Announcements
Friday, November 1, 2024
An Analysis of the Montana Citizen Botany Pilot Study 2022-2024
The Montana Citizen Botany Pilot Study focused on a process to update Montana’s aging dataset on known rare plant occurrences. Using the organizational structure of the Society, qualified citizen scientists, called Citizen Botanists, were recruited and trained in how to conduct revisits to known rare plant occurrences that had not been visited for at least 20 years. The two-year pilot study took place from 2022 to 2023 but was later extended to include 2024.
Map Viewer Training Videos
Learn how to use our Map Viewer with videos in this playlist.
Video Playlist on Ways to Submit Data to MTNHP
Full Playlist link goes here.
Monday, December 7, 2015
2022 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2015 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting and 30th Anniversary celebration was held at Montana Wild in Helena on December 7th. Links to presentations and a summary of meeting highlights are below:
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- Information Systems and Services update
- Budget Update for FY16 and Overview of Strategic Plan 2015-2020
- MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
- There was widespread support from partners on:
- Continued development of Custom Field Guide spatial filters to allow creation of PDF field guides for species within the boundaries of a variety of management areas (e.g., BLM Field Office, U.S. Forest Districts, FWP Regions, Major Land Resource areas, tribal reservations, Important Bird Areas, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlife Management Areas, Fishing Access Sites, Conservation Districts, and watersheds (4th, 5th, 6th code HUCs)
- Development of a new Environmental Review Information summary tool that would allow users to submit a shapefile or digitize project boundaries of interest for a report containing a list of documented species, a list of potential species, a summary of acreages of land cover types, a summary of acreages of wetland/riparian types, a summary of land management, a summary of biological reports in the area that are on file at MTNHP, and custom field guides of potential/documented species.
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts and other compilation of information for species recently petitioned for ESA listing, nonvascular plants with no current representation in Heritage databases, and pollinators (bees and butterflies to start with, but wasps, moths, and ants that are pollinators as well).
- An increase in trainings on Heritage data resources to agencies, organizations, and private consultants that work with agencies on environmental reviews. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from training on MTNHP information resources
- Completion of recent statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities. Of the 2,952 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,406 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 546 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Updating the Land Cover layer to assist with implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Program - both for the habitat disturbance and habitat quality tools.
- MTNHP's continued assistance to agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past universally expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
- At least some partners noted that they were disappointed that:
- MTNHP was not able to continue to maintain an Aquatic Ecologist position, and more broadly that the lack of legislative funding to the Montana State Library continues to hinder MTNHP's ability to retain staff expertise, and develop and maintain core information and services at the level that seems to be intended by statutes that guide the program.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has tapered off.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16.
Thursday, October 17, 2022
MTNHP and Montana State Library Move to New Building
MTNHP
Friday, July 1, 2022
Montana State Library Now Directly Administering MTNHP
Administrators at The University of Montana took over management of the Montana Natural Heritage Program on July 1, 2006. The program had been administered by The Nature Conservancy.
Based at the Montana State Library in Helena, the Natural Heritage Program is the state's source for information on the status and distribution of native animals and plants -- especially species of concern and important habitats such as wetlands. Its 18-member staff collects, validates and distributes information while helping natural resource managers and others use this knowledge effectively. The Montana Legislature established Natural Heritage Program in 1983 as part of the State Library, and the Library has contracted with The Nature Conservancy and now UM to manage the program.
"After 20 years of growing a strong Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy was pleased to turn it over to a state institution," MTNHP Director Susan Crispin said. "In a way, it's a gift from the Conservancy to the people of Montana."
The Nature Conservancy in Montana has worked with landowners and other partners to conserve a half-million acres of wildlife habitat and ranchland in the state since 1979, but Crispin said the organization's primary focus on land conservation made it hard to focus on support for the Natural Heritage Program. "As part of this transition we wanted the Program to become affiliated with a stable, established state institution that has a strong commitment to science and research, so UM was a logical choice and is a great fit for us," she said.
The Natural Heritage Program now is managed by UM's Office of the Vice President for Research and Development. Crispin said this new arrangement offers her organization strong growth potential, as well as opportunities for collaborations with UM researchers. "The University of Montana is very excited about the Natural Heritage Program joining the UM family," said Dan Dwyer, the University's vice president for research and development. "We look forward to collaborating with the Montana State Library to continue to build this very strong and valuable program."
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is part of a network of over 70 similar programs spanning all 50 U.S. states, as well as Canada and Latin America. Montana's program is widely considered one of the best, Crispin said, citing her organization's recent International Award for Technological Advancement.
In addition to providing information on Montana's native species and habitats, the program's staff of expert biologists also conducts field surveys. Among the interesting projects underway right now are surveys of amphibians and bats and a study of wetland changes along the Yellowstone River.
For more information about MTNHP and to tap into its wealth of information on Montana animals, plants and ecosystems, visit the program's web site at mtnhp.org.
Monday, December 7, 2021
2021 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2015 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting and 30th Anniversary celebration was held at Montana Wild in Helena on December 7th. Links to presentations and a summary of meeting highlights are below:
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- Information Systems and Services update
- Budget Update for FY16 and Overview of Strategic Plan 2015-2020
- MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
- There was widespread support from partners on:
- Continued development of Custom Field Guide spatial filters to allow creation of PDF field guides for species within the boundaries of a variety of management areas (e.g., BLM Field Office, U.S. Forest Districts, FWP Regions, Major Land Resource areas, tribal reservations, Important Bird Areas, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlife Management Areas, Fishing Access Sites, Conservation Districts, and watersheds (4th, 5th, 6th code HUCs)
- Development of a new Environmental Review Information summary tool that would allow users to submit a shapefile or digitize project boundaries of interest for a report containing a list of documented species, a list of potential species, a summary of acreages of land cover types, a summary of acreages of wetland/riparian types, a summary of land management, a summary of biological reports in the area that are on file at MTNHP, and custom field guides of potential/documented species.
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts and other compilation of information for species recently petitioned for ESA listing, nonvascular plants with no current representation in Heritage databases, and pollinators (bees and butterflies to start with, but wasps, moths, and ants that are pollinators as well).
- An increase in trainings on Heritage data resources to agencies, organizations, and private consultants that work with agencies on environmental reviews. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from training on MTNHP information resources
- Completion of recent statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities. Of the 2,952 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,406 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 546 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Updating the Land Cover layer to assist with implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Program - both for the habitat disturbance and habitat quality tools.
- MTNHP's continued assistance to agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past universally expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
- At least some partners noted that they were disappointed that:
- MTNHP was not able to continue to maintain an Aquatic Ecologist position, and more broadly that the lack of legislative funding to the Montana State Library continues to hinder MTNHP's ability to retain staff expertise, and develop and maintain core information and services at the level that seems to be intended by statutes that guide the program.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has tapered off.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16.
Thursday, October 17, 2021
Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT)
MTNHP
Monday, May 17, 2021
Kyle Kaskie - New Biological Data Scientist
Dan received his B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and his M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. Dan has worked for the Montana Natural Heritage Program for several years in the past. For example, he led field crews in our statewide Diversity Monitoring baseline surveys for amphibians, reptiles, small terrestrial mammals, and bats for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. He has conducted surveys for Northern Goshawks and terrestrial mollusks in our projects for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. He was the project manager for our first-ever baseline wildlife survey for grassland birds, small terrestrial mammals, amphibians and aquatic reptiles, and bats for the South Dakota Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management. More recently, Dan has been working for the U.S. Geological Survey managing relational databases of several million records for a large regional elk and brucellosis study. Dan brings broad taxonomic experience and interest and solid statistical, database, GIS, and writing skills to the Senior Zoologist position. He is very excited to join our team at the Montana Natural Heritage Program and will bring a lot of energy to the position.
