Devils Tower National Monument Research Articles

Varying behavioral responses of wildlife to motorcycle traffic

Roads are a pervasive feature across the U.S., and traffic and its associated noise has significant impacts on wildlife. However, we know little about the effect of motorcycle traffic and the potential for prolonged response of animals to loud and periodic traffic disturbances. We studied the behavioral response of multiple species in Devils Tower National Monument to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which raised median A-weighted sound levels by more than 20 dB for 7 days. Different taxa demonstrated different responses to the event, which we categorized into three different patterns of behavioral shifts: weak evidence of a response, temporary response during the rally, and a sustained response that lasted after the rally. We found little evidence that western wood-pewee (Contopus sordidulus) vocal activity, our behavioral metric, was affected by the rally. Activity patterns of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) shifted during the rally, and deer reverted to pre-rally activity patterns when motorcycle activity declined. The diversity of bat species active was also lower during the rally, and the diversity of species active remained low several weeks after the rally. Our observations suggest that most species shifted their behavior to avoid motorcycle traffic but the ability to return to pre-disturbance behavioral patterns varied. Examining responses to traffic activity and noise across a broad array of species can identify relative sensitivity to such disturbances and infer community-level impacts, helping to inform strategies to reduce effects or plan for recovery.

Tularemia (Francisella tularensis) in a Black-Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) Colony

Tularemia is a bacterial zoonosis caused by Francisella tularensis. We conducted a serosurvey of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) in Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming, US, following an epizootic in voles ( Microtus spp.) due to F. tularensis. Only 1 of 44 (2%) sampled prairie dogs was seropositive for F. tularensis, providing evidence of survival and potentially limited spread among free-ranging prairie dogs.

Detections of Yersinia pestis East of the Known Distribution of Active Plague in the United States.

We examined fleas collected from black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) burrows from 2009 through 2011 in five national park units east of the known distribution of active plague across the northern Great Plains for the presence of Yersinia pestis. Across all national park units, Oropsylla tuberculata and Oropsylla hirsuta were the most common fleas collected from prairie dog burrows, 42.4% and 56.9%, respectively, of the 3964 fleas collected from burrow swabbing. Using a nested PCR assay, we detected 200 Y. pestis-positive fleas from 3117 assays. In total, 6.4% of assayed fleas were Y. pestis positive and 13.9% of prairie dog burrows swabbed contained Y. pestis-positive fleas. Evidence of the presence of Y. pestis was observed at all national park units except Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. We detected the presence of Y. pestis without large die-offs, i.e., enzootic sylvatic plague, east of the known distribution of active plague and near the eastern edge of the present distribution of black-tailed prairie dogs. This study, in combination with previous work suggests that sylvatic plague likely occurs across the range of black-tailed prairie dogs and should now be treated as endemic across this range.

Protecting Sacred Sites on Public Land: Religion and Alliances in the Mato Tipila-Devils Tower Litigation

