WEST YELLOWSTONE – This weekend Hebgen Lake will host the North American Ice Fishing Circuit’s first West Regional Qualifier. More than 50 teams have registered for the tournament. A handsome payout and a trip to the 2012 National Championships in Rhinelander, Wisc., is on the line.

The weekend’s events begin on Friday with a free seminar and trade show in West Yellowstone, but an air of friendly competition has already gripped the lake.

West Yellowstone teammates Monk Wader and Scott Clark were on the ice Tuesday morning pre-fishing for the tournament. Wader said the fishing has been hit or miss, with a few good browns and rainbows on the bite. He said high lake levels due to ongoing construction at Hebgen Dam and an abundant aquatic food supply has made the angling challenging.

“There has been a big crawdad hatch so the fish are fat and happy,” Wader said. “It’s been a little tougher than usual.”

Clark said he’s looking forward to seeing some familiar faces on the ice and he’s excited Hebgen Lake will be hosting the tournament. He caught a hefty rainbow trout on Tuesday and said a fish like that could land a team in the National Championship.

Kirkwood Resort & Marina on the northwest shore of Hebgen Lake will act as home base for the tournament. NAIFC Vice President Jack Baker said the idea to bring the tournament to West Yellowstone grew out of a conversation with Kirkwood owner Pam Sveinson.

“We ran into Pam at the ice show last year and she started talking about what Hebgen Lake was like,” Baker said. “The more you find out about it, the cooler it is. We are always trying to expand our tournament series. Hebgen is a great lake and a great venue, so it was perfect fit.”

NAIFC currently hosts tournament qualifiers in Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Michigan. Baker said he hopes this weekend’s tournament draws anglers from Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. He said he’s eager to see a western presence represented at this year’s National Championship.

In contrast to the many derby-style tournaments held in Montana, NAIFC tourneys are run like the Bassmasters professional fishing tour. Top finishers from regional tournaments are invited to the National Championships. Top 30 finishers earn points toward an invitation.

Baker said teams must drill their own holes and tow their own gear. Only one rod will be allowed, testing the angler’s skill.

“There’s more to ice fishing than just setting up the tip-ups and waiting for the fish to come,” Baker said. “You are either running and gunning or flopping and stopping.”

Each team can bring a combination of six rainbow and/or cutthroat trout to the Sunday weigh-in. State fishing regulations for Hebgen Lake allow for one cutthroat trout per angler. No brown trout can be used for the weigh-in.

With Hebgen Lake long regarded as a trophy brown trout fishery, Kirkwood Marina Manager Kyle Burden said anglers will need to adjust their fishing strategy and turn back some nice browns. Burden expects a big rainbow or two could put a team in the money.

“It will be challenging fishing,” Burden said. “I would expect folks will be keeping any rainbow they catch because it will be tough to limit out. I don’t think you have a lot of room to pick and choose with just rainbows and cutts.”

Baker said a few teams from the Midwest have registered for the tournament, but he expects a local team to take home the “wood.”

“That’s what we call the regional trophy,” Baker said. “There is prize money, getting into the championship, but what these guys are really after is the winning a qualifier. There are guys that would die to get the ‘wood.’”

Schedule of events:

Friday: Free seminar and trade show at Pinecone Playhouse in West Yellowstone, 6 p.m.

Saturday: Kids Ice Camp at Kirkwood Resort & Marina on Hebgen Lake, 10 a.m.-noon. Tournament registration, 5 p.m.-6:45 p.m. Rules meeting 7 p.m.

Sunday: North American Ice Fishing Circuit West Regional Qualifier on Hebgen Lake, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Weigh-in at Kirkwood Resort & Marina, 1 p.m. Weigh-in results at Happy Hour Bar on Hebgen Lake, 3 p.m.

The registration deadline for the tournament is Friday by 6 p.m. Entry fee is $200 for a team of two. Register online at www.naifc.com or by calling 1-302-252-0428.

By BEN PIERCE Chronicle Outdoors

GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST – From the front door of the Porcupine Cabin, the expanse of the Shields Valley sweeps east across pallid grassland. On the western horizon, the broken crest of the Bridger Ridge fractures the sky. Below it, in the timber, lies the Battle Ridge Cabin.

For a Forest Service ranger setting out in the 1930s, the Porcupine and Battle Ridge cabins would have served as home base while on patrol. A ranger would have traveled on horseback watching for sign of smoke, monitoring livestock and making sure timber wasn’t being poached.

Today, the Porcupine and Battle Ridge cabins are open to the public for rent as part of the Gallatin National Forest’s Cabin Rental Program. A night’s stay at one of the forest’s 23 rustic cabins is to experience a unique part of Montana’s history in some of the state’s most engaging settings.

“In the 1980s, the Gallatin National Forest was among the first forests in the U.S. to outfit its cabins for use by the public,” said Jane Ruchman of the Gallatin National Forest. “It is a wonderful program that allows people to experience what it might be like to be a ranger back in the day.”

In the early 1900s, the Porcupine Cabin played home to a number of Forest Service employees, their families and crews. Rangers would have patrolled the forest between the Porcupine Cabin and nearby Ibex Cabin, perhaps traveling to the communities of Wilsall and Clyde Park for supplies.

The Porcupine Cabin burnt to the ground on March 5, 1914. The current cabin was rebuilt that same year with a bathroom added in April of 1921. In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps remodeled the station. A barn was built to shelter horses and firewood in 1937.

The most recent renovations to the Porcupine Cabin were completed in 2009 and 2010. The Forest Service reroofed and resided the cabin, and added a vault toilet. The cabin has eight bunk beds and an enclosed porch with views of the northern Crazies.