Dan will be joining us May 2nd, 2016.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Bob Watts Communication Award from Wildlife Society
The MTNHP is very proud to receive the 2021 Bob Watts Communication Award from the Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society. This award is persented annually for significant communication in media such as professional publications, popular wildlife articles, books, movies, or videos that have a relatively wide audience. Below is the nomination letter:
Dear Awards Committee,
I am nominating the Montana Natural Heritage Program (MNHP) - a program of the Montana State Library's Natural Resource Information System operated by the University of Montana, for the Montana Chapter of TWS Bob Watts Communications Award. They are responsible for acquiring, storing and providing reliable information and expertise on Montana’s native species and habitats. Natural resource managers including federal, state, and tribal agencies, NGOs, as well as private citizens all have access to the most current species lists, with a focus on Species of Concern, conservation status ranks, biology and management information, statewide wetland and riparian mapping, land cover, land use, and habitat disturbance mapping. This information is disseminated to the public via a user-friendly website in the form of spatial data and/or publications and is used to make informed decisions. MNHP also proactively offers training in the appropriate use of the information. MTNHP is nationally recognized as one of the best of over 80 natural heritage programs.
Considering the number of agencies, partners, and public that utilize the valuable information that MTNHP provides, they are certainly worthy of the Montana Chapter of TWS Bob Watts Communication Award.
Sincerely,
Jo Ann Dullum - TWS member (1997-present)
USFWS Inventory & Monitoring GIS/Data Manager
Monday, December 7, 2020
2020 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2015 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting and 30th Anniversary celebration was held at Montana Wild in Helena on December 7th. Links to presentations and a summary of meeting highlights are below:
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- Information Systems and Services update
- Budget Update for FY16 and Overview of Strategic Plan 2015-2020
- MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
- There was widespread support from partners on:
- Continued development of Custom Field Guide spatial filters to allow creation of PDF field guides for species within the boundaries of a variety of management areas (e.g., BLM Field Office, U.S. Forest Districts, FWP Regions, Major Land Resource areas, tribal reservations, Important Bird Areas, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlife Management Areas, Fishing Access Sites, Conservation Districts, and watersheds (4th, 5th, 6th code HUCs)
- Development of a new Environmental Review Information summary tool that would allow users to submit a shapefile or digitize project boundaries of interest for a report containing a list of documented species, a list of potential species, a summary of acreages of land cover types, a summary of acreages of wetland/riparian types, a summary of land management, a summary of biological reports in the area that are on file at MTNHP, and custom field guides of potential/documented species.
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts and other compilation of information for species recently petitioned for ESA listing, nonvascular plants with no current representation in Heritage databases, and pollinators (bees and butterflies to start with, but wasps, moths, and ants that are pollinators as well).
- An increase in trainings on Heritage data resources to agencies, organizations, and private consultants that work with agencies on environmental reviews. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from training on MTNHP information resources
- Completion of recent statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities. Of the 2,952 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,406 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 546 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Updating the Land Cover layer to assist with implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Program - both for the habitat disturbance and habitat quality tools.
- MTNHP's continued assistance to agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past universally expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
- At least some partners noted that they were disappointed that:
- MTNHP was not able to continue to maintain an Aquatic Ecologist position, and more broadly that the lack of legislative funding to the Montana State Library continues to hinder MTNHP's ability to retain staff expertise, and develop and maintain core information and services at the level that seems to be intended by statutes that guide the program.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has tapered off.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Kenda Herman - New Botany Data Assistant
MTNHP is excited to announce a new partnership with Montana Audubon to support an Avian Data Specialist position under a memorandum of understanding that recognizes their shared interests and related responsibilities with respect to the nongame animal and plant species of Montana. Centralization of information on these species promotes appreciation, knowledge, and conservation of Montana’s native species and habitats. Bo Crees, who has worked for the MTNHP off and on since 2016 as a Data Assistant will fill this new role as a full time Audubon employee and split his time equally betweeen Montana Audubon and MTNHP. MTNHP will compensate Audubon for work Bo performs for MTNHP. For Montana Audubon, Bo will conduct surveys for a variety of bird species and manage that data as well as data gathered by citizen science volunteers. For MTNHP, he will focus on centralization and review of bird data to ensure bird data provided on the MTNHP's websites is current, comprehensive, and of high quality to inform natural resource management, permitting, and planning decisions. The MOU guiding this partnership will be reviewed and updated annually and quarterly work plans and reports will be jointly developed by MTNHP and Montana Audubon.Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Braden Burkholder - New Data Systems and Sciences Lead
MTNHP is excited to announce a new partnership with Montana Audubon to support an Avian Data Specialist position under a memorandum of understanding that recognizes their shared interests and related responsibilities with respect to the nongame animal and plant species of Montana. Centralization of information on these species promotes appreciation, knowledge, and conservation of Montana’s native species and habitats. Bo Crees, who has worked for the MTNHP off and on since 2016 as a Data Assistant will fill this new role as a full time Audubon employee and split his time equally betweeen Montana Audubon and MTNHP. MTNHP will compensate Audubon for work Bo performs for MTNHP. For Montana Audubon, Bo will conduct surveys for a variety of bird species and manage that data as well as data gathered by citizen science volunteers. For MTNHP, he will focus on centralization and review of bird data to ensure bird data provided on the MTNHP's websites is current, comprehensive, and of high quality to inform natural resource management, permitting, and planning decisions. The MOU guiding this partnership will be reviewed and updated annually and quarterly work plans and reports will be jointly developed by MTNHP and Montana Audubon.Tuesday, December 8, 2020
MTNHP Releases 2020-2025 Strategic Plan
The Scope of Work contained in the biennial contract between the Montana State Library and the University of Montana is revised every two years. That Scope of Work is directed by this Strategic Plan and will reflect its implementation.
MISSION
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is the state's source for reliable information and expertise to support stewardship of our native species and habitats, emphasizing those of conservation concern.
VISION
Our vision is that public agencies, the private sector, the education sector, and the general public will trust and rely upon MTNHP as the source for information and expertise on Montana's species and habitats, especially those of conservation concern. We strive to provide easy access to our information in order for users to save time and money, speed environmental reviews, and inform decision making.
CORE VALUES
- We endeavor to be a single statewide source of accurate and up-to-date information on Montana's plants, animals, and aquatic and terrestrial biological communities.
- We actively listen to our data users and work responsively to meet their information and training needs.
- We strive to provide neutral, trusted, timely, and equitable service to all of our information users. We make every effort to be transparent to our data users in setting work priorities and providing data products.