Protecting Sacred Sites on Public Land:Religion and Alliances in the Mato Tipila-Devils Tower Litigation Eric Freedman (bio) Conflicts over Native American sacred places on public lands usually involve multiple interest groups. That was true in a dispute over a National Park Service (nps) policy to discourage climbing at Devils Tower National Monument during the month of the Sun Dance. Such conflicts sometimes end in court, as happened when a group called the Bear Lodge Multiple Use Association—a commercial guiding service—and recreational climbers sued the nps to challenge the plan as a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment; that clause provides that "Congress shall make no law . . . respecting an establishment of religion." The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and several of its spiritual leaders intervened on the side of the nps. What made this case unusual is that a variety of "mainstream" religious and religious rights organizations joined Native American groups and scholars who described themselves as "active in Federal Indian law and/or the religious issues under the First Amendment" in filing friend-of-the-court briefs in Bear Lodge Multiple Use Association v. Babbitt.1 The case reflects a broadening of the more common litigation alliances in which environmental groups participate alongside tribes and other Native American organizations. Here, no environmental groups participated as litigation allies. This case study uses interviews, judicial decisions, litigation documents, and other public records to examine the alliance in this lawsuit and its implications. This article discusses factors that informed decisions by Native American and "public interest" groups and the process by which they allied themselves. Mato Tipila (Bear Lodge)—also known as Devils Tower and, in Lakota, He Hota Paha (Grey Horn Butte)—is a rugged butte towering above the [End Page 1] Belle Fourche River in northeastern Wyoming. The United States' first national monument is a sacred place steeped in Native American culture and history, a place of religious practices and creation. The monument is open for recreational, aesthetic, research, and commercial uses under management by the nps, a unit of the U.S. Department of the Interior. It has become a magnet for as many as five thousand to six thousand climbers and their innumerable spectators among the monument's five hundred thousand annual visitors. As a result it is an economic asset for the regional tourism industry. In 1995 after three years of discussion including consultation with Native American groups, the nps adopted a Climbing Management Plan (CMP) to regulate recreational climbing activities and protect the monument's natural and cultural resources. The CMP culminated from a lengthy administrative planning process that acknowledged the potential for conflict between Indians and climbers.2 The process included extensive participation by stakeholders outside the nps: Native American communities strongly affiliated with the site; local and national climbing organizations; local and national environmental groups; and county government. There were work groups, mutual education efforts, "cultural brokering," and a compromise reflecting cultural values.3 As amended after the litigation began, the plan included educational and environmental programs; but the controversial component asked climbers to "voluntarily refrain from climbing . . . during the culturally significant month of June," when the Sun Dance and other Native American ceremonies occur.4 The CMP cited "the reverence many American Indians hold for Devils Tower as a sacred site." One goal of the plan was to teach the public about the site's character so the number of climbers would drop voluntarily to zero and thus forestall more stringent measures, including a possible mandatory ban. Ultimately, a U.S. district court judge and a federal appeals court rejected the challenge to the CMP. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a further appeal. The voluntary ban remains in effect. The monument's Web site describes the policy this way, "Climbers are asked to refrain from climbing during the month of June out of respect for American Indians."5 The effect of the policy is reflected in an average annual 79 percent decline in the number of June climbers, compared to the 1990–1994 preclosure average for the month. However, the voluntary compliance rate has been declining [End Page 2] and reached a low of 69...

Accuracy assessment for detection of leafy spurge with hyperspectral imagery

When flowering, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) has conspicuous yellow-green bracts that are spectrally distinct from other vegetation and may be distinguished with hyperspectral remote sensing. In July 1999, Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data were acquired in northeastern Wyoming, near Devils Tower National Monument. Using the reflectance spectrum of flowering leafy spurge, leafy spurge occurrence was determined using a new method of spectral mixture analysis, Mixture Tuned Matched Filtering (MTMF). Ground reference data (146 sites) were obtained 2 weeks before and after AVIRIS overflight to test the classification accuracy of leafy spurge. For 3 land cover types: mixed prairie, riparian, and coniferous woodlands, the presence or absence leafy spurge was detected with an overall accuracy of 95% using a 0.10 threshold for detection. Differences in classification thresholds resulted in a trade-off between false positives, pixels that were mapped as leafy spurge but did not contain leafy spurge on the ground, and false negatives, areas that had leafy spurge on the ground but were not mapped as leafy spurge. Detection of leafy spurge occurrence was best for mixed prairie and riparian cover types, and somewhat less successful for conifer woodlands because of interference from tree crowns and their shadows. The advantage of the MTMF technique is it allows automated processing of hyperspectral imagery to generate accurate maps of leafy spurge occurrence.

Accuracy assessment for detection of leafy spurge with hyperspectral imagery

When flowering, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) has conspicuous yellow-green bracts that are spectrally distinct from other vegetation and may be distinguished with hyperspectral remote sensing. In July 1999, Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data were acquired in northeastern Wyoming, near Devils Tower National Monument. Using the reflectance spectrum of flowering leafy spurge, leafy spurge occurrence was determined using a new method of spectral mixture analysis, Mixture Tuned Matched Filtering (MTMF). Ground reference data (146 sites) were obtained 2 weeks before and after AVIRIS overflight to test the classification accuracy of leafy spurge. For 3 land cover types: mixed prairie, riparian, and coniferous woodlands, the presence or absence leafy spurge was detected with an overall accuracy of 95% using a 0.10 threshold for detection. Differences in classification thresholds resulted in a trade-off between false positives, pixels that were mapped as leafy spurge but did not contain leafy spurge on the ground, and false negatives, areas that had leafy spurge on the ground but were not mapped as leafy spurge. Detection of leafy spurge occurrence was best for mixed prairie and riparian cover types, and somewhat less successful for conifer woodlands because of interference from tree crowns and their shadows. The advantage of the MTMF technique is it allows automated processing of hyperspectral imagery to generate accurate maps of leafy spurge occurrence.

