Vol. 31 (2025)

Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society [Individual Abstracts]

• A Bit of a Brome Problem - Proposed Work Investigating Interactions Between Declining Grassland Songbird Demographics and Invasive Plants in Central Montana

  Lauren Hatch, Victoria Dreitz, Scott Somershoe

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• A Decade of Habitat Change on the Spotted Dog Wildlife Management Area

  Jarrett Payne

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• A Framework for Prioritizing Attractants to Reduce Black and Grizzly Bear Conflicts (Poster)

  Anna Baize, Brianna Lipp, Alexander Metcalf, Sarah Sells

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• Framework for Using Cort as a Physiological Biomarker

  B. Sunny Domschot, Thomas Riecke, Jessica Malisch, Thomas Hahn, Creagh Breuner

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• Analyzing Grizzly Bear Movement Patterns – Insights for Identifying Females with Newborn Cubs using Telemetry Data (Poster and Oral Presentation)

  Mayson Whitlock, Sarah Sells, Milan A. Vinks, Wayne F. Kasworm, Thomas G. Radandt, Justin E. Teisberg

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• Applying Dead-Reckoning Techniques to Monitor Movements and Map the Burrow Systems of a Fossorial Species, the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog

  Itai Namir, James Redcliffe, Jesse Boulerice, Hila Shamon, Justine Becker, Scott Creel

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• Applying the Resist-Accept-Direct Framework to Wildlife Health Management

  Wynne Moss, Gregor Schuurman, Emily Almberg, Danielle Buttke, Nathan Galloway, Samantha Gibbs, Anne Hubbs, Katherine Richgels, C. LeAnn White, Paul Cross

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• Assessing Bioacoustic Detection and Monitoring Methods and Habitat Use of Nesting Great Gray Owls in Southwest Montana (Poster)

  Arcata Leavitt, Justine Becker, Katherine Gura, David Willey, Claire Gower

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• Assessing Sharp-Tailed Grouse Occupancy and Abundance Across Eastern Montana

  Kenneth Plourde, Lance McNew

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• Avian Radar Track Identification Using Machine Learning Models (Poster)

  Marco Salvo, Michael Clawson, Jon McRoberts, Joshua Millspaugh

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• Bat Homes in the Big Sky– Habitat Characteristics of Northern Myotis in Northeastern Montana

  Andrea Litt, Jacob Melhuish, Mike Borgreen, Heather Harris

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• Canada Lynx Monitoring and the Plan for Conservation in the Western United States

  Nate Kluge

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• Climate-Informed Disease Threat Assessment for Montana’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need

  Kelsey Martin, Emily Tomaszewski, Emily Almberg, Paul Cross, Kimberly Szcodronski, Wynne Moss

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• Confronting Challenges in Distribution Modeling for Marten in Western Montana

  Nolan Helmstetter, Andrea Litt, Jessy Coltrane, Nicholas DeCesare

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• Connecting Habitat and Survival of a Dynamic Species - Exploring Landscape Drivers of Pronghorn Survival Applying a Novel Metric of Habitat Quality

  Molly McDevitt, Andrew Lindbloom, Kelly Proffitt, Anna Moeller, Joshua Millspaugh, Paul Lukacs

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• Dam It All! Using Remote Sensing Data to Track Persistence of Beaver Dams in Prairie Streams

  Colleen Piper, Blake Hossack, Lisa Eby

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• Developing a Resource Selection Function Model to Predict Moose Habitat Selection on the Flathead Indian Reservation (Poster)

  Kaylie Durglo, Sarah Sells, Nicholas DeCesare

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• Disease, Climate, and Abundance Impacts on Bighorn Sheep Lamb - Ewe Ratios in New Mexico

  Colton Padilla, Caitlin Ruhl, James Cain III, Matthew Gompper

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• Dispersal Movements and Habitat Selection of Sharp-Tailed Grouse Reintroduced to Western Montana

  Laura Dykstra, Ty Smucker, Beau Larkin, Kristina Harkins, Mikel Newberg, Lance McNew

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• Drivers and Impacts of Mining Contaminants in Insectivorous Songbirds at the Mt Haggin Injured Area, Anaconda, MT

  Maria Venegas

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• Drivers of Variation in Pronghorn Population Dynamics in Montana

  Christopher Hansen, Kelly Proffitt, Joshua Nowak, Jessica Krohner, Jesse DeVoe, Joshua Millspaugh

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• Drones Outperform Dogs for Hazing Bears - A Comparison of Aversive Conditioning Tools

  Wesley Sarmento

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• Ecological Consequences of Selective Logging: - Insights from the Chiquibul Forest Reserve (Poster)

