Building Resilient Habitats Map

Montana: The Bitterroot Mountains/Lolo Peakts

As snowpacks vanish and summers lengthen as a result of climate change, the high-country of the Bitterroot Mountains - in addition to numerous other Rocky Mountain ranges - will witness huge changes to its habitat and native wildlife.

High mountain meadows, which serve as habitat for summering elk, mountain goats, and marmots, will undergo dramatic changes, and unfortunately, these animals won't be able to retreat to higher elevations as things warm up. The number of elk and mule deer will dwindle as rising temperatures allow trees and shrubs to overwhelm the lower and mid-elevation ecosystem in the West.

Warmer water temperatures might also cause the virtual disappearance of the bull trout in high mountain streams. A sufficient quantity of cold, clean water is essential to native trout survival and increasing temperatures in the lakes and rivers plus a decreased flow in headwater streams spells trouble for many of Montana's native trout species. The native bull trout was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1998. It is a wide-ranging species, particularly sensitive to changes in habitat and requires a habitat connecting large lakes and rivers to small alpine headwater streams. In addition to threats from climate change, bull trout are in danger because of mistaken identities. The Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks (MFWP) has found that less than half of anglers can properly identify a bull trout, which results in significant takes of this ESA species.

To counter this threat, the Sierra Club (along with MFWP, University of Montana and Clark Fork Watershed Education Project) has designed, produced and is currently distributing trout identification guides throughout western Montana. These guides are meant to aid anglers in the proper identification of the trout and their habitat, thus promoting the conservation of the species. The cards are primarily distributed through fishing shops and sporting goods stores. Schools, trailheads, campgrounds, fishing access sites, and public events are being considered as additional outlets. These efforts support the Sierra Club by creating partnerships and increasing credibility in the angling community and by broadening the base of Sierra Club membership.

Commercial and residential development provides an additional source of stress on Bitterroot Mountain wildlife. Though much of the main Bitterroot Range is included in the 1.4 million acre Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, lower elevations at the northern end of the range around Lolo Peak are at risk. Carlton Ridge Research Natural Area (RNA) within the 16,000 acre Lolo Creek Roadless Area is administered by the U.S. Forest Service and holds the largest and only alpine larch forest found on established soil mantle in the United States. Protection of the high country around Lolo Peak and the sensitive lower slopes of the Bitterroot Mountains remains a major focus of the Sierra Club in Montana.

For more information about the Sierra Club's Resilient Habitat efforts in Montana, please visit montana.sierraclub.org.