Clark's Nutcracker - Spring 2026

This spring, we’ve continued our work to capture and tag Clark’s Nutcrackers around Yellowstone National Park.

In 2020 the University of Colorado-Denver (UCD) and RCF attempted to capture Clark’s Nutcrackers in Yellowstone National Park. Our effort was interrupted when Covid shut down the park, but since then our work has developed into a multi-year project aimed at understanding movement patterns and habitat use of Clark’s Nutcrackers across the Yellowstone Ecosystem (YE). Since 2021, Ricketts Conservation Foundation staff have teamed up with UCD researchers to trap Nutcrackers in the park, from Mammoth Hot Springs, to the Lamar Valley, and south to Canyon Junction. We capture, band, and attach transmitters to individual Nutcrackers so that we can track their movements across the ecosystem in every season.

Figure 1. A newly captured Clark Nutcracker getting fitted for its transmitters by researchers from RCF and the University of Colorado

Our trapping approach remains straightforward and effective. Bait is deployed at selected sites and monitored over several days before traps are set. Steller’s Jays and Canada Jays frequently find the bait first, but once they arrive, we focus our efforts exclusively on nutcrackers. This year, we expanded our effort beyond park boundaries. We established new trapping sites in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest in Montana to expand our banding opportunities. This expansion is important, as the YE extends well beyond the park’s borders, and to understand nutcracker movement we need to sample across that broader landscape. This work proved successful, and we caught five individuals at one of our new locations.

In addition to capturing new individuals, we encountered birds that we trapped previously. Over the years, we have marked each captured bird with a unique color leg-band combination. This allows us to identify birds banded in the previous seasons and recapture individuals with old, non-functioning, transmitters. Upon recapturing these birds, we assessed their body condition and removed their units, reducing the load on the bird and allowing them to continue their lives unencumbered by the transmitter and harness. There’s something unique and special about releasing such a bird back into the wild after it carried a tag that contributed greatly to our understanding of its movements and habitat use.

With a new cohort of seven transmitters deployed in 2026, our project continues to build a growing dataset on annual nutcracker movement patterns and habitat use. As the dataset expands, so does our ability to better understand the ecological role of Clark’s Nutcrackers across the YE. Increasing our sample size will allow us to conduct more robust analyses of how these birds use the landscape and their primary food resource, the whitebark pine.

Clark's Nutcracker with backpack transmitter and color bands.

Collaboration on the Dollar Lake Fire

Figure 1. Dollar Lake Fire burns along the west shore of upper Green River Lake. Squaretop Mountain is in the background.
Bridger-Teton National Forest (Source: www.wyomingnews.com)

On August 21, 2025, a summer thunderstorm developed across the western Wyoming skies. The area was ripe for wildfire as there had been little rain in the region since spring. We distinctly recall this storm, because the cell moved eastward across Jackson Fork Ranch during the Saving Yellowstone Conservation Summit. Not long into the afternoon sessions, cell phone emergency tones began sounding in the tent, warning of a nearby fire. As the afternoon progressed, Summit participants could see an expanding plume of dark smoke, 28 miles to the northeast of us. While we were not in harm’s way, others were.

As is the case with most late-summer forest fires, the Dollar Lake Fire was most likely lightning-caused. Burning in thick timber on the Bridger-Teton National Forest’s (BTNF) Pinedale Ranger District and driven by strong winds, it burned 600 acres within hours. It eventually grew to over 19,000 acres according to the Teton Interagency Fire incident management page (Figure 2).

The aftermath of a wildfire presents a unique opportunity for positive collaboration among multiple user groups with a strong connection to the resource. Fire is an important part of landscape ecology and must be considered as part of the United States Forest Service’s (USFS) multiple use management mandate. There are many factors that play into fire recovery, where multiple use encourages collaboration, finding solutions that build relationships, exploring different opportunities for wildfire recovery, and leveraging funding from different sources to mitigate or offset costs for lost and damaged infrastructure.

Figure 2. Area affected by the Dollar Lake Fire.

