Mountain Prairie

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The Big Sky Institute at Montana State University is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to creating, applying, and communicating science-based knowledge. The BSI Ecological Informatics Lab brings together natural sciences, geographic information systems (GIS), statistics, modeling, information technology, and computational programming with a comprehensive goal of making ecological data more useful to society.

Mountain Prairie

MPIN header [Image: Aaron Jones, Big Sky Institute]

The Mountain Prairie Information Node is a collaborative project between the Big Sky Institute, USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, and other partners.

This site provides biological information organized by geography and by theme. Select from the categories below to get started.

	About the Node Read about the history of this regional NBII node and goals for the future.
	Animals and Plants of the Region Learn about the region's native biodiversity, including birds, invertebrates, mammals, plants, and species in need of conservation.
	Live Maps and Data Find maps and geospatial data related to carbon sequestration, butterflies and moths, whirling disease, and regional ecosystems.
	Regional Ecosystems Discover the Great Plains, Greater Yellowstone, Northern Rockies, and Prairie Pothole ecosystems.
	Regional News Read news articles related to regional natural resource issues.
	Regional Themes Explore regionally-significant topics such as carbon sequestration, climate, fire, invasive species, water, and wildlife disease.
	States Browse data and information organized by state.

Conferences of Interest

Mountain Prairie Region

Map of the 6-state Mountain Prairie Region
[Image: Aaron Jones, Big Sky Institute]

Mountain Prairie News

Group says Montanans will be hit hardest by rising gasoline prices [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
The National Resources Defense Council, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, released its analysis of how higher gasoline prices will affect states, and Montana, where commuting distances are greater and per capita income is lower, ranked second in the nation, with an average Montanan expected to pay 10.5 percent of income for gasoline.
Missoulian (AP)

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Photo exhibit tracks 100 days in Montana Glacier National Park [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
On Friday, at a Glacier National Park Centennial Celebration in Columbia Falls, Montana photographer Chris Peterson will open his "100 Straight Days in Glacier, A Photographic Journey." A preview of the exhibition is available here.
Kalispell Daily Inter Lake

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Wyoming conservation fund created in name of Tom Stroock [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
A Baltimore businessman donated $100,000 to create the Stroock Science and Policy Leadership Fund within the Nature Conservancy in Wyoming in memory of Tom Stroock, who spent decades working to balance development of the state's natural resources and protecting its unique natural qualities.
Casper Star-Tribune

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New Alberta group picks up Defenders of Wildlife's Canada mission [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
Defenders of Wildlife rolled back its operations in Canada at the end of February, and now Jim Pissot has created the WildCanada Conservation Alliance to carry on work he began as the Canada field representative of Defenders of Wildlife.
Canmore Leader

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NPS releases results of annual bison, elk count in Yellowstone [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
The National Park Service said its annual winter count of elk and bison in Yellowstone National Park found that the numbers are holding steady, with at least 3,000 bison and at least 6,070 elk in Yellowstone's northern elk herd.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle

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Sage grouse decision won't change much on Idaho projects [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
The developers of the China Mountain wind project and Gateway West transmission line in Idaho's Magic Valley said their projects had already taken sage grouse issues into consideration, so the species listing as a "candidate species" won't change much on their projects.
Twin Falls Times-News

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Idaho county, tribe reach accord on law enforcement [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
The Idaho Legislature can now drop a bill crafted to give the Coeur d'Alene Tribe authority to arrest non-tribal members on its lands in Benewah County after the tribe and the county's sheriff reached a tentative agreement on cross-deputization.
Idaho Statesman (AP)

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Sewage spill at Denver airport may reach 1 million gallons [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
A pump malfunction Tuesday at Denver International Airport sent up to 1 million gallons of untreated sewage and industrial wastewater into creeks and canals that ultimately flow into the Barr Lake fishery and bird sanctuary.
Denver Post

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Idaho senator replumbs his federal drinking-water legislation [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson has spent a lot of time lately questioning U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decisions, and the Idaho Republican is trying again on legislation that will allow public water systems that serve 10,000 people or less to opt out of meeting new federal drinking water standards.
Twin Falls Times-News

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Wyoming county wants higher limit on snowmachines in Yellowstone [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
The National Park Service will hold a public meeting on Monday in Code on its fourth attempt to update the winter-use plan for Yellowstone National Park, and Wyoming's Park County is already on the record in support of raising the number of snowmobiles allowed through the East Gate from the 20 now allowed daily to 30.
Casper Star-Tribune (Billings Gazette)

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Report: Mercury emissions from U.S. coal-fired plants on the rise [Thu Mar 18 12:33:00 EDT 2010]
The nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project released a report Wednesday that said mercury emissions increased over the past few years at more than half of the nation's 50 coal-fired power plants with the highest emissions, with five of the top 10 emitters located in Texas.
Denver Post

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Inspired by nature [Fri Mar 12 11:23:23 EST 2010]
Three pioneering Western scientists and inventors use biomimicry to tackle environmental problems.

