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Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center is based in Bozeman, Montana, and has field offices in Glacier National Park and Missoula, Montana.
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Check out our most up-to-date data & science, and learn about any upcoming NOROCK opportunities .
News
Sixty-seven years and still digging! A brief history of the USGS Benchmark Glacier Project
Sixty-seven years and still digging! A brief history of the USGS Benchmark Glacier Project
Don’t eat that cookie! We need it for science.
Don’t eat that cookie! We need it for science.
Understanding and Managing Drought-Induced Ecological Transformations
Understanding and Managing Drought-Induced Ecological Transformations
Publications
Predictions of elk and chronic wasting disease dynamics at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming, and surrounding areas
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Elk Refuge (NER) in Jackson, Wyoming, supplementally feeds Cervus elaphus canadensis (elk) and Bison bison (American bison) during winter months, but the costs and benefits of this management strategy are being reevaluated considering the potential effects of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on elk. U.S. Geological Survey scientists worked with...
Decision analysis in support of the National Elk Refuge bison and elk management plan
Preface This report was developed to evaluate the performance of a set of proposed alternatives for Cervus elaphus canadensis (elk) and Bison bison (bison) management at the National Elk Refuge (NER) in Wyoming, U.S.A., and to inform a National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Impact Statement focused on developing the next “Bison and Elk Management Plan” (BEMP). The U.S...
Evaluating elk distribution and conflict under proposed management alternatives at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming
We evaluated measurable attributes describing the current and future distribution of Cervus elaphus canadensis (elk) across a region surrounding Jackson, Wyoming, for five feedground management alternatives proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a revision to the 2007 “Bison and Elk Management Plan” of the National Elk Refuge. A resource selection function evaluated measurable...
Science
Building drought early warning systems for fisheries and water management across the U.S.
As droughts become more frequent and severe, freshwater ecosystems and the valuable fisheries they support face increasing challenges. Drought reduces streamflows, raises water temperatures, and stresses fish populations, particularly cold-water species like trout. These impacts can lead to declines in trout populations, threatening biodiversity, ecosystem health, and local economies. To address...
Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat Research in Western National Park Units
Mountain goat and bighorn sheep are iconic symbols of many national lands in the West. Both species have limited distributions that can be difficult to observe and face multiple stressors including disease, increasing recreation in remote areas, and shifting weather regimes that influence their forage and thermoregulation. As species with relatively small population sizes, understanding...
North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)
North American bats face unprecedented threats including habitat loss and fragmentation, white-nose syndrome, wind energy development, and climate change. However, it is difficult to evaluate the impacts of these threats due to a lack of basic information about the distribution and abundance of bats across the continent. Although bat monitoring has long been conducted in individual areas and for...