The USFS requires that livestock on permitted grazing allotments be excluded from burned areas for a minimum of two years, or until 60% of vegetative ground cover is achieved in the area burned. However, wildfires often don’t burn landscapes evenly, nor do they discriminate against jurisdictional boundary lines, or fencelines. In the Dollar Lake Fire, the burned area covered only a portion of two different pastures within the allotment, leaving unburned vegetation available for livestock consumption. The fire also burned several miles of physical fencing. Replacing them by the onset of grazing season was unreasonable, which left the permittees with few practical options that would allow them to graze the area in 2026.

One out-of-the-box solution suggested when reviewing options for the 2026 grazing season was the use of virtual fencing. Along with a modified livestock grazing rotation and stocking rate, permittees chose to explore the idea of virtual fence technology to exclude cattle from the burned area.

In 2024, the Ricketts Conservation Foundation established the Virtual Fencing Conservation Initiative and partners with producers on a variety of projects scattered across the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Virtual fencing is where livestock are fitted with a GPS collar that is programmed with “virtual” fences, or perimeters, within which livestock are contained. This prevents them from accessing burned areas, allowing for adequate vegetation recovery.

The Ricketts Conservation Foundation is thrilled to partner with the permittees, the Sublette County Conservation District, and the USFS in 2026 and 2027 on the Dollar Lake Fire virtual fence implementation. Using virtual fence to exclude livestock from grazing the burned area is key. This will result in two years of grazing deferment, allowing for successful wildfire recovery in the area. Equally important, the collaboration creates an opportunity for livestock producers to implement a novel technology year-round. The economic, social, and conservation benefits on private land can be further explored by both livestock producers and the Ricketts Conservation Foundation using the captured results. We hope that this approach of simultaneously addressing the concerns of land managers and producers can become more widely used within the Yellowstone Ecosystem and beyond.

2025 Fall Bird Banding Summary

American Redstart- This juvenile was the first of its species documented in the Hoback Basin

Ricketts Conservation Foundation’s 2025 fall bird banding season began on August 25th at our songbird migration station. Unlike over the summer when we catch songbirds using ten nets at nine rotating locations, our fall station is comprised of fifteen nets that are run every day at the same location. In autumn, disturbing nesting birds is no longer a concern, and instead our aim is to discover how migrating birds are using a select patch of stop-over habitat. For our fall banding efforts, a location on Jackson Fork Ranch along the Hoback River is utilized. This patch is comprised of riparian habitat with Willows and Cottonwood trees as well as tall Spruces and some Pines. The diverse flora and fresh water at this spot make it an appealing location for migrating birds to stop to rest and refuel along their journey south for the winter.

Fall songbird migration in western Wyoming is a fairly short phenomenon, with the bulk of the small migratory bird species moving through the region during the month of September. Due to some bad weather in late September and early October, our final morning of songbird banding was September 27th. Despite ending a few days earlier than we otherwise would have, it was an excellent season. The songbird crew banded 739 new birds and had 74 unique recaptures, comprised of 44 different species (Figure 1). Our 2025 total of 813 captures was a new record high, up from 694 in 2024 and 515 in 2023. Our most abundant bird caught in fall continues to be Wilson’s Warbler (113), but we also had a significant increase of Dark-eyed Juncos. In 2025 we banded 109 Juncos, compared to only 16 in 2024. Our 2025 fall season also had a few exciting first-time species captured- American Redstart, Clay-colored Sparrow, and Townsend’s Warbler are all uncommon migrants in western Wyoming. The Redstart and Sparrow species had not been previously documented in the Hoback basin, and this was only the 3rd fall record of Townsend’s Warbler in the area. These species are not known to regularly breed in our region and the individuals we caught this fall were likely migrating from breeding grounds in Montana, Idaho, or Canada to wintering grounds in Mexico.

On the evening of September 1st, we began our target banding effort for Northern Saw-whet Owls. Saw-whets are a small species of migratory owl that RCF biologists began to study in 2021. Since 2023, we have been conducting songbird banding in the mornings and Saw-whet Owl banding at night at the same location on Jackson Fork Ranch. Several miles up the river from the songbird and Saw-whet Owl banding station, we established a second Owl banding site in 2024, specifically to catch Boreal Owls. Boreal Owls are larger than Saw-whets but still very small compared to other familiar owl species like Great-horned Owl. Boreal Owls are considered a nomadic species but are under-studied in North America. Through our banding efforts, we hope to better understand their winter movements and juvenile dispersal. Both Boreal and Saw-whet Owls breed in high elevation forests of the Yellowstone Ecosystem, and are well insulated for cold weather with lots of body feathers, particularly the Boreals. While most Saw-whets migrate out of the area by the end of October, many Boreals are likely to spend all winter in the region.