East to the West [Wed Mar 10 11:42:51 EST 2010]
A writer contemplates where the West begins, both in the landscape and in his life.

It's the population, stupid? [Mon Mar 01 10:58:58 EST 2010]
Some Westerners want to blame our environmental woes on overpopulation, but the problem is not that simple.

Studies Reveal Why Drinking Water Wells are Vulnerable to Contamination [Thu Feb 11 09:01:32 EST 2010]

New USGS groundwater studies explain what, when, and how contaminants may reach public-supply wells.

All wells are not equally vulnerable to contamination because of differences in three factors: the general chemistry of the aquifer, groundwater age, and direct paths within aquifer systems that allow water and contaminants to reach a well.

More than 100 million people in the United States receive their drinking water from public groundwater systems, which can be vulnerable to naturally occurring contaminants such as radon, uranium, arsenic, and man-made compounds, including fertilizers, septic-tank leachate, solvents and gasoline hydrocarbons.

Related Podcasts

Why Some Public-Supply Wells are More Vulnerable to Contamination Than Others

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The USGS tracked the movement of contaminants in groundwater and in public-supply wells in four aquifers in California, Connecticut, Nebraska and Florida. The importance of each factor differs among the various aquifer settings, depending upon natural geology and local aquifer conditions, as well as human activities related to land use and well construction and operation. Findings in the four different aquifer systems can be applied to similar aquifer settings and wells throughout the nation.

Complete findings, fact sheets, maps and decision support tools are available.

“Our findings can help public-supply well managers protect drinking water sources by prioritizing their monitoring programs and improving decisions related to land use planning, well modifications or changes in pumping scenarios that might help to reduce movement of contaminants to wells,” said Sandra Eberts, USGS groundwater study team leader.

Research on the vulnerability of public-supply wells began in 2001. The USGS has also been working since 1991 to study the occurrence of more than 600 naturally occurring and man-made chemicals from more than 1,100 wells used for public supply across the nation. Scientists found that chemicals are frequently detected, often in mixtures, but seldom at concentrations likely to affect human health.

The quality of drinking water from the nation’s public-water systems is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Related links to sources of information on public-supply wells are available. USGS studies are intended to complement drinking water monitoring required by federal, state and local programs, which focus primarily on post-treatment compliance monitoring.

Highlights on the four studies:

In the Central Valley aquifer system near Modesto, Calif., the USGS found that agricultural and urban development have enabled uranium to move from sediments to water in the upper part of the aquifer. This water can drain down the well when it is not pumping and enter the lower aquifer. When pumping resumes, contaminant concentrations can be temporarily elevated in water pumped from the well. As a result of USGS findings, public-supply well managers have changed their pumping schedule, which has reduced the amount of contaminated water pumped from the well. Learn more about the California study.

In the glacial aquifer system in Woodbury, Conn., the USGS found that the young age of the water throughout the aquifer makes it vulnerable to contamination from man-made compounds. The USGS also found that dry wells used in Woodbury to capture storm water runoff reroute the potentially contaminated water directly into the aquifer used as a drinking water source. This direct transfer prevents soil and unsaturated sediments near the land surface from filtering out some of the contaminants. Learn more about the Connecticut study.

In the High Plains aquifer near York, Neb., the USGS found some contaminants in a public-supply well that seems protected by overlying clay. Nearby irrigation wells have allowed water containing nitrate and volatile organic compounds to leak down from an overlying shallow aquifer into the aquifer that serves as the drinking water source for the public-supply well. Learn more about the Nebraska study.

In the Floridan aquifer system near Tampa, Fla., the USGS found that a large percentage of young water and contaminants from a shallow sand aquifer travels quickly along natural conduits until it reaches a supply well in a lower rock aquifer that serves as a drinking water source. Because of these natural conduits, the supply well is vulnerable to the man-made contaminants in the upper aquifer, and the mixing of waters from the two aquifers has caused arsenic concentrations to increase in water reaching the supply well. Learn more about the Florida study.

