Images

Pair of pronghorn in a snow-covered prairie near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Pronghorn are mainly found in the U.S., with Wyoming being particularly important to this species.

Grinnell Glacier 2019

Sequential estimates of occupied ranges for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem during 1990–2018. Range extents are based on methods described in Bjornlie et al. (2014).

Pair of pronghorn in a snow-covered prairie near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Pronghorn are mainly found in the U.S., with Wyoming being particularly important to this species.

Behind a row of fence posts is a row of wind turbines that are part of a wind facility located in Wyoming. 

Researchers evaluate vegetation during a GLORIA alpine plant survey near the summit of Seward Mountain in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Scientists use grids to collect alpine plant data according to GLORIA protocols on the summit of Bison Mountain in Glacier National Park, Montana.

USGS researchers are assessing the spread of invasive annual grasses in sagebrush and grassland ecosystems of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. 

Scientists collect alpine plant species and distribution data to complete a GLORIA site inventory on the summit of Seward Mountain, Glacier National Park, Montana.

This bumblebee species has almost entirely disappeared from its West Coast range due to a recent epidemic sweeping through some bumblebee populations. However, the Rocky Mountain populations still persist and there is hope that the West Coast population will also recover and resume its place as one of the most common bumblebee species in the West.

A single wind turbine in a prairie near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. (Photo taken in December 2019)

Pronghorn near Medicine Bow, Wyoming running in a snow-covered prairie (December 2019).  

Jackson Glacier 1941

After hiking to the location of the historic photo, USGS employee, Lisa McKeon, uses the alignment of mountains and permanent features to compose the same shot as the original.  Sometimes, determining the location can take a long time, requiring moving up and down a mountainside to find the exact spot.

Since the beginning of the USGS Repeat Photography Project in 1997, Grinnell Glacier has been photographed from the summit of Mount Gould multiple times, documenting the glacier’s retreat and the enlargement of Upper Grinnell Lake.  You can view previous images from this vantage point, as well as the entire collection on the

USGS employee captures a repeat photo of Grinnell and Salamander Glaciers from the summit of Mt. Gould in Glacier National Park.

There is a short window of opportunity to complete glacier repeat photography.  Scientists must wait until late summer, when seasonal snow has melted from the glacier surface and glacier margins can be identified.  This is also the time of year when weather and forest fire smoke can hamper photography and hiking.

The USGS and partners study the effects of climate change on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This sunset image was taken from Steamboat Lake, Wind River Indian Reservation, Wind River Range, Wyoming.

The USGS and partners study the effects of climate change on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This image shows a research raft on Spider Lake, Wind River Indian Reservation, Wind River Range, Wyoming.

Shallow creek with conifer trees on each side running through Gallatin National Forest, Montana.

Kintla Glacier 2019