Caribou-Targhee protects nesting loons

The Ashton-Island Park Ranger District is taking steps to help protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Common Loon.

The district is closing several lakes through July 15 to protect the loon’s nesting period. It began May 1. Forest officials said human disturbance has an impact on the loon’s ability to nest.

“We definitely considered the recreational impacts these seasonal restrictions will have on some of our anglers, hikers and other forest users,” said Liz Davy, Ashton-Island Park District Ranger. “We feel like we’ve balanced our need to help conserve a genetically viable species with the public’s need to recreate on their public lands.”

The Forest is monitoring the breeding sites and, should they fail, the closures would be relaxed. For example, this year, the Fish Lake nesting site failed and the area was re-opened to human entry on June 27.

Four other sites have met success. The Bergman and Moose Lake breeding pair hatched two chicks. The Indian Lake pair hatched one chick and the Loon Lake breeding pair remains on the nest. Researcher Vincent Spagnulo calls those “incredible results” that demonstrate the effectiveness of the closures.

The GYE Common Loon is a vulnerable population as only 15-20 breeding pairs exist in the area. The loons only disperse up to 54 miles, so they are geographically isolated from the nearest breeding loons in northwestern Montana by 200 miles.

The seasonal closure rules are different in each area. You can see the details here.