Jackson Hole Area Research Articles

Avalanche Safety Practices Among Backcountry Skiers and Snowboarders in Jackson Hole in 2016

Carrying standard safety gear (beacon, probe, and shovel), planning a route of descent, and recreating with companions can help to mitigate the risk of injury or death resulting from avalanches in the backcountry. The goal of this study was to identify factors associated with performance of these safety practices. A convenience sample of backcountry skiers and snowboarders was surveyed in 2016 at the backcountry gates of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Each participant was surveyed on characteristics including skill level, sex, age, prior avalanche education, and residency in the Jackson Hole area. Safety practices were also measured against avalanche hazard forecasts. Correlations were assessed using Fisher's exact testing. A total of 334 participants were surveyed. Factors associated with carrying avalanche safety gear included higher expertise, being a resident of the Jackson Hole area, and prior avalanche education. Factors associated with having a planned route of descent included higher expertise and being a resident of the Jackson Hole area. Factors associated with recreating with companions included younger age and lower expertise. Sex had no association with any of the surveyed safety practices. Participants were less likely to carry avalanche safety gear on low avalanche hazard days. Certain individual characteristics of backcountry skiers and snowboarders are associated with increased frequency of adherence to recommended safety practices. These findings suggest that particular categories of backcountry recreationists may benefit from further avalanche safety education. The results of this study could help direct future educational efforts among backcountry recreationists.

Obsidian conveyance and late prehistoric hunter-gatherer mobility as seen from the high Wind River Range, Western Wyoming

Sampling 16 of 52 house features at High Rise Village (HRV; 48FR5891), a large residential locus at 3,273 m (10,720 ft) elevation in Wyoming's Wind River Range produced 25 AMS dates, 23 diagnostic projectile points, 148 obsidian artifacts (mostly retouch debris) as well as abundant chert debitage, small quantities of faunal bone, and groundstone milling equipment. Based on AMS, projectile point, and obsidian hydration data, the site's lodges appear to have been occupied on a sporadic basis mainly between 2,300 and 850 cal BP. Source provenance determination made via X-ray fluorescence spectrometry indicates that most of the obsidian at the site originated in Jackson Hole and secondarily is from Yellowstone Plateau sources, suggesting a Late Prehistoric residentially-mobile, seasonal, and elevationally transhumant settlement system focused on the Jackson Hole area. GIS-based assessments of the costs of procuring the obsidian found at HRV suggests, however, that though economic considerations certainly played a principal role in determining obsidian conveyance decisions, other factors such as social or cultural dynamics may have conditioned the preference for Yellowstone sources over eastern Idaho sources, ultimately suggesting that social boundaries played a role in generating the different toolstone conveyance zones seen in the region during the Late Prehistoric.

GPS Deformation Monitoring of the Teton Fault, Grand Teton National Park and Surrounding Area, Wyoming, for 2010

Recent earthquake activity in the Jackson Hole area, particularly the 2010 Gros Ventre sequence, has focused on possible regional ground deformation that may be related to the earthquakes (Farrell et al., 2010). The University of Utah has an established network of field GPS benchmarks that was last surveyed in 2003 and has now been resurveyed in 2010 (Figure 1). The campaign GPS measurements supplement the permanent regional GPS network and provide detailed information on temporal and spatial deformation in and around Grand Teton National Park.