View the MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
Wednesday, January 2, 2020
Bo Crees - New Avian Data Specialist
MTNHP is excited to announce a new partnership with Montana Audubon to support an Avian Data Specialist position under a memorandum of understanding that recognizes their shared interests and related responsibilities with respect to the nongame animal and plant species of Montana. Centralization of information on these species promotes appreciation, knowledge, and conservation of Montana’s native species and habitats. Bo Crees, who has worked for the MTNHP off and on since 2016 as a Data Assistant will fill this new role as a full time Audubon employee and split his time equally betweeen Montana Audubon and MTNHP. MTNHP will compensate Audubon for work Bo performs for MTNHP. For Montana Audubon, Bo will conduct surveys for a variety of bird species and manage that data as well as data gathered by citizen science volunteers. For MTNHP, he will focus on centralization and review of bird data to ensure bird data provided on the MTNHP's websites is current, comprehensive, and of high quality to inform natural resource management, permitting, and planning decisions. The MOU guiding this partnership will be reviewed and updated annually and quarterly work plans and reports will be jointly developed by MTNHP and Montana Audubon.Thursday, December 21, 2019
Karen Coleman is moving on
The MTNHP is sad to report that Karen Coleman, Montana’s Biological Data Systems Coordinator, is moving on to a new position as a Systems Analyst on the water rights database with the Montana Department of Natural Resources. We really can’t say enough about all the great things Karen has done for the MTNHP dating back to her arrival in 2004. Karen helped oversee the development of our entire modern data system in the SQL environment, most notably the zoology and botany observation databases, while still maintaining our connection to the NatureServe network through Biotics. Her database and GIS expertise, attention to detail, ability to work with an eclectic set of personalities and skill sets, and the fact that she is such a thoughtful and caring person will all be greatly missed! Karen has also assisted a number of other programs across the NatureServe network with their observation databases and served on a variety of working groups to move the network’s data management efforts forward. She leaves the Montana program and the network with a wonderful legacy and many great memories and friendships!
We thank Karen for all that she has done!
Monday, December 7, 2019
2019 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2015 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting and 30th Anniversary celebration was held at Montana Wild in Helena on December 7th. Links to presentations and a summary of meeting highlights are below:
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- Information Systems and Services update
- Budget Update for FY16 and Overview of Strategic Plan 2015-2020
- MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
- There was widespread support from partners on:
- Continued development of Custom Field Guide spatial filters to allow creation of PDF field guides for species within the boundaries of a variety of management areas (e.g., BLM Field Office, U.S. Forest Districts, FWP Regions, Major Land Resource areas, tribal reservations, Important Bird Areas, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlife Management Areas, Fishing Access Sites, Conservation Districts, and watersheds (4th, 5th, 6th code HUCs)
- Development of a new Environmental Review Information summary tool that would allow users to submit a shapefile or digitize project boundaries of interest for a report containing a list of documented species, a list of potential species, a summary of acreages of land cover types, a summary of acreages of wetland/riparian types, a summary of land management, a summary of biological reports in the area that are on file at MTNHP, and custom field guides of potential/documented species.
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts and other compilation of information for species recently petitioned for ESA listing, nonvascular plants with no current representation in Heritage databases, and pollinators (bees and butterflies to start with, but wasps, moths, and ants that are pollinators as well).
- An increase in trainings on Heritage data resources to agencies, organizations, and private consultants that work with agencies on environmental reviews. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from training on MTNHP information resources
- Completion of recent statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities. Of the 2,952 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,406 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 546 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Updating the Land Cover layer to assist with implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Program - both for the habitat disturbance and habitat quality tools.
- MTNHP's continued assistance to agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past universally expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
- At least some partners noted that they were disappointed that:
- MTNHP was not able to continue to maintain an Aquatic Ecologist position, and more broadly that the lack of legislative funding to the Montana State Library continues to hinder MTNHP's ability to retain staff expertise, and develop and maintain core information and services at the level that seems to be intended by statutes that guide the program.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has tapered off.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Sherry Berrin - Zoology and Botany Data Assistant
Dan received his B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and his M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. Dan has worked for the Montana Natural Heritage Program for several years in the past. For example, he led field crews in our statewide Diversity Monitoring baseline surveys for amphibians, reptiles, small terrestrial mammals, and bats for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. He has conducted surveys for Northern Goshawks and terrestrial mollusks in our projects for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. He was the project manager for our first-ever baseline wildlife survey for grassland birds, small terrestrial mammals, amphibians and aquatic reptiles, and bats for the South Dakota Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management. More recently, Dan has been working for the U.S. Geological Survey managing relational databases of several million records for a large regional elk and brucellosis study. Dan brings broad taxonomic experience and interest and solid statistical, database, GIS, and writing skills to the Senior Zoologist position. He is very excited to join our team at the Montana Natural Heritage Program and will bring a lot of energy to the position.
Dan will be joining us May 2nd, 2016.
Monday, April 15, 2019
2019 BLM-AIM Surveys and Crew Bios
The MTNHP is pleased to be extending its long-term partnership with the Bureau of Land Management by providing support to Terrestrial and Aquatic Assessment Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) efforts in Montana and Idaho in 2019.
The AIM strategy is targed at collecting standardized inventory and long-term vegetation, soils, and water data at multiple scales across BLM Districts in the Western United States.
This information is utilized by the BLM to make decisions that meet resource management objectives. Our work will encompass Northcentral Montana (Havre and Lewiston) and Central and Eastern Idaho (Idaho Falls, Salmon, Challis, Pocatello, Cottonwood and Upper Snake). We've assembled a group of talented, dedicated technicians to assist in this effort.
Monday, December 7, 2018
2018 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2015 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting and 30th Anniversary celebration was held at Montana Wild in Helena on December 7th. Links to presentations and a summary of meeting highlights are below:
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- Information Systems and Services update
- Budget Update for FY16 and Overview of Strategic Plan 2015-2020
- MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
- There was widespread support from partners on:
- Continued development of Custom Field Guide spatial filters to allow creation of PDF field guides for species within the boundaries of a variety of management areas (e.g., BLM Field Office, U.S. Forest Districts, FWP Regions, Major Land Resource areas, tribal reservations, Important Bird Areas, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlife Management Areas, Fishing Access Sites, Conservation Districts, and watersheds (4th, 5th, 6th code HUCs)
- Development of a new Environmental Review Information summary tool that would allow users to submit a shapefile or digitize project boundaries of interest for a report containing a list of documented species, a list of potential species, a summary of acreages of land cover types, a summary of acreages of wetland/riparian types, a summary of land management, a summary of biological reports in the area that are on file at MTNHP, and custom field guides of potential/documented species.
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts and other compilation of information for species recently petitioned for ESA listing, nonvascular plants with no current representation in Heritage databases, and pollinators (bees and butterflies to start with, but wasps, moths, and ants that are pollinators as well).
- An increase in trainings on Heritage data resources to agencies, organizations, and private consultants that work with agencies on environmental reviews. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from training on MTNHP information resources
- Completion of recent statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities. Of the 2,952 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,406 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 546 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Updating the Land Cover layer to assist with implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Program - both for the habitat disturbance and habitat quality tools.
- MTNHP's continued assistance to agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past universally expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
- At least some partners noted that they were disappointed that:
- MTNHP was not able to continue to maintain an Aquatic Ecologist position, and more broadly that the lack of legislative funding to the Montana State Library continues to hinder MTNHP's ability to retain staff expertise, and develop and maintain core information and services at the level that seems to be intended by statutes that guide the program.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has tapered off.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16.