“The Forest Service has done a lot of work on the Porcupine Cabin because it is in such a beautiful location,” Ruchman said on Friday. “We have tried to make the experience as pleasant as possible for visitors.”

Construction of the Battle Ridge Cabin was completed by a crew from the Emergency Relief Administration in 1939. The buildings replaced the dilapidated Ross Creek Station, which was deemed too small for the growing needs of the district.

The Battle Ridge Cabin was “centrally located for grazing administration and game protection … for the administration of timber sales and excellently located for emergency patrolmen near the heaviest recreational use areas on the district,” L.E. Ewan, the district ranger at the time, said. The station “could serve as a general stopover station for forest officers and temporary employees.”

The three buildings at Battle Ridge Station are indicative of the log building architecture employed by the Forest Service in the 1930s and 1940s. The buildings feature scribed logs, ventral saddle notches and “chopper cut” end finishing.

Like many of the cabins in the rental program, the Porcupine and Battle Ridge units have wood stoves for cooking and heating. Firing up a wood stove, smoke billowing from the chimney, recalls the old days of the forest rangers.

For evening entertainment, fire rings near the cabins warm the night with the flicker of flames and the stories of friends.

“One can clearly see why Porcupine Cabin was built in such a majestic setting,” Andrew Babcock of Bozeman said after visiting the station recently. “Thankfully good-hearted people have maintained this cabin for decades so many more can experience this moment.”

While the Porcupine Cabin has benefited from recent renovations, other cabins on the Gallatin have not been as fortunate. Ruchman said some cabins in the system have been dropped from the rental program due to dwindling federal funds. The Kersey Lake and Round Lake cabins near Cooke City, which require considerable effort to reach, were eliminated from the program in the early 2000s.

“It is our goal to maintain and improve these cabins, but the reality is our budgets are declining and it is looking grimmer and grimmer,” Ruchman said. “It is money that the renters pay that helps us maintain these historic structures.”

Most cabins on the Gallatin can be rented for between $20-$45 a night. Renters are expected to follow “rules of occupancy” similar to those followed by Forest Service field crews in the 1920s. Responsibilities include sweeping and mopping the floors, filling the wood box and packing out all trash and personal belongings.

The most popular cabins on the Gallatin National Forest are those with the easiest access, Ruchman said. Weekends fill up quickly for the Battle Ridge Cabin through the summer months.

Reservations for Forest Service cabins can be made through the National Recreation Reservation System website (reserveamerica.com) up to three days before the night of stay, or inside of three days by visiting Gallatin National Forest offices in Bozeman, Big Timber or West Yellowstone.

“We are proud of our cabins,” Ruchman said. “We know the public likes to use them and they are a wonderful opportunity. We hope people will use them, love them and take care of them.”

Ben Pierce can be reached at bpierce@dailychronicle.com and 582-2625. Follow him online at chronicleoutdoors.com and on Twitter @BGPierce.

Montana is a big state with a lot to do. From Yellowstone to Glacier, from the mountains to the plains, the Treasure State has something for everyone. In the spirit of the new year, here’s a list of outdoor pursuits to look forward to in 2012.

Bike the Bangtail Divide

The Bangtail Mountains are a small range tucked neatly between the Bridger and Crazy mountains east of Bozeman. They’re also home to one of the most spectacular mountain biking trails in the state. Completed in 2003, the Bangtail Divide Trail runs approximately 24 miles from Stone Creek to the Brackett Creek Trailhead on the east side of Bridger Canyon.

“The Bangtail Divide has elements of fast downhill riding, elements of long cross-country, technical switchbacks, it is always changing up on you,” Bozeman mountain biker Ben Donatelle said Tuesday. “No matter your skill or ability level, you can challenge yourself.”

Make it happen: Donatelle said the best time to ride the Bangtail Divide is in June when the trail has cleared of snow and the wildflowers are in full bloom. The trail can be ridden in either direction, but most riders prefer to finish at Brackett Creek. An easy shuttle eliminates the need to ride the eight miles of highway back to the Stone Creek Trailhead.

Canoe the White Cliffs

The haunting hoodoos and coulees of the Missouri River Breaks are nowhere more spectacular than on the “Might Mo” between Fort Benton and Judith Landing. Shaped by thousands of years of erosion, the White Cliffs emerge as a band of pale sandstone on the river near Coal Banks Landing. For more than 45 miles the undulations of this rock formation create a wonderland ripe for exploration. Camping and day hikes make for an experience unlike any other.

Connie Jacobs of the Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center said most boaters float the White Cliffs between April and October with June and July the busiest months. The trip from Coal Banks Landing to Judith Landing is 47 river miles.

“Coal Banks to Judith Landing can be done in three days,” Jacobs said. “Four days is good if you want to add some extra hikes on the side.”

Make it happen: The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument website (www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/umrbnm.html) has lots of information on floating the White Cliffs. Two boater’s guides are available for the full 149-mile Wild and Scenic River. An information packet with boat rental and shuttle information is free and can be obtained by calling BLM at 1-877-256-3252.

Backpack the Bob Marshall Wilderness

The Bob Marshall Wilderness in western Montana has long been a destination for seekers of solitude and wild country. Encompassing more than 1 million acres along the crest of the Continental Divide, the wilderness is among the largest roadless areas in the Lower 48. “The Bob” is a refuge for grizzly bears and bull trout and plays home to some of the most spectacular scenery in Montana.