Our 2025 Northern Saw-whet Owl season ran until October 31st, and over the 2-month capture period we banded 213 new Saw-whets. While catching over 200 of these birds is still a very good season, it was fewer owls than the past 2 years- we banded 320 in 2024 and 253 in 2023. Saw-whet Owls are known to sometimes have large year-to-year fluctuations in local population size, likely tied to small mammal populations and juvenile survival. Catching over 300 last fall was exceptional, so having our number decrease this year was not a big surprise.

Since Boreal Owls can overwinter in our area and have unpredictable nomadic movements, we continue to try catching them into November. This year our final night of Boreal Owl banding was November 22nd. In slightly over 2 months of effort we banded 23 Boreals Owls. This was a big drop off from last year’s total of 68. Boreal Owl populations likely experience yearly fluctuations similar to the Saw-whet Owls, but we are still learning about their population size and seasonal occurrence in our area. Given the overall perceived scarcity of Boreals, catching 23 this year was still very valuable, and we hope to continue to gain a better understanding of their population with on-going fall banding efforts.

2025 was another successful year for RCF’s fall migration banding operation and it would not have been possible without all the hard work of our seasonal banding crew- Noah Price, Olivia Fortuna, Wyatt Westerkamp, and Aiden Gifford. Without their passion and dedication, this banding season would not have been possible! Below is a chart of all our captures from this past fall. With the continued support of Ricketts Conservation Foundation and Jackson Fork Ranch, we look forward to continuing to use bird banding to study migratory songbirds and owls in the Hoback Basin.

Figure 1. Capture results summary for 2025 fall migration bird banding.

Ricketts Conservation Foundation - National Loon Center Research Grants

Since 2018, the Ricketts Conservation Foundation (RCF) has studied loons in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. However, Joe Ricketts' commitment to loon conservation stretches back to 2013, when he funded loon conservation efforts in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, Minnesota, and Massachusetts. While the loons in Yellowstone are the southernmost population in North America, the vast majority of common loons are found in Canada, Alaska, and the northern tier of the lower 48 states (Photo 1). These birds also face conservation challenges, and RCF is doing its part to help these birds on a continental scale.

Photo 1. Breeding range and migration routes of the Common Loon (Gavia immer) in North America courtesy of Boreal Birds (https://www.borealbirds.org/bird/common-loon).

In 2025 RCF donated $1,000,000 towards the National Loon Center’s (NLC) new headquarters in Crosslake, Minnesota (Photo 2). In addition, RCF committed to providing $100,000/year from 2025 to 2029 to spur conservation-related research on Common Loons throughout North America.

Photo 2. Design of new National Loon Center headquarters in Crosslake, MN.

In the first year of funding conservation-related research, we initiated a range-wide genetics study with the Bird Genoscape Project at Colorado State University. Our goal is to better understand genetic variation in the Common Loon. This species is found throughout Canada, Alaska, and the northern tier of the lower 48 states. However, there are also breeding populations in Greenland and Iceland. We hope to obtain samples from all these populations so conservationists have a comprehensive understanding of their interactions, migration routes, and wintering grounds.

Currently, we are reviewing 12 great proposals for 2026 and now have the difficult decision to decide which to fund. Thankfully, RCF and NLC have an excellent scientific advisory council making these decisions, so we look forward to their decisions. Stay tuned!

A Wildlife-Friendly Fence Story

Fences are a major obstacle to wildlife migrations in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Since its inception in 2018, the Ricketts Conservation Foundation (RCF) has partnered with Jackson Fork Ranch (JFR) to make wildlife friendly fence modifications to the bison fence that stretches along the upper Hoback River. Beginning in 2019, RCF worked with JFR and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) to install 22 wildlife crossings in the fence. This improved wildlife movements across the ranch greatly. In 2024, JFR decided to enhance the wildlife crossings even further. They proposed to design let-down fence sections up to 1200’ in length in targeted areas where known mule deer migration corridors cross the ranch.