Monday, December 7, 2017
2017 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2015 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting and 30th Anniversary celebration was held at Montana Wild in Helena on December 7th. Links to presentations and a summary of meeting highlights are below:
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- Information Systems and Services update
- Budget Update for FY16 and Overview of Strategic Plan 2015-2020
- MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
- There was widespread support from partners on:
- Continued development of Custom Field Guide spatial filters to allow creation of PDF field guides for species within the boundaries of a variety of management areas (e.g., BLM Field Office, U.S. Forest Districts, FWP Regions, Major Land Resource areas, tribal reservations, Important Bird Areas, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlife Management Areas, Fishing Access Sites, Conservation Districts, and watersheds (4th, 5th, 6th code HUCs)
- Development of a new Environmental Review Information summary tool that would allow users to submit a shapefile or digitize project boundaries of interest for a report containing a list of documented species, a list of potential species, a summary of acreages of land cover types, a summary of acreages of wetland/riparian types, a summary of land management, a summary of biological reports in the area that are on file at MTNHP, and custom field guides of potential/documented species.
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts and other compilation of information for species recently petitioned for ESA listing, nonvascular plants with no current representation in Heritage databases, and pollinators (bees and butterflies to start with, but wasps, moths, and ants that are pollinators as well).
- An increase in trainings on Heritage data resources to agencies, organizations, and private consultants that work with agencies on environmental reviews. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from training on MTNHP information resources
- Completion of recent statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities. Of the 2,952 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,406 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 546 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Updating the Land Cover layer to assist with implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Program - both for the habitat disturbance and habitat quality tools.
- MTNHP's continued assistance to agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past universally expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
- At least some partners noted that they were disappointed that:
- MTNHP was not able to continue to maintain an Aquatic Ecologist position, and more broadly that the lack of legislative funding to the Montana State Library continues to hinder MTNHP's ability to retain staff expertise, and develop and maintain core information and services at the level that seems to be intended by statutes that guide the program.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has tapered off.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
MTNHP Awarded 2017 Conservationist of the Year
Each year Montana Audubon recognizes its heroes and honors its champions at our Bird Festival. In order to do our conservation work, it is essential for us to understand where wildlife species live in our state and how their distribution and population changes over time.
Because of their critical role in wildlife and ecosystem information, we recognized the Montana Natural Heritage Program with our 2017 Conservationist of the Year Award. Montana Audubon is particularly grateful for the program's housing of the Montana Bird Distribution database, mapping Important Bird Area boundaries, and developing the state's first wetland and riparian habitat maps.
So how is Heritage Program data used? The information is primarily used in environmental reviews conducted by local, state, federal, and tribal governments, and private consulting firms, to better understand the impacts of mining, timber sales, subdivisions, utility and pipeline corridors, oil and gas developments, highway construction projects, and more.
Good information is critical to protecting and maintaining our state's valuable natural heritage - especially as the state continues to grow and develop. We are pleased to recognize the Montana Natural Heritage Program for this work in this area.
Friday, March 11, 2017
Make Your Own Custom Field Guides
Look towards the bottom of the Advanced Search page of the Montana Field Guide and you will find a new PDF Creator tool.
Give your Field Guide a Custom Title
Enter Scientific Names in the order you want them displayed in the PDF.
And click on Create PDF
We will check to make sure all Scientific Names are correct and prompt you if we find any mismatches.
Ideas
- Create a list of Plants and Animals near your house
- Use your bird watching list to create a handy PDF for your laptop
- Print an "I Spy" list for exploring nature on the next camping trip with the family
- Custom Field Guide Creator
Martin Miller Retires
Friday, February 10th 2017 was Martin Miller's last day in the office and MTNHP wishes him the very best in retirement!
For over 20 years, Martin answered requests and wrangled a variety of plant and animal data into MTNHP databases. Martin started as a volunteer at MTNHP, but soon worked himself into a paid position. His tenure with the program encompassed major technological advancements. In his early days, computerized Geographic Information Systems were just becoming accessible, and the program was still plotting Element Occurrences on paper quadrangle maps using adhesive dots with notes in the margins. Soon Martin began entering observations into the newly created statewide Point Observation Database and eventually entered many tens of thousands of observations into this database. He also took the lead on answering mediated requests for MTNHP information and probably answered over 50,000 requests throughout his tenure.
Big numbers also permeated Martin's personal life where he participated in over 75 ultramarathon events ranging from 50 kilometers to 100 miles in length. He plans to run even more in retirement! MTNHP thanks Martin for his wonderful service and wishes him the best in his ongoing adventures!
2016 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2016 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting was held in Helena on December 1st. Summary highlights and partner feedback from the meeting are below and you can access the Information Systems & Services, Botany, Ecology, Zoology, 2016 MTNHP Budget, and NatureServe Network Member Program Survey presentations from the meeting at the following links.
Slideshows
- Information Systems and Services update
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- 2016 MTNHP Budget update
- NatureServe Network Member Program Survey - characterizes Heritage Programs across the western hemisphere
Attendance
The meeting was attended by 50 people from 20 different organizations. Organizations attending included: Bureau of Land Management, Department of Agriculture, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Montana State Library, Montana State Library Commission, the Environmental Policy Office of Montana's Legislative Services Division, University of Montana, Natural Resource Conservation Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Audubon, Montana Association of Conservation Districts, Montana Land Reliance, Westech Environmental Services, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Nature Conservancy. We had a few competing meetings and the USGS, Joint Venture, BIA, MDT, and LCC partners sent their apologies to the group.
Additional Groups that Partners Recommended Inviting to Future Meetings
- Staff from the Governor's Office
- Legislators who sit on Natural Resource Policy committees
- More tribal representation
- More representation from DEQ and DNRC
- Representation from Montana Association of Planners
- Joint Venture representatives
MTNHP Use Statistics in 2016
Mediated Requests
Around 3,300 mediated requests for environmental review information or the expertise of botany, ecology, or zoology staff. There are typically 10-15 mediated requests per average work day.
Website Use in 2016
| Montana Field Guide |
Map Viewer |
Other MTNHP websites |
Total MTNHP web use |
|
| No. Users | 255,584 | 4748 | 21,028 | 281,360 |
| No. Sessions | 331,909 | 9728 | 36,755 | 378,392 |
| No. Page Views | 1,150,432 | Not tracked | 100,815 | 1,300,000 |
| No. Hours of Use | 14,014 | 4,146 | 1,848 | 20,008 |
| Avg Hours/Work Day | 56 | 16.5 | 7.4 | 80 |
Partners Expressed Support for, or Satisfaction with
- Plant identification trainings by MTNHP's Program Botanist, Andrea Pipp in 2016 and interest in setting up trainings in 2017.
- Use of the Species Snapshot mtnhp.org/SpeciesSnapshot/ to create portable customized field guide reports for a variety of spatial, taxonomic, and status filters. A full complement of spatial filters was added in 2016. Some partners are using these as appendices of environmental reviews.
- Development of the new Environmental Summary task in Map Viewer mtnhp.org/mapviewer that, for agency-level user defined polygons, provides summaries of species documented and potential present, structured surveys where a particular protocol was followed, acres of various wetland and riparian mapping polygons present, acres of various land cover types present, and lists of biological reports associated with observation data. Users can also download custom field guides of species that are documented or potentially present for Species of Concern, Potential Species of Concern, or all other status. Invasive species information is also included in these reports where present, but MTNHP has not managed invasive species information in the past and does not have staff time to do this given the programs budget which has remained static since 2008. The Environmental Summary report will be MTNHP's new standard for information requests starting in January of 2017 and a number of partners have expressed interest in including this report as an appendix to environmental reviews and working with MTNHP to create customized hierarchical versions of this report (e.g. Forest wide, each Forest District, and all 6th Code watersheds within each Forest District).