Plio-Pleistocene climatic transition and the lifting of the Teton Range, Wyoming

Fine-grained lacustrine, riverine and ash-fall sediments of the Shooting Iron Formation, whose late Pliocene age is established by Blancan gastropods and vertebrates, yield a pollen flora that is essentially similar in composition to the modern pollen rain in the Jackson Hole area. The Pliocene assemblage suggests a climate like that of the Jackson valley and foothills today. These spectra also resemble a Pliocene pollen flora from Yellowstone Park dated at ∼ 2.02 Ma. However, the underlying Miocene Teewinot sediments differ by containing pollen of four exotic deciduous hardwoods (Tertiary relicts) that suggest a summer–moist climate, unlike that of today. The Shooting Iron sediments lie with an angular unconformity on and above the Miocene lake sediments of the Teewinot Formation. Both of these deposits probably preceded the main uplift of the Teton Range based on the absence of Precambrian clasts in the Tertiary valley deposits. Because the Pliocene floras were modern in aspect, a Plio-Pleistocene transition would be floristically imperceptible here. The sequence denotes a protracted period of relative stability of climate during Teewinot time, and a shift in vegetational state (summer–wet trees drop out) sometime between the latest Miocene and latest Pliocene. The Pliocene spectra suggest a dry, cooler climate toward the end of Shooting Iron time.

Harrison R. Crandall: Artist, Pioneer and Patron of Grand Teton National Park

Harrison R. Crandall (or "Hank" as he preferred; Fig. 1) is best known for his paintings and photographs of the Teton Range, and ranch scenes of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. However, Hank 's multi-faceted life, which spanned the period from 1887-1970, was far more interesting and important than is generally recognized. He was the first artist and commercial photographer to operate a studio in the Jackson Hole area, but he was also a valley homesteader, an important supporter and patron in the establishment of the Grand Teton National Park, and a pioneer concessionaire of the National Park art and souvenirs before the advent of mass tourism. Hank's natural artistic talent was accompanied by a complex personality - a mixture of the spirited individualism required of a mountain adventureer and dry-land homesteader, a loving and dedicated family man who promoted shared labor and leisure, and an environmentally attuned visionary who helped many to interpret the meaning of the Grand Teton National Park experience.

Conservation Behavior Is Here to Stay

Conservation Behavior Is Here to Stay

Parasites of Ruminants in the Jackson Hole Area: Dictyocaulus hadweni, Larvae in Elk and Cattle Feces

A knowledge of current prevalence and intensity of lungworm infections in elk and domestic ruminants sharing the same range would be useful to wildlife managers, ranchers, forest service personnel and others. Limited epidemiological studies of the interaction of hosts and their parasites and the possibilities of cross-transmission from wild to domestic ruminants or from domestic to wild ruminants have been conducted in Georgia (Davidson, et al., 1981) and on a similar scale in some other states but not in Wyoming.

Parasites of Ruminants in the Jackson Hole Area: Scarabaeoid Beetles Acting on Lungworm, Dictyocaulus hadweni, Larvae in Elk and Cattle Feces

A knowledge of current prevalence and intensity of lungworm infections in elk and domestic ruminants sharing the same range would be useful to wildlife managers, ranchers, forest service personnel and others. Limited epidemiological studies of the interaction of hosts and their parasites and the possibilities of cross-transmission from wild to domestic ruminants or from domestic to wild ruminants have been conducted in Georgia (Davidson, et aL, 1981) and on a similar scale in some other states but not in Wyoming.

The Geochronology and Stratigraphic Evolution of Neogene Sedimentary Rocks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Miocene sediments of the Jackson Hole area constitute a unique sequence of terrestrial sediments. While much of the surrounding terrain was undergoing denudation during the Miocene, over 4000 m of volcaniclastic, lacustrine, and fluvial sediments accumulated in the vicinity of Jackson Hole. Recently completed paleontological and palynological studies have served to delineate complex biostratigraphic and climatic histories. The present research project has several goals. Chronologies are being developed for the Miocene sediments through the use of magnetic-polarity stratigraphies and fission-track dating. Sedimentation histories are being studied by combining lithologic data with chronologic information.

Chronology of Neogene Sedimentary Rocks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Miocene sediments of the Jackson Hole area constitute a unique sequence of terrestrial sediments. While much of the surrounding terrain was undergoing denudation during the Miocene, over 4000 m of volcaniclastic, lacustrine, and fluvial sediments accumulated in the vicinity of Jackson Hole. Recently completed paleontological and palynological studies have served to delineate complex biostratigraphic and climatic histories. The present research project is using magnetostratigraphy, fission-track dating, and K-Ar dating to develop a chronology for the Miocene sediments. This chronology will permit the paleontological data to be examined in a precise temporal framework. Similarly, the rates and timing of climatic change as inferred from the pollen record will be constrained through these magnetostratigraphy studies.