Photo 1. Holes are drilled and hinges are placed at the ends of each section of fence to allow the fence to pivot.

After consulting with WGFD, RCF assisted with this effort in spring of 2025 by inventorying the identified migration corridors at Horse Pasture Draw and Nutting Draw. JFR then hired a local welding company to modify the fence posts. The welder added sleeves at the bottom of some posts, which allow for the post to be lifted off its base easily. Other posts have rebar stays that the fence was then tied to, with cups to hold the rebar in place on both the bottom and top of the fence post. In addition, by modifying the ends of each section, the fence can pivot (Photo 1), lay flat, and thus present less of an obstacle to migrating animals.

Once completed, these sections of fence were to be let down on October 15 (Photo 2), just in time for the fall mule deer migration. However, the Jackson Fork Ranch is surrounded primarily by the U.S. Forest Service Hoback Grazing Allotment, which permits seasonal grazing by cattle and horses. Wyoming is a fence-out state, so it was imperative to coordinate with neighboring users regarding the timing of letting the fence down. RCF coordinated with the Hoback Grazing Association so JFR could reach its goal to improve wildlife movement across the ranch without complicating roundup.

Photo 2. A section of fence that has been let down for wildlife passage.

RCF and JFR will continue to work with WGFD to monitor the use of these segments by migrating wildlife and determine if any additional modifications need to be made to the fence in the future.

As a private landowner, it’s important to continue learning about your property and how to align your vision with what takes place in the surrounding landscape. It’s never too late to improve your management when you find out something you didn’t know that you didn’t know. In this case JFR was unaware of the mule deer migration corridor when they erected the bison fence. However, once they were made aware of this, they worked with RCF to remedy the situation.

RCF continues to partner with WGFD, focusing on additional opportunities to improve mule deer migration movement within the Hoback River watershed in 2026. We will continue to support landowners that now know what they didn’t know before and choose to reduce their impact on the landscape through wildlife friendly fence improvements.

Stay tuned for more information in 2026.

2025 Summer Bird Banding Summary

View of the Wyoming Mountains from one of our Control sites. Aspen, Conifers, and Sagebrush are common components of the habitat at all our banding sites.

Ricketts Conservation Foundation’s 2025 bird banding season ran from May 31st to August 8th. With the help of our fantastic crew of seasonal bird biologists, and a summer of beautiful weather, we had a fun and very successful season of catching and studying breeding songbirds.

RCF biologists have been using bird banding to study avian breeding activity in different habitats around Monument Ridge since 2018. Following the MAPS protocol, RCF biologists capture a variety of small songbirds, take a series of measurements to access the bird’s health, and attach a small, lightweight metal ring to the bird’s leg with a unique 9-digit number.

In our first year, 3 stations were established to compare bird communities in areas affected by wildfire, areas scheduled for Forest Service prescribed thinning and controlled burning, and areas of old growth Aspen without any influence of fire. Our banding operation has grown over the years, and 2025 was our first year operating 9 banding stations- 3 for each type of area. We operate each station once every 10 days, for 6 hours starting just before sunrise; each site was operated 7 times over the course of the season.

Collectively we caught 49 species of birds, banded 1,450 individuals, and processed 431 recaptures. Of our recaptures, 145 were banded in the previous year. All our recaptures are of individuals that were banded at one of our sites in the area; we have not yet ever captured a bird banded away from our sites at Monument Ridge. Our oldest recapture this summer was a female Brown-headed Cowbird, who was banded as an adult in 2020, and is at least 6 years old now. Our most common species banded were Dark-eyed Junco (148), American Robin (115), and MacGillivray’s Warbler (115). Above is a chart of all of our captures from this summer.

All the banding sites are comprised of 10 mist nets suitable for capturing small birds, and we see variation in species composition and abundance in different habitats. In our wildfire burned sites, we have young regenerating stands of Aspen trees, which serve as excellent habitat for songbirds. In 2025, we banded a total of 679 birds at our wildfire sites. Due to a lack of fire-induced Aspen regeneration at our other sites, we catch fewer birds there- 460 were banded at our treatment sites (which have been thinned by the Forest Service but not burned) and 311 were banded at our control sites. Looking back at our 3 most frequently banded species of birds, we can see differences in their abundance at different sites. For our most common species, Dark-eyed Junco, only 12% were banded at the wildfire burn sites, and 88% were banded at the un-burned sites. However, for MacGillivray’s Warblers 57% were banded at our 3 wildfire sites, and the other 43% were spread out across the 6 un-burned sites. And then there’s American Robins, which were caught by fairly even numbers across all 9 sites.