Learn more about public-supply well contamination in a USGS video podcast.

Disappearing Ducks? North America's Prairie Potholes Vulnerable to Warming Climates [Mon Feb 01 09:30:00 EST 2010]

The loss of wetlands in the prairie pothole region of central North America due to a warmer and drier climate will negatively affect millions of waterfowl that depend on the region for food, shelter and raising young, according to research published today in the journal BioScience.

The new research shows that the region appears to be much more sensitive to climate warming and drying than previously thought.

“The impact to the millions of wetlands that attract countless ducks to these breeding grounds in spring makes it difficult to imagine how to maintain today’s level of waterfowl populations in altered climate conditions,” said Dr. Glenn Guntenspergen, a U.S. Geological Survey researcher and one of the report authors. “Parents may not have time to raise their young to where they can fly because of wetlands drying up too quickly in the warming climate of the future,” he added.

A new wetland model developed by the authors to understand the impacts of climate change on wetlands in the prairie pothole region projected major reductions in water volume, shortening of the time water remains in wetlands and changes to wetland vegetation dynamics in this 800,000-square kilometer region in the United States (North and South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota and Iowa) and Canada.

Many wetland species -- such as waterfowl and amphibians -- require a minimum time in water to complete their life cycles. For example, most dabbling ducks -- such as mallards and teal-- require at least 80 to 110 days of surface water for their young to grow to where they can fly and for breeding adults to complete molting, the time when birds are flightless while growing new feathers. In addition, an abundance of wetlands are needed because breeding waterfowl typically isolate themselves from others of the same species.

“Unfortunately, the model simulations show that under forecasted climate-change scenarios for this region (an increase of 4-degrees Celsius), the western prairie potholes will be too dry and the eastern ones will have too few functional wetlands and nesting habitat to support historical levels of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species,” said Dr. W. Carter Johnson, another study author and a researcher at South Dakota State University.

The authors noted that their model allowed a more comprehensive analysis of climate change impacts across the northern prairies because it simultaneously examined the hydrology and vegetation dynamics of the wetland complex, which are both important for the wildlife that depend on the prairie potholes for part or all of their life cycles.

“Our results indicate that the prairie wetlands are highly vulnerable to climate warming, and are less resilient than we previously believed,” said Guntenspergen. “All but the very wettest of the historic boom years for waterfowl production in the more arid parts of the prairie pothole region may be bust years in a 4-degrees Celsius warmer climate.”

These findings may serve as a foundation for managers and policy makers to develop management plans to prepare for and adapt to climate change in the prairie pothole region.

The article, Prairie wetland complexes as landscape functional units in a changing climate, was published in BioScience (60[2]:128-140) and authored by researchers with South Dakota State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Montana, St. Olaf College, The Desert Research Institute-University of Nevada, and the University of Idaho.

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Where There?s Smoke ... There?s a Trade-In [Fri Dec 25 00:00:00 EST 2009]

As temperatures drop, efforts to curb pollution from burning wood are clashing with tradition.

After a Tornado, a Kansas Town Rebuilds Green [Wed Sep 23 00:00:00 EDT 2009]

Greensburg, Kan., population 900, is rising anew as a model of energy conservation and environmental sensitivity.

Idea for Badlands Raises Land-Use Fears [Mon Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2009]

Federal officials want to put part of the North Dakota Badlands on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wolves Are Set to Become Fair Game in the West [Mon Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 2009]

Unless a judge grants a request by environmentalists to block it, hunting season will open in Idaho for the gray wolf, a symbol of tensions over how people interact with wilderness.

A River Prone to Flooding, and Misunderstanding [Tue Mar 31 00:00:00 EDT 2009]
Over the last week, the Red River in North Dakota has emerged as perhaps even more maddeningly complex, and in some ways harder to predict, than before.

Permanent Flood Solutions Just Out of Reach for Fargo [Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2009]
As the Red River appears to have crested without causing major damage, some in Fargo, N.D., are wondering whether an opportunity to secure money for permanent flood abatement was lost.

Neighbors Joined for a Battle Not All Would Win [Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2009]

Communities near the confluence of the Red and Wild Rice Rivers banded together to fight back massive flooding; some were fortunate, some were not.

Efforts on 2 Fronts to Save a Population of Ferrets [Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2008]

A colony of black-footed ferrets that biologists say is critical to the long-term health of the species was recovering. Then came a plague.

The NBII Program is administered by the Biological Informatics Office of the U.S. Geological Survey

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