SCA. Other volunteer pilots who provided flights for this campaign are David Downey (2004) and Val Tollefson (2005).

Mountain caribou. Keith Simpson