Joe Ricketts’ Jackson Fork Ranch donated approximately $650,000 to the University of Idaho to fund research for four native Greater Yellowstone Ecosystems animal species.
The GYE contains 22 million acres of land which bleeds across areas of Yellowstone National Park into larger areas in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.
Faculty researchers and graduate students from UI’s College of Natural Resources and College of Science will center their studies on these four species in the GYE: the pygmy rabbit’s genetic, behavioral and physiological adaptive capacity, migration routes of rattlesnakes, their hibernation dens and co-existing with humans in shared habitats, gray wolves’ social structure of their pack and the potential effects of hunting and trapping and the ecology of pronghorn migration and survival.
“This research will address critical conservation science needs to native species in one of the largest and most intact ecosystems in North America,” said David Ausband of the USGS-Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UI.
Ausband, who will lead the gray wolf study, played a big role in initiating the collaboration and developing research initiatives.
“Jackson Fork Ranch’s approach to hospitality is rooted in a deep and abiding commitment to sustainable conservation, which is why we are proud to partner with the University of Idaho on this important scientific research,” Ricketts said.
UI’s Jackson Fork Ranch research project is predicted to last two years and promote the university’s biodiversity conservation research in Idaho. This project is expected to increase public awareness about the importance of biodiversity and protecting natural environments.
“The four research projects will also provide timely and invaluable science that will inform the management and conservation of these iconic species for future generations,” Ausband said.
Alyssa Johnson can be reached at [email protected]