Late-Quaternary Vegetation History of Jackson Hole, Wyoming

During the late Quaternary, the Jackson Hole area has reen repeatedly glaciated-the most recent and least extensive ice advance occurred during the Pinedale Glaciation (ca. 25,000-9,000 yr B.P.; Love and Reed, 1971). The objective of this research is to study the vegetation history of Jackson Hole since Pinedale time, as a means of interpreting the development and stability of modern plant communities. The research is based on an examination of pollen and plant-macrofossiil records contained in lake-sediment cores collected near the former ice margin. The environmental history of this region is poorly known and the paleoecological information provided by this study should help fill a gap in our understanding of the vegetation, climate, and glacial history of the Northern Rocky Mountains.

Parasites of Ruminats in the Jackson Hole Area: Scarabaeoid Beetles Acting on Lungworm, Dictyocaulus hadweni, Larvae in Elk and Cattle Feces 1982

Lungworm of elk, Dictyocaulus hadweni. (syn: D. vivparus) was first designated as Strongylus filaria in elk and red deer, (Blair, 1903) and lungworm was then and in 1905 reported to cause bronchopneumonia in elk. (Blair 1905). Records of lungworm in elk in Yellowstone and the Tetons were rather incomplete until Rush (1932), Mills (1936), Alderson (1951), Murie (1951) and others listed internal parasites found in elk. It is suprising that Mills did not find D. hadweni in 100 elk taken from the Yellowstone herd. It. is interesting to note that a high percentage of the elk in Teton National Park are positive for lungworm in the spring. Fewer elk are infected in the summer and fall when the vegetation is usually sufficiently good to allow the elk an abundance of food and a resultant physiological condition that is excellent. Perhaps e1k serum proteins are somewhat low in the April-May period when the physiological ''low" is reached by the elk. The lack of immunoglobulins may, in part, explain the high prevalence of lungworm infections in elk of the Tetons during early spring months.

Parasites of Ungulates in the Jackson Hole Area: Scarabaeoid Beetles Acting on Lungworm, Distyocaulus hadweni, Larvae in Elk Feces 1981

Lungworm of elk, Dictyocaulus hadweni (syn: D. viviparus) was first designated as Strongylus filaria in elk and red deer, (Blair, 1903) and lungworm was then and in 1905 reported to cause bronchopneumonia in elk. (Blair 1905). Records of lungworm in elk in Yellowstone and the Tetons were rather incomplete until Rush (1932), Mills (1936), Alderson (1951) and others listed internal parasites found in elk. It is surprising that Mills did not find D. hadweni in 100 elk taken from the Yellowstone herd. It is interesting to note that a high percentage of the elk in Teton National Park are positive for lungworm in the spring. Fewer elk are infected as the summer and fall vegetation is usually sufficiently good to allow the elk an abundance of food and a resultant physiological condition that is excellent. Perhaps elk serum proteins are somewhat low in the April-May period when the physiological "low" is reached by the elk. The lack of immunoglobulins may, in part, explain the high prevalence of lungworm infections in elk of the Tetons during early spring months.

