FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Anastasia Burton
The
seminar, entitled, “Corridors of Life Project:
Melding Science and Advocacy to Protect Wildlife Habitat Connectivity in
the Northern Rockies” will discuss AWL’s
combination of regional- and landscape-level habitat connectivity analysis and
on-the-ground advocacy work. Some of the successes, problems, and opportunities
of such an approach will be highlighted.
The U.S. Northern Rockies
contain some of the last strongholds for species such as grizzly bear, cougar,
and marten, which require large amounts of untrammeled and connected
landscapes. In many areas, the wild
places are being disrupted by human development and natural resource use. With
so many wild areas being disrupted, it is difficult to determine the intactness
of these areas and prioritize conservation efforts.
To help solve this problem,
American Wildlands (AWL) developed and implemented a regional-scale habitat
connectivity model. This model has enabled AWL to identify the levels of
habitat fragmentation in the Northern Rocky Mountain region and identify
critical and vulnerable movement corridors.
Natural resource
professionals, as well as the public, are invited to attend. This seminar is
free of charge; no registration is necessary. For more information, call (406)
444-5357. Interested individuals are also encouraged to visit the NRIS website
at: nris.state.mt.us, or the AWL website at:
www.wildlands.org
The Montana Natural Resource
Information System (NRIS) was established in 1985 by the Legislature. NRIS, a division of the Montana State
Library, acts as the state’s clearinghouse for natural resource information.
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