Two main attractions of the Bob Marshall Wilderness are the Chinese Wall and the South Fork of the Flathead River. The Chinese Wall is a 1,000-foot-tall escarpment along the ridgeline of the Continental Divide that extends for 40 miles through the heart of the wilderness. The South Fork of the Flathead River flows nearly 100 miles from its headwaters to Hungry Horse Reservoir and is part of the National Wild and Scenic River System. A ford of the South Fork near Big Salmon Creek adds to the wilderness experience.

“It seems like our trail crews start getting across the South Fork on foot by late July or early August, obviously dependent on snowpack and flows,” Ted Wehunt of the Spotted Bear Ranger District said. “Worst Case scenario, if it is still high, is to head upstream from the White River confluence to Big Prairie and take the bridge across.”

Make it happen: For the full experience, begin your trip at the Mortimer Gulch Trailhead near Augusta. Follow the North Fork of the Sun River to Moose Creek and the Chinese Wall. Descend from Larch Hill Pass to the South Fork of the Flathead River. Hike out Big Salmon Creek to the trailhead at Holland Lake. Plan on 7-10 days to complete the trip.

Cook a foraged meal

Huckleberries, morels, chanterelles, spruce tips, elderberries, cattails, dandelions … the list of Montana’s wild edibles goes on and on. By tuning into the seasons, curious foodies can come up with some healthy, tasty and free meals that will enliven the palate and draw them into the outdoors searching for more.

While wild edibles are available throughout the year, the most abundant seasons in Montana are spring, summer and fall. Look for morel and oyster mushrooms along the riverbottoms in May and June. In July and August, head to the fields for prickly pear cactus and to the mountains in search of huckleberries and ramps. When the weather turns cool and wet in the fall, explore the forest for chanterelle mushrooms.

“We have people coming in all the time, especially in the spring and summer after it rains (looking for guidebooks on wild edibles),” said Cindy Hinson of Country Bookshelf. “Lately people that are doing a lot of hiking and backpacking have been really interested in edible and medicinal plants.”

Make it happen: The most important step in preparing a meal of wild edibles is proper identification. Hinson said Country Bookshelf carries several guidebooks to wild edibles including “Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies” by Linda Kershaw and “Good Mushroom Bad Mushroom” by John Plischke III. In addition to a good field guide, seek out local mycological societies and other foragers to learn more about the plants that surround us.

Fish a new stream

Spoiled we are for choice. With the Yellowstone, Madison and Gallatin rivers a 30-minute drive from Bozeman, it’s easy to fulfill your angling pursuits locally. But Montana’s blue-ribbon trout streams extend across the state. From the wide waters of the Kootenai River near Libby to the crystal flows of Big Spring Creek near Lewistown, the opportunities are varied and abundant.

If you’ve spent the time to explore some of the state’s lesser-known waters, try your hat at some of Montana’s lesser-known fish species. Walleye, carp, channel catfish, northern pike and smallmouth bass all offer anglers an enjoyable diversion from trout fishing.

Make it happen: Finding that secret fishing spot can be a challenge, but it’s a fun one. Get started by making a deal with your fishing partner to take a trip somewhere new. Pick up that atlas and follow those little blue lines to someplace you’ve never been, or better still, some place you’ve never heard of. You might be surprised by what you find.

Gauging the popularity of Bridger Ski Foundation’s community trails program isn’t hard. Take a stroll along Bozeman Creek and the number of cross-country skiers, runners and walkers making use of the trail tells the story well enough.

What’s not so apparent is the limited funding and dogged effort that goes into grooming Bozeman Creek and other trails in BSF’s program. Last year BSF, a non-profit organization, sold just 500 Community Trails Passes which help support grooming efforts. With the high costs of grooming and more than $100,000 invested in equipment, the figures just aren’t adding up.

“These in-town venues are a terrific benefit to the community,” groomer Bob Seibert said on Monday. “Purchasing a Community Trails Pass is the only thing that will keep this going.”

In addition to Bozeman Creek, BSF grooms trails on Bozeman Deaconess Hospital and Bridger Creek Golf Course property, and in Hyalite Canyon.

Hal Stanley, BSF’s director, estimates only 20 percent of trail users purchase passes. Because the trails are on public property, or, in the case of Bozeman Deaconess Hospital and Bridger Creek Golf Course, property that is opened to the public for the purpose of skiing, BSF cannot require people to purchase a pass. Instead, BSF treats pass sales as donations to offset the cost of grooming.

BSF employs four groomers to maintain the trails. They use a combination of Bombardier groomers and snowmobiles to groom. The snowmobiles cost $40 an hour to operate. The Bombardier costs $90 an hour.

Seibert said it takes him about three hours to groom the trails at Lindley Park. He said operating the grooming equipment is expensive and it often breaks down.

In addition to the costs of grooming, Stanley said BSF spend funds on trail maintenance and new trails.

“Our major involvement in Hyalite Canyon is in the summer and fall getting trails ready,” Stanley said. “We put $10,000 in last year for a bridge and excavation work. We had more than 700 volunteer hours on those projects.”

Siebert, a BSF groomer for the past six seasons, said use has increased dramatically in the short time he’s been involved with the program.

“Especially in outlying areas like Hyalite and Sourdough Canyon, it has just completely changed,” Siebert said.

This season, BSF raised the price of a pass from $40 to $50. The price for a family pass increased from $80 to $100.

Stanley said the increased prices come in response to looming federal budget cuts. BSF receives a federally-funded grant through the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission that covers some grooming costs.

“With the budget cuts, those grants are going to disappear,” Stanley said. “We want to shore up the budget so we can operate at the same level in the future.”

Stanley said that if BSF keeps the grant, the organization would like to invest the additional revenue in another groomer and find an in-town venue to take some pressure off Bozeman Creek.

