Some effects of rural subdivisions on wildlife and wildlife habitat around Lolo Montana

isio n s on V Jildlife and W ild life H a b ita t around Lolo, Montana (121 p p .) D ir e c to r: H. E a rl H illa r d The e f f e c t s of su b d iv is io n s on w i ld l if e and w ild lif e h a b ita t were s tu d ie d f o r two y e a rs b eg in n in g in J u ly 1973.The 10,189 a cre stu d y a re a was lo c a te d in th e B itte r r o o t V alley a re a of W estern Montana.Land use w ith in th e stu d y a re a was predom inantly a g r i c u l tu r a l b u t r e s i d e n t i a l lan d development a c c e le r a te d between 1957 and 1973* Ownership maps f o r p r e -s u b d iv is io n and c u rre n t p e rio d s , and a lan d use map f o r th e p r e -s u b d iv is io n p e rio d were p re p a re d .A e ria l photo graphs were u sed to d e lin e a te cover ty p e s and to measure th e a c re ages o f each cover type d e stro y ed or a lte r e d by s u b d iv is io n .Obser v a tio n s ox w i l d l i f e , w i l d l i f e h a b i t a t , dom estic dogs, and people were made alo n g s ix ro u te s lo c a te d a d ja c e n t to r e s i d e n t i a l a r e a s .E x tensive in te rv ie w s were conducted w ith lo c a l r e s i d e n ts .S u b d iv isio n s o fte n le sse n e d th e in te r s p e r s io n betw een cover ty p e s , broke th e c o n tin u ity of dense cover a re a s u t i l i z e d as tr a v e l cor r id o r s and escape r o u te s , and reduced th e t o t a l acreage o f cover a re a s u t i l i z e d as s a n c tu a r ie s .The most h e a v ily used cover a re a s were th o se se p a ra te d from s u b d iv is io n s by p h y sic a l b a r r i e r s .The d e n s ity of hom esites la r g e ly determ ined th e amounts o f food, w a te r, and cover rem aining w ith in r e s i d e n t i a l developm ents.Medium-sized c a rn iv o re s , and many a v ia n s p e c ie s d isp la y e d a g r e a te r a b i l i t y t o adapt t o th e h a b ita t changes caused by re sid e n t i a l lan d development th a n o th e r s p e c ie s .E lk ( Cervus e la p h u s) usage o f w in te r range a re a s a d ja c e n t to su b d iv is io n s occu rred m ostly d u rin g p e rio d s of w in te r s t r e s s .E lk , w h i te -ta ile d d eer ( Q docoileus v ir g in ia n u s ) , and coyotes (C anis l a t r a n s ) u t i l i z e d th e s t r i p s ' of f o r e s te d a re a s around su b d iv is io n s as t r a v e l c o r r id o r s .In cid en ces of dog harassm ent o f w i ld li f e s p e c ie s have in c re a se d w ith s u b d iv is io n developm ent.Nine management su g g e stio n s were made, alo n g w ith a p ro p o sal f o r f u tu re s tu d ie s .