Adult male Rufous hummingbird with an ultra-lightweight transmitter attached to its back.

This summer, RCF also had a hummingbird bander visit our sites to provide specialized training to our lead and experienced banders. Because of their very small size, hummingbirds require a separate permit to be allowed to band them. By training our banders to tag the hummingbirds captured at our sites, we plan to begin more closely studying how migrating hummingbirds are using the regenerating Aspen habitat in burned environments.

2025 was a historic year for RCF’s banding operation, and it would not have been possible without all the hard work of our seasonal banding crew- Amaya Bechler, Alan Moss, Wyatt Westerkamp, Aiden Gifford, and Cheyenne Esposito. Without their help and dedication, our terrific season would not have been possible! With the continued support of Ricketts Conservation Foundation, we look forward to continuing to use bird banding to study songbirds in the GYE and help inform forest management decisions to best conserve the beautiful diversity of migratory birds in our region.

Riparian Restoration & Beavers

Beavers are considered ecosystem engineers. They are vulnerable to predators when on land, so they have adapted to avoid predation by building dams within streams. These dams create ponds where they can swim from their lodge to water’s edge to harvest the willow and cottonwood branches that they store in the bottom of the pond as a winter food supply. Their dams hold back water, creating wetlands that slow water movement across the landscape. This allows infiltration into the underlying soil and groundwater recharge, providing a source of water to maintain stream flow during dry periods.

While beavers are valuable for ecosystem function and maintenance, their pelts have also been found valuable in the fashion industry. Two hundred years ago western Wyoming was the epicenter of the global trade in beaver pelts. Felted beaver fur was turned into fashionable hats for European gentlemen, increasing the demand for beaver products. This led trappers to pursue beavers towards extirpation in almost every watershed in the Intermountain West. Fashions changed in the 1840s, but by then most of Wyoming’s beavers were gone. Even now, it’s believed that beaver numbers in the western USA are a fraction their historic levels. Beavers on the landscape aren’t without challenges, despite their ecological and economic value. They don’t distinguish between streams and ditches, creating conflicts with irrigators and other agricultural interests. Their constant building of dams requires a steady source of logs and branches that they procure by using their teeth to cut down trees and shrubs. This creates conflicts in areas where land managers seek to increase riparian vegetation to stabilize river channels and preserve wildlife habitat.

As fall arrives, this conflict becomes apparent locally. After a dry and warm summer, the Hoback River is very low, and the local beavers are getting ready for winter. They’re building dams across the river and use the resulting reservoirs to store the caches of Willow and cottonwood branches they will feed on during winter.

It takes a lot of branches to build these dams and stock the caches, and they take them from the surrounding riparian corridor.

We understand the ecological benefits of encouraging beavers to recolonize their historic ranges. However, we also recognize the need to protect riparian vegetation required by other wildlife to survive as well as the need for irrigation management. Ricketts Conservation Foundation is excited to explore solutions that will encourage a balanced approach to this complex natural resource issue in 2026.

Virtual Fence Conservation Partnership

Press Release – 9/15/25

Over the last two decades, agriculture technology has made its impact across the globe, with some of the greatest potential being in ranch technology. Various applications and innovations give ranchers the ability to monitor everything from the grass in their pastures to the grazing attributes of their herd. Virtual fencing is one of these technologies, which allows the rancher to not only observe livestock location, but also to manage that herd resulting in significant conservation benefits (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Example Conservation Benefits published by PERC https://www.perc.org/2024/11/21/unlocking-the-conservation-potential-of-virtual-fencing/

Despite the benefits, many ranch operations interested in this technology find that startup costs can be prohibitive. The Ricketts Conservation Foundation (RCF) is excited to release the Virtual Fence Conservation Partnership Program, where RCF partners with ranches to initiate virtual fencing and monitor for conservation benefit.