- New data processing standards implemented in 2016 that ensure that Species Occurrence polygons are updated quarterly so that users have access to all information in MTNHP databases that is of use in environmental reviews.
- The increased number of Heritage information resource trainings to MTNHP partners in 2016; approximately 25 trainings were conducted. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from an updated training on MTNHP information resources in 2017.
- Availability of predicted distribution models for all vertebrate Species of Concern in the agency-level accessed Single Species Overview task of Map Viewer mtnhp.org/mapviewer
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts for 360 mosses, 30 Bumble Bees, and nearly 100 of Montana's 218 butterfly species.
- Updates to statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities for those habitats. Of the 2,954 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,426 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 528 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Higher level derived products associated with the wetland and riparian mapping effort that identify wetland mosaics, wetlands of special significance, wetlands important to streamflow maintenance, and levels of wetland protection.
- Updating the 2016 Land Cover layer with the latest agricultural, road, structures, and fire perimeter information despite a lack of Montana Land Information Act funding to support this Montana Spatial Data infrastructure layer; one-time project funds were used to accomplish this.
- Addition of nearly 3,400 photos to species accounts on the Montana Field Guide; 1,170 species now have photos that previously did not have any photo representation.
- Addition of 4,386 literature references on Montana plant and animal species and biological communities to the MTNHP reference system which allowed 18,147 reference associations to be turned on in the Montana Field Guide for 5,113 species.
- MTNHP's program Botanist, program Ecologist, and Senior Zoologist for sharing their expertise and continuing to assist agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners believe cost savings to individual partners from having information centralized at MTNHP is of a large magnitude; one or two positions, hundreds to thousands of hours, tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars are year were amounts reported by individual partners. Partner's expressed interest in assisting MTNHP with conducting a return on investment study to identify how much time and funding MTNHP information resources save the state, individual partners, and the citizens of Montana.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
Partners Expressed Frustration with, or Would Like to See Improvement, On
- MTNHP's budget has remained static since FY08 without any present law (cost of living) adjustments. Through 2016, this has resulted in a 31% reduction in the effective buying power of the funding over this time period.
- The Governor's FY18/19 budget did not include the funding requested to restore program funding to FY2008 levels in order to cover inflation, rising health care costs, mandated but unfunded salary increases, and the increases in the costs of Biotics software required to meet our statutory requirement to manage information in a compatible manner with Heritage Programs in other states (MCA 90-15-302).
- MTNHP has lost the Aquatic Ecologist position that partners rely on for expertise on nongame fishes and aquatic macroinvertebrates.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing remaining staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has dramatically decreased.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16 and FY17.
- Contractors don't have direct access to all MTNHP information via websites the way agencies do as a result of data sensitivity concerns from agencies.
- Funding limitations have resulted in a backlog of information that needs to be incorporated into MTNHP databases (e.g. many invertebrate and nonvascular plant species are not included in MTNHP databases, observation data for plant and animal species has not been entered, invasive species information).
Montana State Library Update
- Working on updated strategic plan for the Montana State Library for 2016-2021; see draft at: about.msl.mt.gov/MSLStrategicPlan2016-2021
- Hired Erin Fashoway as the new state GIS coordinator geoinfo.msl.mt.gov/GIS_Community/GIS_Coordination.aspx
- Working to reengage the Natural Resource Information System (NRIS) advisory committee. There is overlap between the MTNHP partner's committee and the NRIS advisory committee, but the NRIS advisory committee is limited to principal data source agencies leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0900/chapter_0150/parts_index.html
- Montana Land Information Act funding from fees collected from document recordation has declined in recent years. However, funding to MTNHP in FY17 is expected to remain at or near the $10,000 available in FY16.
- The Digital Library recently reorganized into User Services, Information Management, and Information Products groups. The User Services group may assist with MTNHP information requests in the future in order to provide assistance with declining MTNHP budgets and provide one stop responses for information requests at the State Library.
Lichen Researchers Descend on the Milton Ranch
The Milton Ranch north of Roundup was crawling with botanists on the cool, wet, third week in September. Bill and Dana Milton hosted and fed the high-powered group that was assembled by Andrea Pipp, the program botanist for the Montana Natural Heritage Program in Helena. Pipp applied for and received grants from the BLM and the Montana Native Plant Society to fund the team's travel expenses, while they donated their time and expertise to compile the first inventory of lichens and mosses in Musselshell County.
Read the full story below.
Updates to Wetland Status Map
Visit the new wetland status map at the link below to see the changes we've made. In addition to up-to-date information on completed and in-progress mapping from MTNHP, the status map breaks down NWI maps from the Fish and Wildlife Service into "outdated" mapping from the 1980's and "incomplete" mapping, a recent effort that involved digitizing old topo maps.
We've also created a PDF that explains the different categories of mapping and allows you to compare exactly what each type of mapping looks like for a given area. You can find the PDF link on the status map page or use the link below.
Dan Bachen - New Senior Zoologist
Dan received his B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and his M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. Dan has worked for the Montana Natural Heritage Program for several years in the past. For example, he led field crews in our statewide Diversity Monitoring baseline surveys for amphibians, reptiles, small terrestrial mammals, and bats for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. He has conducted surveys for Northern Goshawks and terrestrial mollusks in our projects for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. He was the project manager for our first-ever baseline wildlife survey for grassland birds, small terrestrial mammals, amphibians and aquatic reptiles, and bats for the South Dakota Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management. More recently, Dan has been working for the U.S. Geological Survey managing relational databases of several million records for a large regional elk and brucellosis study.
Dan brings broad taxonomic experience and interest and solid statistical, database, GIS, and writing skills to the Senior Zoologist position. He is very excited to join our team at the Montana Natural Heritage Program and will bring a lot of energy to the position.
Dan will be joining us May 2nd, 2016.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Alexis McEwan - New Assistant Zoologist
Alexis comes to us from Canada where she had recently been working as an environmental consultant in Terrace, British Columbia, Alexis completed a Masters Degree at the University of Northern British Columbia in 2014 with a study of the habitat requirements of the Coastal Tailed Frog (Ascaphus truei) using radio telemetry and pitfall traps. Prior to graduate school Alexis had worked as a Zoology Field Assistant for the Montana Natural Heritage Program, conducting surveys for amphibians, reptiles, bats, and small terrestrial mammals across Montana. Alexis grew up around the Great Lakes in northern Manitoba and was fortunate to experience the wildlife of the tundra and boreal forest. Alexis enjoys the beauty of the outdoors and likes spending time camping and hiking. She is excited to explore the Helena area and to assist the Montana Natural Heritage Program.
As the new Assistant Zoologist she will serve as a Bat Acoustic Analyst and will lead the state's efforts in understanding the status and distribution of our bat populations prior to the arrival of White-nose Syndrome, caused by the pathogenic fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which has killed millions of bats as it spreads across North America.
Jennifer Chutz - New Ecologist/Projects Manager
Jen is a wetland and wildlife ecologist with 10 years of experience in natural resource management, monitoring, and applied research. Most recently, she has operated her own consulting company, while working as a summer wetland ecologist and field botanist for MTNHP.
