Winter Snowshoe Hare Habitat Use Within a Silviculturally Impacted Area

Abstract

We used snow tracking to monitor snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) habitat use during winter in the Bear Creek drainage near Gardiner, Montana, from 1999 to 2003. Of nine available cover types in our study area, we found the greatest frequency of hare trails in older regenerating stands (~50-55 yrs post-harvest) of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) that had been pre-commercially thinned. The study area also contained young unthinned stands of lodgepole pine (~25-30 yrs post-harvest) and several middle-age and mature forest types. Older lodgepole stands provided a dense understory and a well-developed overhead canopy as well as plentiful food sources. These three charactetistics typically define good snowshoe hare habitat within most of the Rocky Mountain region. Some studies of snowshoe hare habitat needs in portions of the Rocky Mountains indicated that pre-commercial thinning of forest stands may reduce snowshoe hare densities and thus reduce quantity of primary prey for Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis). Forest management strategies on USDA Forest Service lands in the Rocky Mountains based on these studies do not allow pre-commercial thinning in areas of potential lynx habitat. Our study showed that thinning portions of regenerating stands may increase the amount of time that lodgepole stands provide suitable habitat for hares.