  Kilynn Groen, Lauren Watine, Erim Gómez

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• Effects of Metal Contamination on Bird Communities in Western Montana

  Hannah Specht, Megan Fylling, Vanna Boccadori, Bridger Creel, Kristina Smucker, Josh Millspaugh

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• Effects of Timber Harvest on Elk Summer Nutrition

  Trevor Weeks, Kelly Proffitt, Chad Bishop

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• Elk Respond to Differential Hunter Access Management and Harvest Regulations in a Mixed Public and Private Landscape

  Nicole Bealer, Shane Petch, Jay Rotella, Jesse DeVoe, Cory Loecker, Kelly Proffitt

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• Evaluating Contact Risk Factors Between Wild and Domestic Sheep in Montana

  Smith Wells, Emily Almberg, Jared Beaver, Brent Roeder

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• Evaluating Nest Success and Migratory Behavior of Intermountain Grassland Species

  Megan Fylling, Maggie Blake, Anna Noson

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• Evaluating the Effect of Sensory Misinformation on Mesocarnivore Foraging Activity (Poster)

  Luke Johnson, Lance McNew

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• Evaluating the Performance of Occupancy Models for Wolf Management in Montana Through Simulation

  Hannah Sipe, Sarah Sells, Justin Gude, Kevin Podruzny, Molly Parks, Daniel Walsh, Sarah Bassing, Anna Moeller, David Miller

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• Evolving Models for Evolving Conditions - Updating Montana’s Wolf Group Size Model for iPOM (Integrated Patch Occupancy Model)

  Sarah Sells, Hannah Sipe, Justin Gude, Kevin Podruzny, Molly Parks

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• Examining Factors Potentially Affecting Spring and Fall Black Bear Harvest Rates, Absaroka/Beartooth Mountains, Montana

  Daniel McHugh, Oliver Thomi, Shawn Stewart

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• Exploring Trends in Human-Grizzly Bear Conflicts Amid Occupied Range Expansion (Poster)

  David Kemp, Morgan McHale

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• Fission-Fusion Movement Dynamics of Semi-Free Roaming Bison in North- Central Montana

  Claire Bresnan, Hila Shamon, Scott Creel

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• Floral Selection and Value to Bumble Bees in Montana and the Dakotas (Poster)

  Erica Gustilo, \Wendy Velman, Rebecca Newton, Christopher Boone, Richard Hatfield, Tabitha Graves

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• Grizzly Bears Change Their Behavior Near Trails in a Protected Area

  Elise Loggers, Andrea Litt, Kerry Gunther, Mark Haroldson, Frank van Manen

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• Identifying Migration Routes and Stopover Sites on the Blackfeet Reservation (Montana, USA) and the Surrounding Landscape

  Daniel Bird, Gerald Cobell, Jedediah Brodie, Joshua Millspaugh

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• Insight from Four Years of Structured Acoustic Monitoring of Bat Species

  Dan Bachen, Shannon Hilty, Emily Almberg, Alexis McEwan

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• Integrating Multiple Data Sources for Long-Term Black Bear Monitoring, a Hierarchical Modeling Approach

  Colby Anton, Nathaniel Bowersock, Kriste Brzeski, Tonya Chilton-Radandt, Melissa Hogland-Reynolds, Wayne Kasworm, Jesse Lewis, Jerod Merkle, Dana Morin, Molly Parks, Michael Proctor, Thomas Radandt, Justin Teisberg, Brian Wakeling

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• Interspecific Interactions - Exploring the Reproductive Phenology of Feral Horses and Their Interaction with Native Ungulates in Alberta, Canada (Poster)

  Mattie Budine

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• Intra-Seasonal Shifts in Summer Elk Diet Composition

  Ava Window, Trevor Weeks, Dr. Meredith Zettlemoyer, Dr. Mark Hebblewhite, Dr. Josh Millspaugh, Dr. Chad Bishop

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• Leveraging Conservation Status Assessments to Highlight Threats, Trends, and Information Needs of Montana’s Species of Concern

  Dan Bachen

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• Long-Term Impacts of Elk Browsing on Aspen Recruitment in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Poster)

  Autumn Keller, Daniel Tyers, Daniel Atwater, Douglas Smith, Clayton Marlow

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• Long-Term Insights from Stable Isotope Analysis of Foraging Strategies of Grizzly Bears in a Dynamic Ecosystem (Poster)

  Elise Loggers, Andrea Litt, Justine Becker, Kerry Gunther, Mark Haroldson, Frank van Manen

