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Group
unveils bison Web site
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
05/02/07 |
The
Buffalo Field Campaign has started a Web site to
raise public knowledge and build support for protecting
the Yellowstone National Park bison and their native
range.
The site also provides public access
to data on animal sightings collected by volunteer members
of the nonprofit, West Yellowstone-based group.
"Wild bison are an irreplaceable
part of America's natural heritage," said Darrell
Geist, a Buffalo Field Campaign member who helped
develop the Web site. "The American people need to
get involved today to ensure that wild bison are
truly recovered as a native wildlife species."
The site, www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/habitat.html,
was unveiled Monday and has two components: an interactive
mapping service and a wildlife database, according to
a written news release from the group.
The interactive mapping service, done
in collaboration with Missoula-based Big Sky Conservation
Institute, allows site visitors to see Yellowstone bison winter
range and migratory corridors, national forest grazing
data and maps; and identify and search land use and ownership
in the Yellowstone bison herd's range.
The wildlife database tracks the sightings
of animals and birds - bison, elk, mule deer, moose, pronghorn
antelope, white-tailed deer, black and grizzly bears,
wolves, coyotes, beavers, eagles, owls, cranes, herons
and many others - made by the group's volunteers in the
Madison Valley and Gardiner Basin.
The recorded sightings are then overlaid
with satellite and topographic maps of the Yellowstone
ecosystem.
"The wildlife database is an outstanding
resource for educators, students, researchers and people
worldwide who want to learn about animal migration and
winter-range habitat outside of Yellowstone National Park,"
Stephanie Munce, wildlife database coordinator, said in
the news release.
Just over a century ago, millions of
American bison roamed North America, according to
the Buffalo Field Campaign. Today, only the Yellowstone
bison herd - numbering 3,600 animals - remains on
its native range.
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