Previously she worked as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service where she focused on land-use impacts on natural resources and species of concern in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. During her Master's project at South Dakota State, she supervised and conducted field surveys of endangered and migratory waterbirds, aquatic invertebrates, and vegetation in a farmed wetland setting in Hawaii.
MTNHP Releases 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
The Scope of Work contained in the biennial contract between the Montana State Library and the University of Montana is revised every two years. That Scope of Work is directed by this Strategic Plan and will reflect its implementation.
MISSION
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is the state's source for reliable information and expertise to support stewardship of our native species and habitats, emphasizing those of conservation concern.
VISION
Our vision is that public agencies, the private sector, the education sector, and the general public will trust and rely upon MTNHP as the source for information and expertise on Montana's species and habitats, especially those of conservation concern. We strive to provide easy access to our information in order for users to save time and money, speed environmental reviews, and inform decision making.
CORE VALUES
- We endeavor to be a single statewide source of accurate and up-to-date information on Montana's plants, animals, and aquatic and terrestrial biological communities.
- We actively listen to our data users and work responsively to meet their information and training needs.
- We strive to provide neutral, trusted, timely, and equitable service to all of our information users. We make every effort to be transparent to our data users in setting work priorities and providing data products.
View the MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
2015 Annual MTNHP Partners Meeting Summary
The 2015 Montana Natural Heritage Program partners meeting and 30th Anniversary celebration was held at Montana Wild in Helena on December 7th. Links to presentations and a summary of meeting highlights are below:
- Botany Program update
- Ecology Program update
- Zoology Program update
- Information Systems and Services update
- Budget Update for FY16 and Overview of Strategic Plan 2015-2020
- MTNHP 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
- There was widespread support from partners on:
- Continued development of Custom Field Guide spatial filters to allow creation of PDF field guides for species within the boundaries of a variety of management areas (e.g., BLM Field Office, U.S. Forest Districts, FWP Regions, Major Land Resource areas, tribal reservations, Important Bird Areas, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wildlife Management Areas, Fishing Access Sites, Conservation Districts, and watersheds (4th, 5th, 6th code HUCs)
- Development of a new Environmental Review Information summary tool that would allow users to submit a shapefile or digitize project boundaries of interest for a report containing a list of documented species, a list of potential species, a summary of acreages of land cover types, a summary of acreages of wetland/riparian types, a summary of land management, a summary of biological reports in the area that are on file at MTNHP, and custom field guides of potential/documented species.
- Development of Montana Field Guide species accounts and other compilation of information for species recently petitioned for ESA listing, nonvascular plants with no current representation in Heritage databases, and pollinators (bees and butterflies to start with, but wasps, moths, and ants that are pollinators as well).
- An increase in trainings on Heritage data resources to agencies, organizations, and private consultants that work with agencies on environmental reviews. Contact Bryce Maxell at bmaxell@mt.gov or 406-444-3989 if you or your organization could benefit from training on MTNHP information resources
- Completion of recent statewide wetland and riparian mapping for management and prioritization of a variety of conservation funding opportunities. Of the 2,952 USGS Quadrangles that cover Montana, 2,406 (82%) have either been mapped or there is funding in place to get them mapped. There are still 546 quadrangles (18%) that need funding for mapping. These quadrangles are primarily composed of private, tribal, USFS, State, and National Park Service lands.
- Updating the Land Cover layer to assist with implementation of the Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Program - both for the habitat disturbance and habitat quality tools.
- MTNHP's continued assistance to agencies with monitoring of species and habitats of concern through partner funded projects.
- Partners that have contributed supplemental core funding in the past universally expressed that they have been satisfied with what they have received for their supplemental funding contributions and that they plan to continue those contributions in the future.
- At least some partners noted that they were disappointed that:
- MTNHP was not able to continue to maintain an Aquatic Ecologist position, and more broadly that the lack of legislative funding to the Montana State Library continues to hinder MTNHP's ability to retain staff expertise, and develop and maintain core information and services at the level that seems to be intended by statutes that guide the program.
- MTNHP is at risk of losing staff capacity to map wetland and riparian areas as wetland/riparian funding has tapered off.
- MTNHP lost all Montana Land Information Act funding for updating and maintaining the Montana Land Cover layer in FY16.
Bryce Maxell Hired as New Program Coordinator
Dear Commission, staff, and valued program partners,
I am pleased to announce that Bryce Maxell will begin his new role as the Program Coordinator of the Montana Natural Heritage Program on October 19. Bryce has a long history with the program beginning in 1996 when he served as a field zoologist. Bryce began his employment as the senior zoologist in 2005 and served as the interim program director from November 2009 through June 2011. In addition to his incredible depth of scientific knowledge, Bryce brings to this position a deep understanding of the importance of public access to information made available through the State Library and the value this access brings to MTNHP information in service to our partners. This knowledge and understanding, coupled with his unparalleled work ethic, yields great enthusiasm that Bryce has for the program and that he will bring to this new position.
Jennie
State Librarian
Montana State Library
Allan Cox Retirement
Allan Cox retired from the Lead Program Manager position with the Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) on October 1, 2015 to enjoy some well-earned travel and leisure time. Allan has always been a great champion of the MTNHP and the Montana State Library (MSL), and worked to promote access, sharing, and coordination of geographic information and technology. His daily presence at the Library will be greatly missed!
Allan started at the MSL in 1987 as the first GIS Coordinator for the Natural Resource Information System (NRIS), a unique program that provides for the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of data relating to the natural resources of Montana. Allan worked to obtain funding from state agencies to establish the NRIS GIS Program by promoting the value of NRIS in providing spatial data to those agencies and to the public. In 1992 he became the Director of NRIS and served in this capacity until 1998. Under his direction, NRIS became a nationally recognized GIS program. During this period Allan also became a founding member of the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) and served on several committees and working groups promoting GIS activity and coordination, both in Montana and nationally.
In 1998 Allan left the MSL to pursue other work. As a private GIS consultant he provided mapping support for wildfire incidents and also served as the Program Manager for the Montana Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC) at the Montana Department of Commerce.
Allan returned to the MSL in 2001 as the Systems and Services Program Manager for the MTNHP, a program under NRIS. In this capacity, Allan oversaw the development of innovative data systems to support the management and dissemination of information on Montana's biological resources. NatureServe, the coordinating organization of the international Natural Heritage Network, recognized this work with Technological Achievement awards in both 2006 and 2015. Allan also worked tirelessly to promote the mission, activities, and services of the MTNHP to users, partners, and decision makers.
Allan took over the leadership of the MTNHP in 2012 as Lead Program Manager. In this role he oversaw all MTNHP activities, including scientific, informational, budgetary, and outreach. His vision and leadership have set the stage to promote the long-term viability and success of the MTNHP.
Allan's passion for fire incident support continues to this day. He continues to serve as a volunteer EMT and Firefighter for the Montana City Fire Department, and gives time to working with fire professionals to ensure their use of the latest mapping technology to meet the wildfire challenges in our region.
We will greatly miss Allan's insight and innovation at the MTNHP. We wish him all the best in his retirement!
Custom Field Guide PDFs
Take field guide PDFs with you! 
Field Guide PDFs are now compiled on-the-fly and can be download for individual species, species groups, or custom search results!
As you drill down through the lists, click the icon to download a custom PDF that includes all species for that level of Kingdom, Phylum/Division, Class, Order, or Family.