Deciduous woodland conservation under heavy deer browsing on Devils Tower National Monument, USA

Native deciduous woodlands comprise <5% of the vegetation in the Black Hills and northern plains of the USA and appear to be in decline. Because deciduous woodlands comprise 18% of the land cover on Devils Tower National Monument (DTNM), this natural area is potentially important for the conservation of these plant communities. Lack of tree regeneration and accumulation of dead wood suggest that the native deciduous woodlands on DTNM may die out under persistent, heavy deer (Odocoileus virginianus, O. hemionus) browsing. We monitored vegetation changes for seven years (1989–1996) inside and outside 6 deer exclosures on DTNM to determine the resilience of native woodland communities when protected from browsing, and to parameterize models that evaluate specific fencing scenarios for managing woodland communities. The herbaceous woodland understory was not directly, but indirectly affected by deer browsing because graminoid biomass declined as tall shrubs recovered. Tall shrubs, dominated by Prunus spp. showed the most rapid and consistent recovery across sites. Models of shrub growth indicated that rotational fencing for short durations (∼10 years) produced the highest long-term increase in tall-shrub densities and the greatest evenness among size classes. Because deciduous woodlands currently are resilient and occur in small patches, fencing may provide a practical management alternative to deer culling programs.

Cross-Cultural Claims on Devils Tower National Monument: A Case Study

A dispute between American Indians and rock climbers over the appropriate use of Devils Tower National Monument in northeast Wyoming reflects fundamental differences in culture and world view. The United States Department of the Interior (USDI) National Park Service's (NPS) attempt to resolve this dispute with a voluntary ban on climbing during the month of June in deference to American Indian cultural and religious practices, and subsequent court rulings upholding the NPS policy, illustrate a widening circle of respect for, and accommodation of, divergent interpretations of humankind's relationship with the natural world.

Applied Anthropology at Devils Tower National Monument

This paper summarizes research conducted for the National Park Service in 1992 bearing on user group perceptions and use of Devils Tower National Monument (DTNM). Ethnographic and archaeological methods were used to collect data on Native American and recreational climber use of DTNM. Fifty-eight climbers were interviewed during June and July. Twenty-one Native American offering sites were located and recorded during this time. Representatives of the Medicine Wheel Coalition for Sacred Sites of North America were interviewed regarding their perception and use of Devils Tower and their opinions about climbing. While climbers did not perceive their activities as hindering Native American worship within DTNM, Native Americans interviewed were opposed to the climbing of one of their major sacred sites in the northern Plains.

Modelling Deer-Woodland Dynamics on Devils Tower National Monument

We are adapting the spatially explicit, process-oriented model Savanna developed by M. B. Coughenour to Devils Tower National Monument (DTNM). The model will be used to describe the woodland-deer dynamics within a short time-frame (&lt; 30 years) under several management scenarios. We use data on weather, vegetation standing crops, deer distributions and population information collected during 1991-1992 as initial conditions to the model.

Population and Habitat Ecology of Deer on Devils Tower National Monument

White-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (0. hemionus) currently use Devils Tower National Monument and adjacent private agricultural lands year round or migrate from the Monument to other areas. In 1989, a game fence was constructed on the west and north borders of the Monument. Enclosure of the Monument by additional fencing could alter habitat use of deer substantially and create many of the problems associated with island reserves. National Park Service management policy directs the Monument to predict changes in the natural resources under its stewardship. Current deer use of the Monument is not well documented so that a baseline for monitoring long term changes is lacking. The Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in cooperation with the Devils Tower National Monument, initiated a study in June 1990 to document current population numbers and habitat ecology of white-tailed and mule deer on the Monument. Objectives of this study are to: (1) Evaluate methods to estimate seasonal deer densities on the Monument. (2) Determine seasonal movement patterns and time spent on and off the Monument by radio­collared deer. (3) Determine deer habitat selection patterns of deer on the Monument. (4) Estimate the nutritional carrying capacity of the Monument for deer. Preliminary data on population estimates, movement patterns, and habitat use patterns of deer using the Monument during 1990-1991 were presented in the 1991 Annual Progress Report. This report presents additional data on the population numbers for the period April 1992 to October 1992 and describes vegetation data collected but not yet analyzed.