Stanley said the community trail program has positive social and economic impacts.

“I think the trails make a big difference in the way people view Bozeman,” Stanley said. “They offer something to do in the winter and a way to keep healthy. And the ski vendors in town feel the grooming has brought an increase to their Nordic business.”

BSF’s long-term goal is to promote the community ski trails on a national level. Stanley said he hopes the cross-country skiing opportunities attract tourists and boost the local economy.

Tom Rowe of St. Paul, Minn., said BSF is on the right track.

“They have excellent people,” Rowe said while skiing at Lindley Park on Tuesday. “This is the best place to ski in the country, and that is giving due credit to Minnesota which is pretty good too.”

Ben Pierce can be reached at bpierce@dailychronicle.com and 582-2625. Follow him online at chronicleoutdoors.com and twitter.com/BGPierce.

By BEN PIERCE Chronicle Outdoors

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks announced earlier this month that it will implement a River Recreation Management Plan for the Madison River. A Mecca for trout fishermen the world over – and a recreation hotspot for whitewater rafters, float tubers and other users – the plan will address social issues facing the river.

The Madison, among the most heavily-fished rivers in the state, is well regarded for its scenic beauty, variety of water and abundant public access. The question is whether the river’s renown has become a detriment to the experience of those who visit it.

“A few years back FWP prioritized all the rivers in Montana and the Madison came out as the most important,” said Travis Horton, FWP Region 3 fisheries manager. “The department recognized that a plan needed to be done for the Madison River and that it would be controversial.”

River Recreation Management Plans are in place for several Montana rivers including the Beaverhead, Big Hole, Smith and Blackfoot. Regulations on those rivers include measures to mitigate concerns over user conflict, crowding, congestion at access sites and other issues. Among the regulations enacted under those plans are periodic closures of river sections, limits on the number of angler days, limits on commercial use, and resident versus non-resident days and closures.

Robin Cunningham, executive director of the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana, participated in the planning process for the Beaverhead, Big Hole, Smith and Blackfoot rivers.

Regulations implemented on the Beaverhead and Big Hole rivers have been agreeable to some and a thorn in the side of others, Cunningham said.

“In the wake of the Beaverhead and Big Hole planning process, FWP realized they needed guidelines to work out future river management plans,” Cunningham said. “We have a lot of faith in the river management process rules – a consensus driven, data-based process, rather than personal whim.”

Among the guidelines for the management process are that the quality of the river resource should be protected as the first and foremost priority, that planners operate under the assumption that demands on the resource will continue to grow, that Montana’s rivers should provide for a full variety of recreational experiences and that river management should be undertaken based on credible physical, biological, social and economic data.

Beginning in 2008, FWP conducted surveys of river users on the Madison to gauge the quality of experience.

Among the most telling data gathered from those surveys was the response from 143 participants who said they considered themselves to be avid Madison River anglers that had first fished the river more than three years prior to the survey. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they no longer fished or infrequently fished the Madison due to other priorities, lack of time, crowding or dissatisfaction with fishing regulations. Forty-three percent of respondents said they ceased fishing the Madison due to social issues such as crowding, congestions or user conflicts.

Richard Lessner, executive director of the Madison River Foundation, said his organization has focused primarily on the health of the river resource, but that social issues have frequently come up and are an increasing concern on the river.

“For anglers coming from the East Coast, they don’t think our rivers are crowded. Others expect a wilderness experience,” Lessner said. “The issue of crowding is sort of like art – it is in the eyes of the beholder.”

Lessner said one of the issues he hears about is that float tubers on the Lower Madison are “free riders.”

“There is an obvious conflict between anglers and floaters,” Lessner said. “Anglers and guides pay a fee for their licenses that go to pay for maintenance of the resource. Those tubers are riding on the backs of anglers and guides. Should they be required to purchase a permit?

“How the committee goes through balancing all those interests will be an interesting exercise,” Lessner said. “It is not going to be a cake walk.”

Charlie Sperry, FWP recreation management specialist, said FWP Director Joe Maurier will appoint a citizens advisory committee made up of individuals representing a broad array of interests related to the Madison River. He said the committee may include in-state and out-of-state anglers, shuttle drivers, rental operators, guides, landowners and others.

The citizens advisory committee will work in concert with FWP Region 3 staff in Bozeman to write a draft management plan.

“We are looking for a diverse group that can represent the various interests out there,” Sperry said. “We have a general sense of what the issues are, but the management process will help us determine those things and move forward.”

Sperry said the first public components of the plan will be rolled out in January.

“There will be public meetings and plenty of opportunity for comment,” Sperry said. “Our emphasis will be on transparency. The only way to get a good result out of these processes will be to be inclusive.”

Ben Pierce can be reached at bpierce@dailychronicle.com and 582-2625. Follow him online at chronicleoutdoors.com and on Twitter @BGPierce.

By BEN PIERCE Chronicle Outdoors

RED ROCK LAKES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE – The Centennial Valley was blanketed with the first snowfall of the year on Saturday as we passed through Alaska Basin and the expanse of Upper Red Rock Lake appeared through our frosty windshield. We’d packed our tents, our sleeping bags and our cook kits in the trunk, committed to camping in the cold in hopes of witnessing the migration of one of Montana’s most majestic birds.

As we rumbled along the gravel road through a curtain of snow cascading off the Continental Divide, I eyed open pockets of shimmering water resonating with the activity of birds.

But it wasn’t until I heard the muffled call of that first trumpeter swan flying overhead that my heart raced with excitement. The largest swan in North America, trumpeters are among the largest birds on the planet capable of flight. Their broad wings can span up to 8 feet and adults can weigh as much as 30 pounds. They are truly a sight to see.