Parasites of Ungulates in the Jackson Hole Area: Scarabaeoid Beetles Acting on Lungworm, Dictyocaulus hadweni, Larvae in Elk Feces 1980

Lungworm of elk, Dictyocaulus hadweni (syn: D. viviparus) was first designated as Strongylus filaria in elk and red deer, (Blair, 1903) and lungworm was then and in 1905 reported to cause bronchopneumonia in elk. (Blair 1905). Records of lungworm in elk in Yellowstone and the Tetons were rather incomplete until Rush (1932), Mills (1936), Alderson (1951), Murie (1951) and others listed internal parasites found in elk. It is surprising that Mills did not find D. hadweni in 100 elk taken from the Yellowstone herd. It is interesting to note that a high percentage of the elk in Teton National Park are positive for lungworm in the spring. Fewer elk are infected as the summer and fall vegetation is usually sufficiently good to allow the elk an abundance of food and a resultant physiological condition that is excellent. Perhaps elk serum proteins are somewhat low in the April-May period when the physiological "low" is reached by the elk. The lack of immunoglobulins may, in part, explain the high prevalence of lungworm infections in elk of the Tetons during early spring months.

Parasites of Ungulates in the Jackson Hole Area: Scarabaeoid Beetles Acting on Lungworm, Dictyocaulus hadweni, Larvae in Elk Feces 1979

The lungworm of elk, Dictyocaulus hadweni (syn: D. viviparus) has been noted in elk since the early 1900's. It is interesting to note that a high percentage of the elk in Teton National Park are positive for lungworm in the spring. Fewer elk are infected as the summer and fall vegetation is usually sufficiently good to allow the elk an abundance of food and a resultant physiological condition that is excellent. Perhaps elk serum proteins are somewhat low in the April-May period when the physiological "low" is reached by the elk . The lack of immunoglobulins may, in part, explain the high prevalence of lungworm infections in elk of the Tetons during early spring months.

Microseismic Monitoring of Jackson Hole, Wyoming 10 July - 5 October, 1979

As part of the Safety of Dams Program for Jackson Lake Dam, the Service operated an array ot five seismograph stations in the vicinity of Jackson Lake Dam for a period of 87 days. Approximately 110 microearthquakes were recorded in the Jackson Hole area and epicenters were determined using HYPO 71 (Lee and Lahr, 1975). Data from stations DCI and TMI are being incorporated into the Service's data set to provide better location accuracy for events west and south of the network; events in the Teton Range and southern Jackson Hole, respectively. The majority of the epicenters are 5-25 miles east of the Teton Range front in the Mt. Leidy Highlands. The spatial distribution of epicenters in this area is apparently random. However, this area is outside the limits of the seismograph array and the apparent randomness may be a result of poor location accuracy. However, similar monitoring carried out previously by the University of Utah, yielded comparable results. Only eight epicenters fall within 1 mile of the surface trace of the Teton fault, a relatively low number of events for such a major youthful structure. Six epicenters were located near the mouth of Arizona Creek where Behrendt and others (1968) have postulated a north-northwest trending branch of the Teton fault from gravity and seismic refraction data. From this study alone no coherent pattern of seismicity can be determined for Jackson Hole.

Parasites of Ungulates in the Jackson Hole Area: Scarabaeoid Beetles Acting on Lungworm, Dictyocaulus hadweni, Larvae in Elk Feces, 1978

The lungworm of elk, Dictyocaulus hadweni, is morphologically quite like the species in cattle but the parasite affects the two species of host animals in very different ways. In cattle, D. viviparus is usually found only in young animals. After a calf is exposed and makes antibody or cell mediated immunological responses to the parasite, the calf usually can not be reinfected. In the case of the parasite's invasion of elk tissue, some immunological response is apparently made during the late spring, summer and fall months so that very few elk are positive for lungworm from September-January. However, most elk (65-80%) are susceptible to infection or reinfection annually (Apri 1-May). It appears that the reinfection time coincides with the span of time in which the elk are at their physiological low. The April-May period may be the time when the physiological condition of the elk is at a seasonal low. Any biological factors which would decrease the numbers of infective Dictyocaulus larvae would benefit the elk.