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• Management Strategy Evaluation for Informing Decisions about Wolf Management and Conservation

  Hannah Sipe, Sarah Sells, Justin Gude, Kevin Podruzny, Molly Parks, Michael Lewis, Alexander Metcalf, Elizabeth C. Metcalf

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• Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Deer Using a Split Hunting Season Structure

  Ryan Rauscher

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• Managing Wild Horse Herds with Limited Resources

  Kimberly Frank, Kayla Grams, Melissa Esser

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• Montana Bumble Bee Atlas - A Collaborative Effort to Conserve Bumble Bees Through Community Scientist Observations (Oral & Poster Presentation)

  Michelle Toshack, Rich Hatfield

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• Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s Efforts to Inform Conservation Policy

  Chad Bishop, Sonja Andersen, Lance McNew

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• Montana Swift Fox Occupancy Survey

  Emily Mitchell

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• Montana’s Hidden Crisis: Nitrates in Rock Creek (Poster)

  David Arthun, George Zaimes

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• Moose Population Dynamics in Montana

  Nick DeCesare, MCollin Peterson, Jesse Newby

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• On the Search for Lizards - Finding a Cryptic Critter on a Varied Landscape (Poster)

  Daniel Johnson, Megan O’Reilly, Nicole Hussey, Brandi Skone

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• Pronghorn Movement and Population Ecology

  Jesse DeVoe, Kelly Proffitt, Christopher Hansen, Joshua Millspaugh

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• Pygmy Rabbit Occupancy and Habitat Relationships in Southwestern Montana Through Participation in Collaborative Research

  Owen Kanter, Fiona McKibben, Kristina Smucker, Claire Gower

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• Range Distribution and Occupied Towns of Chimney Swifts in Montana (Poster)

  Ella Engelhard, Brandi Skone, Hannah Specht, Nicole Hussey, Megan O’Reilly

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• Relative Risk of Waterbird Species on the Berkeley Pit - A Mortality Assessment of 18 Taxa

  Stella Capoccia, Brian Balmer, Dan Autenrieth, Kaleb Starr

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• Restoring Western Montana’s Sharp-Tailed Grouse - Progress Report

  Kristina Harkins, Mikel Newberg, Laura Dykstra, Ty Smucker, Beau Larkin, Chris Hammond, Lance McNew

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• Songbird Telomere Length Reflects Prey Loss More Than Metal Exposure from Mine- Waste Contamination

  Bridger Creel, Lillian Massey, Benjamin Colman, Zachary Cheviron, Creagh Breuner, Megan Fylling

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• Spatio-Temporal Response of Grizzly Bear Habitat Selection to Harvested Forests and Fire Disturbance in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem

  Milan A. Vinks, Sarah Sells, Cecily M. Costello, Lori L. Roberts

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• Standardized Broad-Scale Mapping of Sage Grouse Habitat Suitability Across Montana and the Dakotas

  Trapper Haynam, David Wood, Lance McNew, Jeffrey Beck, David Naugle, David Messmer, Aaron Pratt, Jessica McDermott, Aaron Johnston

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• Summer Colony Count Efforts for Bats in Montana

  Shannon Hilty, Emily Almberg, Morgan Anderson, Dan Bachen, Alexis McEwan

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• Using Adaptive Management to Understand Elk Population Dynamics and Distributions in Northwest Montana

  Andi Stewart, Kelly Proffitt, Nicole Bealer, Jesse DeVoe, Christopher Hansen, Joshua Millspaugh

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• Using Machine Learning and Remotely Sensed Data To Improve Models of Elk and Mule Deer Nutritional Landscapes in Western Montana

  Aidan Beers, Kelly Proffitt, Nick DeCesare, Chad Bishop

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• Validationexplorer - A Tool for Simulation-Based Investigations of Study Design Elements to Estimate Relative Activity Rates and Occurrence Probabilities for Bat Assemblages

  Jacob Oram, Katharine Banner, Christian Stratton, Kathryn Irvine

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• Where are all The Ducks - Predicting Harlequin Duck Occupancy in Western Montana and Northern Idaho

  Holli Holmes, Hannah Specht, Josh Millspaugh, Thomas Riecke, Lisa Bate

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• Why Biological Recovery has not Been Enough to Successfully Delist the Grizzly Bear

  Sabrina Bradford

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• Winter Temperature – Not Grazing, Drought, or Breeding Season Weather - Impacts Dynamics of a Northern Great Plains Greater Sage Grouse Population

  David Messmer, Kaitlyn Reintsma, Lorelle Berkeley, Jennifer Helm, Victoria Dreitz, Justin Gude

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