Once abundant in Montana, trumpeter swans were hunted to near extinction around the turn of the 20th century. The story of the great birds, and their recovery, is the story of Red Rock Lakes itself.

The decimation of a population

We pitched our tents at Upper Lake Campground. Across the lake hundreds of trumpeter swans huddled with mallards, tundra swans and coots in open pockets of water rimmed by ice.

We watched as the trumpeters turned their tails to the sky and fed on the abundant vegetation on the lake bottom. Tundra swans moved en masse about the refuge as the clouds broke near sunset and illuminated Landon Ridge in the distance.

As the temperature dropped with the waning light, refuge manager Bill West dropped by the campground in his pickup truck. The next morning we met up with him at the refuge headquarters in Lakeview for a tour of the area.

West began by telling us about the history of the Centennial Valley and the vital role the refuge has played in the resurgence of trumpeter swan populations in North America. In the 1800s, trumpeters were valued for their plumage by early colonists as a form of frontier currency. Their skins and quill feathers were shipped across the Atlantic to European markets.

Later, as their populations dwindled in the rest of the country, live trumpeters became highly valued. The Centennial Valley proved their last stronghold.

“In the 1910s and 1920s, residents of the valley were selling trumpeters to European aristocracy because the birds were worth $50 a piece and the land here was worth 50 cents an acre,” West said. “There was a market out there for trumpeter swans because they were nearly extinct.”

By 1934, a survey of the trumpeter swan population in Red Rock Lakes, Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area revealed the population of trumpeters had dwindled to a mere 69 birds. The following year, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect what remained of the population.

The recovery effort

The newly established refuge instituted a feeding program for the birds in 1935. Cygnet production increased through the 1960s as more and more trumpeters established a presence in the refuge and the Greater Yellowstone Area.

West said migratory trumpeters flying south from Canada and the Arctic began using the refuge as a place to fuel up on their way south. The feeding likely attracted additional birds, but the lakes themselves offer an excellent food source for trumpeters.

“Wetlands need to dry out occasionally for the vegetation to grow up and extract nutrients out of the soil,” West said. “When the mudflat does dry out, things grow up and then it gets reflooded. A deep lake never does that, but these lakes are shallow so they can also grow submergent vegetation even when the mudflat doesn’t dry out.

“Upper Red Rock Lake is 5 feet deep and Lower is only 2-and-a-half feet deep. The trumpeter swan is the only one with the big long neck and beak to get down to that vegetation, so it is all sitting there waiting for them when they arrive.”

West said the trumpeter’s large size allows the birds to winter in the Greater Yellowstone Area. When the lakes freeze up in November, the birds may move to nearby areas of open water such as the Madison River and Henry’s Fork, or spring fed lakes and streams.

As the trumpeter population rebounded, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked to re-establish trumpeters in other areas of their historic range.

“Today, there are trumpeters in Iowa and Minnesota and parts of Wyoming, and they are all out of Red Rock stock,” West said. “We were taking birds out of here and they were still pumping out enough babies to keep it going.”

Signs of trouble

In 1992, the refuge eliminated its feeding program. The decision came in response to changing ideas of wildlife management. It appears to have had an impact on the resident trumpeter populations at the refuge and in some regions of the Greater Yellowstone Area.

“We believe the birds need to get out of here in the winter and pick up some of their nutrition elsewhere,” West said as we dipped through a culvert on our way to Lower Red Rock Lake. “The birds have to take in food and produce an egg. That whole dynamic of how they get their bodies in shape to nest is where some of the fuzziness is right now.

“We know we were augmenting swan production when we were feeding, but the refuge was established because this area had swans when nowhere else did, so something else is going on.”

West said many of the trumpeters at the refuge are not resident birds, but migratory trumpeters moving through the region. In nearby Yellowstone National Park, officials are also concerned about dwindling resident trumpeter numbers.

Yellowstone National Park biologist Doug Smith said human disturbance and predation could be influencing the population within the park. He said in the mid-1980s the park had 10 to 12 nesting pairs. Today, there are two nesting pairs and the swans have not successfully reproduced since 2008.

“There are so many people hiking in Yellowstone,” West said. “When you get a swan off a nest at 8,000 feet above sea level in May and it goes to 15 degrees that night, the eggs freeze.”

Grace and grandeur

As West drove the pickup along a spur road, we witnessed a group of birds gaining altitude above the lake.

“They’re tough to tell apart, but those are tundra swans,” West said. “They will fly in larger groups and higher than the trumpeters. Trumpeters are actually pretty graceful, but they do have to walk on the water as they take off. When they get the wind behind them, they really move.

“The tundra has a yellow lore, which is where the beak meets the face just below the eye,” he said.

We looked out across the marsh at the distant birds, peering through binoculars for the tiny speck of yellow.

Tundra … tundra … tundra …

In the distance, a small group of birds rose from the water, their broad wings oscillating slowly in the frigid air. These birds appeared to be trumpeters and they were flying gracefully westward beneath the high peaks of the Gravelly Range.

We listened in the silence of the Centennial as their muffled calls filtered through the open windows of the pickup.

It was hard to believe that in a week or two they’d be gone.

And that this magnificent species, once near the brink of extinction, could be threatened again.

An outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, has hit white-tailed deer populations hard in some areas of Montana this hunting season. The disease, which causes fever, organ failure and internal hemorrhaging, has contributed to massive die-offs of deer in the central and eastern portions of the state.

“This year we have heard reports of lots of dead deer in regions four, five, six and seven,” said Ray Mulé, a wildlife manager for Montana, Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Billings. “I would say we have seen die-offs in some areas that are at 50 percent or higher. When we start seeing those kinds of numbers, it is a severe outbreak.”