Population and Habitat Ecology of Deer on Devils Tower National Monument

White-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (0. hemionis) currently use Devils Tower National Monument and adjacent private agricultural lands year round or migrate from the Monument to other areas. In 1989, a game fence was constructed on the west and north borders of the Monument. Enclosure of the Monument by additional fencing could alter habitat use of deer substantially and create many of the problems associated with island reserves. National Park Service management policy directs the Monument to predict changes in the natural resources under its stewardship. Because current deer use of the Monument is not well documented, the Department of Zoology and Physiology and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in cooperation with the Devils Tower National Monument, initiated a study in June 1990 to document current population numbers and habitat ecology of white-tailed and mule deer on the Monument as a baseline for monitoring long-term changes in the deer herd.

Ecology of Deer on Devils Tower National Monument

Currently, white-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (0. hemionus) use Devils Tower National Monument and adjacent private agricultural lands year round or migrate from the Monument to other areas. Construction of a game proof fence by adjoining landowners threatens to enclose Devils Tower National Monument. If this occurs, deer use of the Monument may be substantially altered and long­term management of the population may be faced with many of the problems associated with island reserves. National Park Service management policy charges the Monument to detect or predict changes in the natural resources under its stewardship. However, current deer use of the Monument is not well documented so that a baseline for monitoring long term changes is lacking. The University of Wyoming Department of Zoology and Physiology and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, in cooperation with the University of Wyoming National Park Service Research Center and Devils Tower National Monument, initiated a study in June 1990 to document the population and habitat ecology of white­tailed and mule deer on Devils Tower National Monument. Objectives of the study during this reporting period were to: 1. radio-collar a representative sample of the adult female population of deer 2. radio-locate adult does to identify daily and seasonal habitat use and movement patterns 3. determine seasonal deer densities on the Monument

Fire and the Prairie-forest Mosaic of Devils Tower National Monument

Fire and the Prairie-forest Mosaic of Devils Tower National Monument

Baseline Inventory of Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians of Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming

Despite its small size, Devils Tower National Monument encompasses a remarkable array of ecological situations. The area is of particular interest to the ecologist and biogeographer because Devil's Tower and environs rise as an "is1and" of montane and saxicoline habitat out of a "sea" of shortgrass prairie.

Summary of Research Activities within the National Park Service Areas Cooperating with the U.W.-N.P.S. Research Center, 1985

This section contains a summary of Research Activities within the National Park Service areas cooperating with the U.W.-N.P.S. Research Center in 1985, including Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Custer Battlefield National Monument, Devils Tower National Monument, Dinosaur National Monument, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Glacier National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Grand Teton National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Wine Cave National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Zion National Park.

Summary of Research Activities within the National Park Service Areas Cooperating with the U.W.-N.P.S. Research Center, 1984.

This section contains a summary of Research Activities within the National Park Service Areas cooperating with the U.W.-N.P.S. Research Center in 1984, inclucing Badlands National Monument, Devils Tower National Monument, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Fossil Butte National Monument, Glacier National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Wind Cave National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AREAS COOPERATING WITH THE U.W.-N.P.S. RESEARCH CENTER, 1983.

This section contains a Summary of Research Activities within the National Park Service areas cooperating with the U.W.-N.P.S. Research Center for 1983, including Badlands National Monument, Devils Tower National Monument, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Fossil Butte National Monument, Glacier National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Wind Cave National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

The Possessive Apostrophe in Names

AN ASSOCIATED PRESS news item indicates that the conflict over Hell's Canyon has now spread from the issue of public versus private power to the question of the use of the apostrophe. Sam Fretwell, of Parma, Idaho, chairman of the Idaho-Oregon-Washington's Hell's Canyon Association, is quoted: 'We always spell it Hell's Canyon.' But Gilbert Stanton, public relations director for the Idaho Power Company, states: 'It's Hells Canyon as far as we're concerned.' Though indexed with an apostrophe, the titles collected in the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature display both forms. A check of seven periodicals during the first week of July, 1957, showed them preferring the form without the apostrophe five to two. The question whether to use an apostrophe in the names of cities, topographical features, colleges, books, magazines, associations, and businesses is indeed troublesome. A word of this kind may take an apostrophe, and then again it may not. Webster's New International (with the apostrophe) lists Devil's Bit Mountains and Devil's Island, but also Devils Lake and Devils Tower National Monument. Some conflict exists between forms recommended by standard reference works. The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World lists Devilsbit Mountains or Devil's Bit Mountains in that order, but Webster's Geographical Dictionary lists only Devil's Bit Mountains. Columbia lists Devils Island, Saint Mary's Peak (Australia), Kings Peak (Utah), and Land's End or Lands End; but Webster records Devil's Island, Saint Mary* Peak, King's Peak, and Lands End or Land's End.