Conservation Blog

Our second annual “Kid Goat Photo Contest” was another big success! Late May brought photo submissions from all over the continent. The competition was fierce and many capable conservationists and photographers alike hit the mountains in search of the fresh kid goats. We hope you enjoy these newborns as much as we do! The photo above was the first submission that arrived on May 23 from Stewart, British Columbia, submitted by Gavin Olesiuk and Josh Veenstra. Well done, gentleman! You are our first place winners. Idaho was next on the board with a kid goat found on May 27th by...

On August 7th, 2015, RMGA volunteers assembled at the Stone Glacier Backpacks headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. Over 20 volunteers from all over the state gathered for a project briefing with regional biologist, Karen Loveless. The objective of the Crazy Mountains volunteer project was to investigate the mountain goat recruitment rate in the range. The Crazy mountains of Montana have been called the “Crown Jewel” of mountain goat hunting opportunities in the lower 48. With 85 permits available in the island mountain range in 2014, and 50 permits in 2015, this area is home to more opportunity for sportsman and women...

On July 6th and 13th of 2015, the Goat Alliance was invited to the Montana Outdoor Science School (MOSS) to teach groups of young backpackers about mountain goat biology. Two different teams of middle age students spent a week each backpacking the Bridger Mountains just north of Bozeman, Montana. We covered mountain goat gender identification, reproductive cycles, and the value of hunter’s dollars in the conservation and management of big game species. After our outdoor classroom sessions, the students and their counselors hit the trails for a full week on the mountain. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Rocky...

Reintroduced in 1994, the resident mountain goats of the Willard Peak unit have pioneered alpine habitat to the north and south of their original release site at Inspiration Point. Utah first reintroduced mountain goats back into their state on Lone Peak in 1967. Those first goats came from Wenatchee, Washington. The Lone Peak herd was later used in 1994 to seed the Willard Peak unit with five animals (one billy and four nannies). In 2000, the Willard herd was augmented with four more mountain goats. Our main objectives of this project were to determine just how far these mountaineering ungulates...