EHD is a virus transmitted to white-tailed deer by biting gnats. This year’s wet spring and late fall created excellent conditions for large numbers of the tiny insects to hatch and linger late into the season.

Mulé said the intensity of the outbreak has varied depending on area. He said the number of deer dying in a particular location could be due to environmental factors or the density of the deer population.

“EHD is not spread deer to deer, so you see more die-off in areas that have more deer to start with,” Mulé said.

Neil Anderson, FWP Region 3 wildlife lab supervisor, said EHD has not impacted white-tailed deer populations in southwest Montana.

“Usually we don’t find EHD out here for some odd reason,” Anderson said. “It gets to the Rocky Mountain Front and it doesn’t seem to come any further. I think there is evidence of the midges around, but something environmentally may cause the virus not to do that well or the midges aren’t very good at transmitting.”

EHD is a seasonal disease that occurs mostly during late summer and early fall, but this season’s late freezing temperatures helped carry the outbreak well into October. The disease dissipates with the onset of freezing temperatures that kill off the gnats.

Once a white-tailed deer is infected with the virus, the animal has little chance of survival. Mulé said up to 90 percent of white-tailed deer infected by the virus die. The virus incubates for seven to 10 days. Once it matures it typically results in death within 24 hours.

Hunters headed east may discover carcasses of dead deer near water and around riparian habitats. The animals may move to water to drink in response to depletion in body fluids caused by hemorrhaging. White-tailed deer infected with the virus have also been found immersed in water, perhaps in an effort to control fever.

Mulé said the virus is not transmissible to humans. He said eating venison or handling game meat from white-tailed deer infected with EHD is not a danger. Mulé said the virus may be transmissible to mule deer, elk and antelope, but those species have a much greater resistance to the virus.

“Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything we can do to combat EHD,” Mulé said. “The disease is widespread across the whole United States. When it erupts, you know it is going to erupt. You just have to ride it out.”

On a positive note, Mulé said white-tailed deer are a prolific species. Even though they might take a huge population hit this season, they tend to rebound rapidly.

The EHD outbreak has been particularly tough on a region of the state already beleaguered by a harsh winter and widespread flooding which hit antelope and mule deer populations hard. In some hunting districts, antelope numbers are down 70 percent from 2010 estimates.

In response, FWP dramatically decreased the number of tags available in some districts to give those species time to recover.

Despite the setbacks, Mulé said hunters are still heading east to fill their tags.

“People that come out here are typically hunting multiple species,” Mulé said. “If there are lower numbers of mule deer and antelope and the white-tail on top of it, people might think twice, but we haven’t heard from people saying they aren’t coming.”

For the past six years the Sportsmen Against Hunger program sponsored by Safari Club International has been helping the area’s hungry by providing nutritious wild game meat free of charge.

The program has distributed as much as 10,000 pounds of game meat per season to families in Belgrade, Bozeman, Livingston and Big Timber.

“This program fills a need,” said Sam Gesko, president of the Southwest Montana chapter of SCI. “I dare say a need that is more obvious now during the recession we have had.”

The Sportsmen Against Hunger program helps needy individuals and families by seeking donations of game meat from hunters and distributing that meat through local food banks.

Michael McCormick, executive director of Livingston Food Pantry of Park County, said the donations are making a difference in the lives of hundreds of families.

“We are providing emergency food services for an average of 340 families per month,” McCormick said Friday. “That’s about 5 percent of the total households in Park County.”

Gesko said participation in the Sportsmen Against Hunger program is simple.

Hunters who harvest antelope, deer or elk may take the clean, field-dressed animals to one of four local game processors. Participating processors are Yellowstone Wild Game Processing in Bozeman, Budget Game Processing in Belgrade, Sheep Mountain Processing in Livingston and Pioneer Meats in Big Timber. Whole antelope, whole deer and whole or portions of an elk may be donated.

The processors keep track of the donated game animals, process the meat and notify the food banks when they have enough for a delivery. SCI pays for the processing and the food banks help get the meat to those in need.

Gesko said money raised through SCI’s annual banquet is used to pay the processing fees, but he said the program wouldn’t be as much of a success without the help of the processors.

“They invariably process more meat than what they bill us for,” Gesko said. “And they all cut their rates by half when the recession hit.”

McCormick said the Livingston Food Pantry has seen a spike in demand since the recession set in. Through the first three quarters of 2011, McCormick said the pantry has distributed 13 percent more food than last year. And 2010 was a record-setting year.

“The donations have been substantial,” McCormick said. “We try to have some of that meat on hand through the holiday season. We see a lot of young families and teenagers in here that need help.”

Patti Jones of Yellowstone Wild Game Processing said many of the hunters she speaks with are happy to help.

“We see the same hunters coming in year after year,” Jones said. “Some say they have all these tags and their freezer is full. We tell them they are your tags and you like to hunt. The food bank needs meat. Bring it in.”

Last hunting season, Jones said Yellowstone Wild Game Processing delivered 2,483 pounds of meat to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. She said they process the meat exactly the same way they would for any other customer, delivering chops, roasts, steaks and burger.

“We are firm believers in contributing to the community in any way we can,” Jones said. “This is what we do best and the hunters that come in to make a donation are committed to the cause.”

McCormick said the spirit of giving is essential to the welfare of the community. “It is very generous of hunters to participate in the program,” McCormick said. “We certainly appreciate their effort. They are helping to feed a lot of people.”

For the past six years the Sportsmen Against Hunger program sponsored by Safari Club International has been helping the area’s hungry by providing nutritious wild game meat free of charge.