Check it out on the Montana Field Guide
You can even get a custom PDF from your Search Results! How cool is that!!
MTNHP Receives 2015 Wetland Stewardship Award
Every two years, the Montana Wetland Council and the Montana Watershed Coordination Council jointly honor stewardship award recipients. The Montana Wetland Stewardship Awards recognize individuals and/or teams who exemplify excellence, innovation, and extraordinary commitment in wetland protection, restoration, and conservation. The Montana Watershed Stewardship Award recognizes innovative locally led approaches to restoring and enhancing Montana's watersheds. MTNHP was honored as a 2015 Montana Wetland Stewardship Award recipient for its work in digital mapping of Montana wetlands and riparian areas.
After nearly 10 years, the goal of creating a statewide digital wetland and riparian mapping layer is within reach thanks to the dedicated team at the Montana Natural Heritage Program's Wetland and Riparian Mapping Center. New digital mapping based on high resolution aerial imagery has identified more than 2 million acres of wetlands and 600,000 acres of riparian areas in Montana. These maps, available in multiple electronic formats, provide crucial data for protection, restoration, conservation, and management. Managers, planners, scientists, and watershed groups now have fast, free access to information on the type, size, location, and distribution of wetland and riparian resources. These maps, one of 15 official GIS data layers for the State, are used at every level of government and in the private sector, and are being incorporated into statewide hydrography and land cover data sets as the most current source of water resource mapping. Approximately 80% of Montana is complete and another 10% has been funded.
Access wetland and riparian mapping information from:
MTNHP Receives NatureServe Science and Tech Award
MTNHP received the NatureServe 2015 Scientific and Technological Achievement Award at the recent Biodiversity Without Boundaries conference. It is a fitting reflection of the creativity and dedication of all of the folks who work at MTNHP. The award was primarily for work in making information more widely available, especially through our new web app, the Species Snapshot. MTNHP also won this award in 2006.
- View the Species Snapshot Application
New Web App Released: Species Snapshot
This new application provides a quick way to get a species list for your area. View species lists filtered by County, House/Senate District, BLM Field Offices, Forest Boundaries, FWP Regions and Townships. Data include the number of observations and species occurrences (SO's) for each species found in that area.
American Bullfrogs Invade Along Yellowstone River
Heritage scientists Dave Stagliano and Bryce Maxell contributed to a research article to be published in the journal Aquatic Invasions.
Abstract The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is a globally distributed invasive species that was introduced to the Yellowstone River floodplain of Montana. Knowledge about floodplain habitat features that allow for bullfrog persistence and spread will help identify effective control strategies. We used field surveys in 2010, 2012 and 2013 to describe bullfrog spread in the Yellowstone River floodplain and the habitat features that are associated with bullfrog occupancy and colonization. Bullfrogs in our study area expanded from ~ 60 km in 2010 to 106 km in 2013, and are spreading to up- and downstream habitats. The number of breeding sites (i.e., presence of bullfrog eggs or larvae) increased from 12 sites in 2010 to 45 sites in 2013. We found that bullfrogs were associated with deeper waters, emergent vegetation and public-access sites, which are habitat features that characterize permanent waters and describe human-mediated introductions. Control strategies that reduce the hydroperiod of breeding sites may help to limit bullfrog persistence and spread, while an increase in public outreach and education may help prevent further bullfrog introductions at public-access sites.
New Program Botanist
We are pleased to announce that Andrea Pipp of Helena has accepted the position of Botany Program Manager. She began work with us on October 6th and is excited to join the Heritage team.
Andrea earned a BA in Zoology (1989) and a MS in Wildlife Biology (1998) from the University of Montana. Her graduate study evaluated the independent effects of forest structure and forest age on the diversity and abundance of canopy lichens. Andrea's 28-year career has been spent working in the fields of botany and wildlife biology for the federal, state, tribal, and private sectors. Her expertise is in vascular plant (native/exotic), lichen, and bryophyte identification, surveying, and monitoring, wetland ecology, and technical writing. Her project work has focused on issues regarding forestry, stream and wetland restoration, transportation, residential, and oil/gas development in Montana and other western states.
As the Program Botanist she wants to share her passion for Botany and Montana. Through leadership and collaboration Andrea's goal is to strengthen the collection, evaluation, data management, and dissemination of information on Montana's botanical species. She looks forward to working with agencies, academia, non-profits, resource professionals, and amateurs in providing services, acquiring information, and in teaching about botanical species. She invites you to share your ideas, needs, and/or botanical interests with her.
New Wildlife Bibliography Page
The Montana Natural Heritage Program has collaborated with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and members of the Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society to create a new web page for online bibliographies on Fish and Wildlife Recommendations for Subdivision Development in Montana and the Effects of Recreation on Rocky Mountain Wildlife, both of which are tied to reports on these topics. These online bibliographies are now on the Heritage Program's website.
Updated Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants
The Montana Natural Heritage Program has released a 2013 update to the Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants
MTNHP Zoologist Named Wildlife Biologist of the Year
Dr. Bryce Maxell, Senior Zoologist with the Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP), was named "Wildlife Biologist of the Year" by the Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society last week at their annual meeting. The Wildlife Society's awards program honors professional excellence, recognizes outstanding achievement, and highlights contributions to wildlife science and management. The Biologist of the Year Award is presented annually for significant achievements in wildlife conservation anytime during the five years immediately preceding the award presentation.
Conservation easement data updated
Almost 75,000 acres of new (or previously undocumented) easements across the state have been added to the MTNHP Land Management Mapping Project's Conservation Easement feature class. New easements include the recently signed Nature Conservancy easement in Valley County near the Bitter Creek Area of Critical Environmental Concern, several new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service easements protecting wetlands and grasslands in Phillips County, and a large Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks easement in the Kootenai region that protects important timber, fish, and wildlife habitat. Search for conservation easement data on the Montana State Library's GIS Data List
Checklist of the Birds of Montana
MTNHP, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Montana Audubon, and the Montana Bird Records Committee have just released a new Checklist of the Birds of Montana The checklist is current as of May 2012, with all 427 species observed in the state. It provides valuable information on both breeding and overwintering status, as well as indicating the 104 species that are considered "rare" in Montana.
2012 Update to Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants
The Montana Natural Heritage Program has released a 2012 update to the Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants
2011 Update to Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants
An updated version of the Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants is now available. This revised version incorporates hundreds of status and taxonomic changes made in the past year, as well as the addition and deletion of a few species to the list and the addition of summaries of the number of species by Family and Genus.
New Natural Heritage Program Director Announced
Please welcome Dr. Neil Snow as the new Director of the Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) beginning July 1, 2011. Dr. Snow has achieved an international reputation in botany and taxonomy. He is enthusiastic about leading the program and forging strong working relationships with partner organizations. Dr. Snow spent many years in Colorado and Wyoming and has strong family ties to Montana. He is committed to the mission of the MTNHP and to meeting the needs of partners and the citizens of the state of Montana.
The MTNHP has been well-served by Dr. Bryce Maxell the past 18 months while he served as both Senior Zoologist and Interim Director. Dr. Maxell's dedication to the MTNHP is greatly appreciated, and the zoology program will continue to be strong and robust with him at the helm.
