Images

A filter from the Smith-Root sampler that collects eDNA when water is pushed through. This pattern is indicative of turbid water passing through the filter.

USGS field technician photographing bumble bees captured during monitoring surveys at Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana.

Western bumble bee on a common yarrow flower in Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo taken by USGS field crew in July 2023. 

Western bumble bee on a Geranium viscossium (sticky purple geranium) flower in Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo taken by USGS field crew in July 2023.

Western bumblebee on a Geranium viscosissimum (sticky purple geranium) flower in Glacier National Park, Montana. 

The grizzly bear distribution represents the estimated geographic extent of occupied range of the Yellowstone grizzly bear population. The images show a comparison of their estimated geographic extent, with a 3-fold increase from 1990 (23,361 km² or 9,020 mi²) to 2022 (70,101 km² or 27,066 mi²).

USGS researchers acquire imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) synchronous with high-resolution imagery from satellites to map sagebrush across North Dakota and South Dakota. 

Cherry Creek, Montana—a location where an environmental DNA (eDNA) autosampler was placed to detect invasive species. 

Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center scientist examining a snow sample while standing in a snow pit to better understand snowpack characteristics that lead to avalanches. 

Helicopter used to assist in mule deer capture to fit animals with GPS collars in Wind River Basin, Wyoming. 

USGS scientist examines a snow core collected on South Cascade Glacier, Washington.

The surface of South Cascade Glacier, Washington is mostly exposed ice at the end of summer melt season. 

This passive acoustic recording device has been deployed in Montana (MT) as part of the North American Bat Monitoring Programs (NABat) summertime survey efforts. It has an ultrasonic microphone placed at the top of a 10ft pole that records echolocating bats fro

An inside look at an MBARI autonomous environmental DNA (eDNA) sampler that is normally in metal housing taking samples in streams to detect aquatic invasive species, pathogens, and parasites. This version weighs about 400 pounds, but future versions will be more portable.  

Boaters fly fishing on the Missouri River in Montana                                                                                       

A group of wind turbines in northeast Wyoming on a cloudy day. (Photo taken in May 2022.)

Mountain goat standing next to a mostly frozen, high-elevation lake in Glacier National Park, Montana. 

Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center scientist Zachary Miller conducting routine maintenance on the Garden Wall Weather Station at Glacier National Park, Montana (elevation: 7,400 feet)

Sequential estimates of occupied ranges for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem during 1990–2022 (Dellinger et al. 2023). Range extents are based on methods described in Bjornlie et al. (2014).

This image shows a male bighorn sheep with large horns.                         

Male (ram - left) and female (ewe) bighorn sheep outside of Yellowstone National Park.