Science Features are a great way to find out about the science activities conducted at the FORT both in the past and today. Written in plain English, science features highlight the exciting work conducted everyday by FORT Scientists.
A little over one hundred years ago, plains bison were prolific in the Great American West. Reports describe herds containing thousands of animals migrating through the central and western states, totaling 20–30 million across their entire range. With commercial, unregulated hunting in the late 1800s came the rapid demise of bison to barely more than 1,000 by 1889. Recently, renewed interest in restoring these massive animals to at least some of their former range has grown. Efforts are being made to establish “conservation herds”—herds that are specifically managed in the public interest by governments and environmental organizations. For the plains bison native to the United States, there are approximately 19,000 animals comprising 54 known conservation herds.
xEnergy development is rapidly escalating in resource-rich Wyoming, and with it the risks posed to raptor populations. These risks are of increasing concern to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for protecting the persistence of protected species, including raptors. In support of a Federal mandate to protect trust species (including raptors) and the wind energy industry’s need to find suitable sites on which to build wind farms, scientists at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) and their partners are conducting research to help reduce impacts to raptor species from wind energy operations. Potential impacts include collision with the turbine blades as well as habitat disruption and disturbance from construction and operations.
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Resources/Default.asp
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