New Montana Land Cover GIS Data
The Montana Natural Heritage Program would like to announce that the most recent Land Cover data is now available online for download and as a Web Map Service. This new data set is a Montana-specific land cover layer modified from the Pacific Northwest ReGAP project classification from 30-meter resolution Landsat imagery. Descriptions of the land cover types can be found in the Ecological Systems Field Guide
10 Years of State Wildlife Grants
This year marks 10 years of the State Wildlife Grant Program (SWG), federal funds distributed to states for surveys and management of nongame species. This national program is intended to prevent wildlife from becoming threatened or endangered and has greatly expanded our understanding of the distribution and status of a number of species in Montana.
New Natural Heritage MapViewer
The Montana Natural Heritage Program recently released a new web application: the Natural Heritage MapViewer. MapViewer is an interactive web mapping service that will, over time, enable users to perform a variety of tasks to access and summarize information in MTNHP databases. This first release includes tools to view and query:
- new Montana landcover data with ties-ins to the Ecological Systems Field Guide
- Wetland and riparian mapping status and completed mapping by the MTNHP to National Wetland Inventory standards
- land management information for public lands conservation easements, and special designated lands such as wildlife refugres, Research Natural Areas, wilderness, etc.
- over 12,000 geo-referenced habitat photos for Montana.
MTNHP 2010 - 2014 Draft Strategic Plan Now Available
The Montana Natural Heritage Program has posted its 2010 to 2014 Draft Strategic Plan. This draft plan has been developed by staff and program managers and covers major goals and objectives for the Botany, Zoology, Ecology, and Information Services programs between July 2010 and June 2014.
Montana Mussels Poster Now Available
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is pleased to announce the release of the "Mussels of Montana" poster. This poster summarizes available knowledge of freshwater mussels in Montana from the last three years of surveys and data collection. As noted by Dave Stagliano, MTNHP's Aquatic Ecologist, "Mussels are a seldom seen and underappreciated biological component of many Montana trout streams and prairie rivers. Few people even know that Montana's waterways are the native home to several mussel species; most press goes to the exotic zebra mussel."
These cryptic organisms, which closely resemble rocks on a river bottom, are vital to the health of Montana's waterways. Mussels have an amazing filtering capacity and are able to filter eight gallons of water every four hours, keeping Montana's streams and rivers clean. Large numbers of mussels are of great benefit to waterways that have silt or nutrient problems because of their filtering capacity. Additionally, mussels have host relationships with fish that are important to Montana's streams and rivers, including the westslope cutthroat trout, sauger, and catfish. If fish populations are low, the number of mussels in Montana's waterways declines, which can result in dirtier waterways. For example, Montana's only trout stream mussel, the western pearlshell, has been disappearing from watersheds for decades following the westslope cutthroat trout decline. Prior to mining and dams, the Clark Fork River had abundant populations of this species. Now instead of showing up in Montana waterways, the western pearlshell shows up on Montana's Species of Concern list. "The presence of these long-lived mussel species is indicative of a watershed's past, current, and future health," said Stagliano. "That's why studying mussel populations throughout Montana and providing workshops on these organisms is such important work."
You can pick up a free "Mussels of Montana Poster" at the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Headquarters Lobby, at FWP Regional Offices, or at the Montana State Library.
Checklist of Montana Dragonflies & Damselflies
The Montana Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (MTFWP) are pleased to announce the publication of a Checklist of Montana Dragonflies & Damselflies With 53 dragonfly species and 29 damselfly species included, this checklist represents the most current information available for Odonates in the state. This checklist provides information on distribution, abundance and seasonal occurrence for each species. Hard copies of this brochure are available, free to the public, at the MTNHP office within the Montana State Library, as well as at the MTFWP Head Quarters office in Helena. A digital version can be downloaded from the MTNHP web site at the link above.
MTNHP Annual Report for 2009
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is pleased to announce the publication of its 2009 Annual Report. The report summarizes program activities, data products, and data delivery highlights during the 2009 calendar year.
Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is pleased to announce the publication of A Checklist of Montana Vascular Plants. This initial list comprises over 2,500 species reported for the state of Montana and it is expected to be updated periodically as new information becomes available.
New Species of Concern Report
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is pleased to announce a new Species of Concern (SOC) Report. This new on-line report replaces our previous Species of Concern web search as well as the printed Species of Concern reports.
The new reports provide:
- All of the narrative information found in the printed reports.
- Up-to-date status information for SOC species.
- Lists of species additions and deletions over time.
- Enhanced search and filtering functions for generating custom reports.
- Ability to save and print reports to an Adobe PDF file.
- Additional information for the species including documented county occurrences, habitats for animals, and additional status information for plants and birds.
New Maps & Charts in the Montana Field Guide
We recently added new maps and charts to the species accounts in the Montana Field Guide. Check out the Greater Sage Grouse example to see the new maps and charts.
Celebrating Sue Crispin's Service
Today we're celebrating and honoring MTNHP Director Sue Crispin's 29 years of service with The Nature Conservancy and the NatureServe / Heritage Network.
University of Montana Now Administering MTNHP
Administrators at The University of Montana took over management of the Montana Natural Heritage Program on July 1, 2006. The program had been administered by The Nature Conservancy.
Based at the Montana State Library in Helena, the Natural Heritage Program is the state's source for information on the status and distribution of native animals and plants -- especially species of concern and important habitats such as wetlands. Its 18-member staff collects, validates and distributes information while helping natural resource managers and others use this knowledge effectively. The Montana Legislature established Natural Heritage Program in 1983 as part of the State Library, and the Library has contracted with The Nature Conservancy and now UM to manage the program.
"After 20 years of growing a strong Natural Heritage Program, The Nature Conservancy was pleased to turn it over to a state institution," MTNHP Director Susan Crispin said. "In a way, it's a gift from the Conservancy to the people of Montana."
The Nature Conservancy in Montana has worked with landowners and other partners to conserve a half-million acres of wildlife habitat and ranchland in the state since 1979, but Crispin said the organization's primary focus on land conservation made it hard to focus on support for the Natural Heritage Program. "As part of this transition we wanted the Program to become affiliated with a stable, established state institution that has a strong commitment to science and research, so UM was a logical choice and is a great fit for us," she said.
The Natural Heritage Program now is managed by UM's Office of the Vice President for Research and Development. Crispin said this new arrangement offers her organization strong growth potential, as well as opportunities for collaborations with UM researchers. "The University of Montana is very excited about the Natural Heritage Program joining the UM family," said Dan Dwyer, the University's vice president for research and development. "We look forward to collaborating with the Montana State Library to continue to build this very strong and valuable program."
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is part of a network of over 70 similar programs spanning all 50 U.S. states, as well as Canada and Latin America. Montana's program is widely considered one of the best, Crispin said, citing her organization's recent International Award for Technological Advancement.
In addition to providing information on Montana's native species and habitats, the program's staff of expert biologists also conducts field surveys. Among the interesting projects underway right now are surveys of amphibians and bats and a study of wetland changes along the Yellowstone River.
For more information about MTNHP and to tap into its wealth of information on Montana animals, plants and ecosystems, visit the program's web site at mtnhp.org.
from UM News and Events Calendar, University of Montana, July 18, 2006
Natural Heritage Tracker Released
The Montana Natural Heritage Program is pleased to announce the release of the Natural Heritage Tracker web application. This application allows users to see spatial and tabular information associated with records of plant and animal species across Montana. Users can filter by one more species, conservation status, and agency status and zoom in to see records of interest in particular portions of the state. Visit the web site here