Parasites of Ungulates in the Jackson Hole Area: Scarabaeoid Beetles Acting on Lungworm, Dictyocaulus viviparus, Larvae in Elk Feces 1977

The lungworm of elk, Dictyocaulus viviparus, elk strain, is morphologically quite like the species in cattle but the parasite affects the two species of host animals in very different ways. In cattle, D. viviparus is usually found only in young animals. After a calf is exposed and makes antibody or cell mediated immunological responses to the the parasite, the calf usually can not be reinfected. In the case of the parasite's invasion of elk tissue, some immunological response is apparently made during the late spring, summer and fall months so that very few elk are positive for lungworm from September-January. However, most elk (65-80%) are susceptible to infection or reinfection annually (April-May). It appears that the reinfection time coincides with the span of time in which the elk are at their physiological low. The April-May period may be the time when serum proteins such as albumin, gamma globulin and, perhaps, other immunologically oriented serum proteins are at a seasonal low. Any biological factors which would decrease the numbers of infective Dictyocaulus larvae would benefit the elk.

The ecological role of fire in the Jackson Hole area, northwestern Wyoming

Fire-history investigations in the Jackson Hole area of northwestern Wyoming reveal that most current stands of aspen and lodgepole pine regenerated following extensive fires between 1840 and 1890 and that widespread fires occurred in the 1600s and 1700s. White man's major effect on the fire incidence has been the successful suppression during the past 30–80 yr. Successional changes in the absence of fire include the deterioration of aspen stands, massive invasions of subalpine fir in lodgepole pine stands, great increase in conifer cover, heavy fuel buildups in lodgepole pine and Douglas fir stands, and increase in sagebrush and other shrubs. Steps are being taken, starting in 1972, to allow fire to play a more natural role in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Teton National Forest plans experimental prescribed burning to determine whether fire can stimulate successful aspen regeneration in the presence of large numbers of wintering elk.

Reproduction of Shiras Moose in Montana

Reproduction and productivity of Shiras moose (Alces alces shirasi), based on macroscopic examination of 424 female reproductive tracts plus analysis of sex and age of 1,581 animals harvested in Montana in 1963 and 1965-1971, are reported. Forty-three and 92 percent of yearling and adult cows collected after 1 October had ovulated, respectively. Ovulation rates were 48 and 115 per 100 yearling and adult cows, respectively. Pregnancy rates were 32 and 86 percent for the same respective age groups. Yearling and adult twinning rates were 0 and 16 percent, respectively, with 32 and 100 calves per 100 cows for the same respective age groups. Yearlings were no more, or less vulnerable to hunters than adults. Gross productivity, net productivity and rate of increase were 25, 20, and 34 percent, respectively. Comparison of our data with that from several other regions indicates that Shiras moose in Montana are equally as productive as any other North American moose herds studied. Differences between in utero and post partum productivity are discussed. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 37(4):535-544 Determination of ungulate reproductive performance by macroscopic examination of ovaries and/or uteri is a well-established technique. These methods have been applied to moose by Edwards and Ritcey (1958), Pimlott (1959), Peek (1962), Simkin (1965), Houston (1968), and Markgren (1969) among others. These studies have added greatly to our knowledge of moose reproduction, and at the same time indicated that wide variations exist in reproductive rates of moose from different areas. This study was prompted by the paucity of quantitative data on moose reproduction in Montana and because data of Peek (1962), Houston (1968), and Stevens (1970) suggested that perhaps Shiras moose populations had lower reproductive and/or calf survival rates than other moose subspecies. Houston (1968:70-71) further postulated that some genetic influence over twinning might occur in the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming. This study was initiated in 1965 to investigate the reproductive characteristics of Shiras moose in Montana in order to determine whether reproduction was actually below normal and, if so, to attempt to determine causes and appropriate remedies. Sex and age composition of harvested moose are also presented and discussed since they effect overall reproductive performance. This study could not have been carried out without the cooperation of successful hunters, and of the numerous persons who graciously allowed use of their facilities as collection stations. K. R. Greer and his staff at the Montana Fish and Game Department's Wildlife Laboratory assisted in preparing and handling collected materials. J. M. Peek, D. B. Houston, and R. L. Phillips critically reviewed the original manuscript and offered valuable suggestions for its improvement.