            The program has distributed as much as 10,000 pounds of game meat per season to families in Belgrade, Bozeman, Livingston and Big Timber.

             “This program fills a need,” said Sam Gesko, president of the Southwest Montana chapter of SCI. “I dare say a need that is more obvious now during the recession we have had.”

            The Sportsmen Against Hunger program helps needy individuals and families by seeking donations of game meat from hunters and distributing that meat through local food banks.

            Michael McCormick, executive director of Livingston Food Pantry of Park County, said the donations are making a difference in the lives of hundreds of families.

            “We are providing emergency food services for an average of 340 families per month,” McCormick said Friday. “That’s about 5 percent of the total households in Park County.”

Gesko said participation in the Sportsmen Against Hunger program is simple.

Hunters who harvest antelope, deer or elk may take the clean, field-dressed animals to one of four local game processors. Participating processors are Yellowstone Wild Game Processing in Bozeman, Budget Game Processing in Belgrade, Sheep Mountain Processing in Livingston and Pioneer Meats in Big Timber. Whole antelope, whole deer and whole or portions of an elk may be donated.

            The processors keep track of the donated game animals, process the meat and notify the food banks when they have enough for a delivery. SCI pays for the processing and the food banks help get the meat to those in need.

            Gesko said money raised through SCI’s annual banquet is used to pay the processing fees, but he said the program wouldn’t be as much of a success without the help of the processors.

            “They invariably process more meat than what they bill us for,” Gesko said. “And they all cut their rates by half when the recession hit.”

            McCormick said the Livingston Food Pantry has seen a spike in demand since the recession set in. Through the first three quarters of 2011, McCormick said the pantry has distributed 13 percent more food than last year. And 2010 was a record-setting year.

            “The donations have been substantial,” McCormick said. “We try to have some of that meat on hand through the holiday season. We see a lot of young families and teenagers in here that need help.” 

            Patti Jones of Yellowstone Wild Game Processing said many of the hunters she speaks with are happy to help.

            “We see the same hunters coming in year after year,” Jones said. “Some say they have all these tags and their freezer is full. We tell them they are your tags and you like to hunt. The food bank needs meat. Bring it in.”

            Last hunting season, Jones said Yellowstone Wild Game Processing delivered 2,483 pounds of meat to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. She said they process the meat exactly the same way they would for any other customer, delivering chops, roasts, steaks and burger.

            “We are firm believers in contributing to the community in any way we can,” Jones said. “This is what we do best and the hunters that come in to make a donation are committed to the cause.”

            McCormick said the spirit of giving is essential to the welfare of the community.“It is very generous of hunters to participate in the program,” McCormick said. “We certainly appreciate their effort. They are helping to feed a lot of people.”

From documenting the grizzly bear migration in the Centennial Mountains to the discovery of rare plant life on Mount Everest, adventurers and scientists are making a difference for the planet.

Helping them succeed is Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, a new Bozeman-based organization dedicated to linking explorers with scientists.

On Tuesday at the Ellen Theatre, ASC will host Cèline Cousteau – granddaughter of ocean pioneer Jacques Yves Cousteau – and Jon Bowermaster – explorer of the planet’s coastlines – for an evening discussion of the world’s seas and those who rely on them. The event is a fundraiser for ASC and a chance for the community to learn about its mission.

ASC was founded in January by Gregg Treinish of Bozeman. Recognized as the 2008 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Treinish completed the first-recorded trek down the 7,800-mile spine of the Andes Mountains in South America.

“There is such a tremendous void that exists in our knowledge of the planet from our impacts to the oceans to high altitude,” Treinish said. “Scientists often don’t have the resources to get there, whether it is money, skills or time. By tapping into citizen scientists, we can greatly advance the knowledge that can be gathered.”

Treinish said his desire to get involved in collecting scientific data grew out of a personal void he discovered through his own exploration. Following the Andean expedition, Treinish said he had a consistent feeling of selfishness. He wanted to be doing more for the areas he was exploring.

Treinish began speaking with friends and mentors about his feelings and found that others shared his frustration – they wanted to give back to the regions they were visiting, but didn’t know how.

“Having that passion for adventure and research, I founded Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation to give people those tools,” Treinish said.

Bowermaster, who participated in a 10-year exploration of the world’s coastlines, said the connection between adventurers and scientists is important for anyone who cares about the world in which we live.

“I think we are past the point where adventure for adventure’s sake is a reasonable excuse,” Bowermaster, of Stone Ridge, N.Y., said Monday. “Maybe if you are in your twenties and climbing peaks or taking first runs of rivers, but at some point I think it is arrogant to have an adventure without a connection to science.”

Treinish said ASC recruits adventurers based on the research needs of scientists. He said research organizations will contact ASC with specific needs and the organization will put the word out looking for adventurers exploring areas where data may be gathered.

This summer, ASC recruited 40 volunteers to study grizzly bear migrations in the Centennial Mountains. Treinish said the group was able to survey the length of the Centennial Range and identified at least three grizzly bears.

According to Treinish, a reduction in white bark pine (the nuts of which are a major food source for bears) throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem could correlate to increased grizzly bear migration in the Centennials, a vital link between the park and the forests of western Idaho.

Treinish said data gathered by ASC in the Centennials may be used by the Bureau of Land Management and Natural Resources Defense Council for upcoming revisions to the Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan.

Bowermaster, who serves on ASC’s board of directors, said the research needs of scientists are often best suited for adventurers, so the connections formed by ASC are mutually beneficial.

“People are realizing that any good adventure has to have a scientific aspect and vice versa, some of these places are only reachable by people with certain skills,” Bowermaster said.

