General Stuff How’s your summer going? If you don’t have enough to do, come see us in Resource Management. We’ll keep you busy. As the season winds down, please don’t let your love for the phenomenal resources wind down. Everyone is integral to the protection and management of this beautiful park. You do make a difference! Biological Sciences - Wildlife The annual bison roundup for the park has been scheduled for the week of October 18. This year we plan to cull approximately 80 yearling bison from the herd.
The parkwide pronghorn survey will be conducted on Tuesday, August 17, 2004. All those who can assist in this survey are invited and need to meet in the Resource Management office area at 8:00 am. Please sign up as soon as possible in the Resource Management Office. You will want to bring water, food, sunscreen, a radio, binoculars, something to write with, and be dressed for hiking. Come participate in this survey and enjoy getting out in this beautiful park. Physical Sciences - Cave and Karst The Cave and Karst Inventory Project continues at a brisk pace. The ridgewalkers have upped the total number of caves within the park to 37. Again, to be called a cave a feature must be more than 15 feet long.
Mother Nature has given us some additional moisture in the last few weeks, but this has been far below our average. The 52 year average precipitation for the park from January through July is approximately 12.5 inches. This year we are sitting at a mere 7.6 inches. Our June precipitation was only 0.6 inches. This was the lowest precipitation ever recorded within the park. The lack of precipitation has direct effects on the resources of the park. Surface water, in particular seeps and springs, do not flow as freely under these conditions. Forage production in the mixed-grass prairie is down from that measured last year. A reduction in surface water and available forage may have contributed to fewer elk being in the park this summer. Resource Data Management Comments and feedback about Resource Ramblings are encouraged and can be made to Dan Foster, in person, or via email. |
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Elk surveillance continues as always. The bulls have basically
completed their antler growth for the year and will soon
be polishing off the dried velvet. We often hear the first bugling,
in anticipation
of rut, by the end of August. Overall herd health looks good
with no recent hints of disease. The ear ticks that tortured
about 1-2
elk out of 100 last year seem to have run their course and
currently are not causing a problem. We'll continue our diligence
as fall
approaches and the elk spend less time hidden in the deep
dark
woods.
We are in the process of developing a model to predict those
areas that may be utilized by prairie dogs. Parameters such as
soil
types, vegetation, and slope are the easy parts of the process.
Where the difficulty lies is in trying to figure out the nuances
within prairie dog behavior that we see exhibited in small
scale areas within the park. For example, soil types can be broken
down into categories such as excellent, moderate, and poor
potential
for prairie dog use. Most prairie dog colonies will be found
within the excellent or moderate soil types. But, we will find
a certain percentage of the population in poor soil types,
which just goes to show that wildlife, like people, will pretty
much
live where they want to live.