RCF is offering 100% cost share for base stations (up to $50,000) and 50% cost share for collars and neckbands (up to $100,000) over a four-year period. Ranchers enter into a four-year agreement with RCF, where both parties collaboratively develop anticipated outcomes, conservation goals, and a monitoring plan.

Interested ranching operations are encouraged to submit applications via https://form.jotform.com/252084643989067. The application period opens September 15 and closes November 15.

Questions may be directed to Shari Meeks at [email protected].

Ricketts Conservation Crew Kicks Off Field Season in Yellowstone

Field season is officially underway for the Ricketts Conservation Loon Crew, and we're excited to be back in Yellowstone National Park! So far, we’ve confirmed six active nests—an encouraging start to the season.

The loons in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem represent the southernmost breeding population of Common Loons in the world. It’s a small but mighty group, and their conservation is crucial. Because this population is so limited, protecting nesting sites from disturbance is one of our top priorities. Loons are incredibly sensitive to human activity during nesting season and are vulnerable to nest failure if approached too closely.

To help keep them safe, our team has established protective closures around known nesting areas. If you’re visiting the park this summer and see signage near lakeshores, it’s likely part of our efforts to give loons the space they need to raise the next generation.

During the early weeks of the field season, our crew conducts occupancy surveys. This means we’re out visiting historically occupied lakes to check for returning pairs, signs of nesting activity, or potential new territories.

Stay tuned for more updates from the field and if you’re in Yellowstone, keep your eyes (and ears) out for these iconic northern divers. Just remember to give them plenty of space to do their thing.

The Clark's Nutcracker: My Whitebark Pine Story

What first interested me about the Whitebark Pine wasn’t the tree at all. It was the Clarks Nutcracker. That little bird, I learned, has lived in a symbiotic partnership with the Whitebark Pine for millennia, distributing the tree’s seeds far and wide, and caching them every Fall as a food source during the winter and following Spring. And it’s those seeds from which we get new trees. It’s also those same, calorie-rich seeds that feed bears, red squirrels, and other species critical to a balanced and sustainable ecosystem. So with Whitebark Pine succumbing to blister rust, mountain pine beetles and climate change, the knock-on effects were far reaching. There are now more dead whitebark pines than live ones and in some places such as Glacier National Park, 90 percent of whitebark pines have died.

But my whitebark pine story is one of hope and restoration.

I first heard the story of the tree and the bird from Doug Smith, who at the time served as the Senior Wildlife Biologist at Yellowstone National Park. Doug introduced me to Diana Tomback, who has studied and advocated for these species for more than 30 years. Once I heard her describe how the birds and trees rely upon each other I knew it was a story that needed to be told. Raising awareness about this unique relationship, and the bigger issues facing the whitebark pine, was a critical step in helping to solve this crisis. This was exactly the type of issue for which I established the Ricketts Conservation Foundation.

In my mind, the most powerful way to tell a story is through film. Seeing and hearing a story brings it to life in a way few other things can. So I discussed the idea of documenting the Clarks Nutcracker and the Whitebark Pine story with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Center for Conservation Media. Working closely with the talented team at Cornell, we got to work on what proved to be a multi-year project, capturing footage that had literally never been seen before. One of the resulting films – Hope and Restoration: Saving the Whitebark Pine – is a vital way to sound the call for people to rally behind. A call to save this centuries-old relationship between a bird and a tree, and all the other animals and plants who depend on them.

We then approached American Forests to strategize and publicize this conservation crisis. American Forest’s CEO, Jad Daley, was, unsurprisingly, already familiar with the Whitebark crisis and identified the Whitebark Pine Restoration Plan as a priority.

Working together, we’re helping to get the word out, but it’s clear the movement needs more to be successful, including additional funding and people devoted to a restoration plan that uses the best available science and focuses on the highest priority areas to save.

As for the film, I’m glad we did it, and I hope it inspires more people to tell their own stories about this remarkable tree and even more remarkable bird.

Hope and Restoration is an official selection of the DC Environmental Film Festival, International Wildlife Film Festival and New York WILD Film Festival. To watch it and learn more about whitebark pine, go to https://savethewhitebarkpine.org