Earlier this year, ASC connected alpine climbers Willie Benegas and Damian Benegas of Salt Lake City with scientist Rusty Rodriguez of the University of Washington.

The Benegas brothers discovered a plant growing at 22,000 feet near Camp 2 on Mount Everest last year. The climbers were able to collect a small sample of the plant that is currently being analyzed.

“What they are looking for is a fungus that is symbiotically living with that plant life,” Treinish said. “That fungus could allow the plant to live in those extreme environments. Learning about a fungus like that could lead to an ability to conduct agriculture in more extreme environments.”

Treinish said Tuesday’s presentation is a chance for the public to learn more about the work ASC is doing locally and around the world. Proceeds from the event will benefit ASC’s work.

“The goal of our organization is to change the way people spend their time outside,” Treinish said. “We want people to get involved as volunteers, as members. We want this community to embrace ASC because this is where we are headquartered.”

By BEN PIERCE Chronicle Outdoors

It was a daring plan executed to perfection, an image that still captivates today — Hans “No Way” Rey soaring above the gridlock on a packed 405 freeway in Orange County, Calif. Clad in a hot pink helmet and shorts, a mass of drivers aghast around him, Rey rising above, just so damn cool.

It was the image that launched the career of Bozeman photographer Bob Allen. Recognized for his photographic contributions to the sport, Allen was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Las Vegas last week.

“Hans can bunny hop a couple of feet in the air,” Allen, 50, said of the photograph. “We got him hopping on top of a car, so you don’t know if he is flying through the air or what in a pre-Photoshop world.

“We went out looking for the best light, but more importantly, a plan, a getaway. It was a full commando production,” Allen said. “We ended up with the help of 12 people in six cars. We maximized the visuals of a traffic jam and shot these photos and got away with it.”

The next month Allen and Rey caught a flight to England with his photos and a story to tell. His image of Rey ran on the cover of the July 1989 issue of Mountain Biker Magazine and his vision set the stage for a whole new approach to mountain biking photography.

The development of Allen’s photographic aesthetic began in the summer of 1979 when he took a family vacation to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. His father shot an old Pentax K1000 camera with a handheld light meter. They spent the trip discussing optics and f-stops and shutter speeds. It was the first time Allen had created photographs thinking about light and time.

The next year, after graduating high school, Allen joined the Navy. He moved to London where he purchased an Olympus OS1 camera system and began photographing the tumultuous moments of 1980s England.

“It was anti-nuclear demonstrations, IRA bombings, the punk scene, royal weddings, all of that,” Allen said. “The camera was a means to go back later and have another record and another reference to grow from.”

Many of Allen’s images from his years in the Navy (which took him around the world) are powerful for their starkness and honesty — a black and white image of a Kenyan woman running her fingers through the sand, London police officers huddled together during a demonstration in Trafalgar Square, smoke lifting from the deck of an aircraft carrier as a jet lands in the Pacific.

After five years, five months and 27 days, Allen was discharged from the Navy. He returned to Bozeman in the spring of 1985 and took his first backcountry mountain bike ride to the top of Hyalite Peak. He’s got a couple slides from that trip of him and his friend grinning ear to ear on the summit.

Allen later moved to Southern California to study photography at Orange Coast College. While there, Allen got involved in bicycle racing and hooked up with a crew of mountain bikers known as the Laguna RADS.

It was through the RADS that Allen met Rey, a long-haired, foreign-accented, mountain biking dynamo. Rey was the World Trials Champion at the time. He and Allen clicked immediately.

“Hans was sponsored by Swatch and they ran an ad of him bunny hopping off a taxi on some side street in New York City,” Allen said. “The next evolution of that shot would be doing it on a gridlocked freeway.”

Allen spent the next year travelling the world with Rey doing “stupid human tricks.”

“There was always a market for what we were doing,” Allen said. “It was a tough way to earn a living, but a good way to learn a lot.”

Allen returned to the U.S. in 1990 and began photographing World Cup and NORBA mountain bike races. He and fellow Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Tom Moran were among the first photographers to introduce studio lighting techniques to bike photography.

During the early ’90s, Allen’s images helped lay the visual foundation for a new generation of bike photography. He focused his lens on the exhilaration, agony and oftentimes outrageous aspects of the sport.

In a sense, Allen focused his lens on himself.

“I have always been fascinated in capturing the motion in the photo that I feel as a sensation while I am riding,” Allen said. “It has always been a challenge to capture the stoke I get from riding fast in the woods, trying to translate that visually.”

In 1993, the first issue of Bike Magazine hit newsstands across the country. Then-editor Steve Casimiro said Allen’s images were instrumental in the early days of Bike, redefining a genre primarily dedicated to gear and racing. He said Allen’s images resonated with readers of the magazine because of his passion for the sport.

“There is a difference between a great shot and capturing the feeling of the moment — that fear, adrenaline and adventure associated with mountain biking,” Casimiro said. “Bob is fantastic at that.”

As his passion for mountain biking continued to grow through the ’90s, Allen became an ambassador for the sport. He is a founding member of the Montana Mountain Bike Alliance, an organization working to preserve access to trails on public lands across the state.

“Since Bob has shifted from seemingly monomaniacal photographer to an advocate for mountain biking, he has really found his voice,” said Bozeman mountain biker Mike Harrelson.

And Allen’s photographic vision has changed to reflect that transition.

“I think my photography has stepped back to reflect our place in the landscape,” Allen said, “and the bigger question of what is appropriate for cycling, where do we belong, how do we belong and what are our responsibilities once we are there as part of the larger conservation community?”