Lynx decision protects habitat in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming
Eighteen national forests across the West are adopting “management direction” to protect the Canada lynx. I got a copy of this decision on Friday. The maps shows the “core” lynx habitat to be pretty much the same as the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear and Northern Continental Divide grizzly bear habitat.
Except for two tiny areas, Idaho is classified as “secondary” or “peripheral habitat,” although the map shows huge areas on Idaho national forests that are “unoccupied lynx habitat,” which is a bit puzzling to me.
Here is the story in the Jackson Hole News and Guide. Lynx decision. By Cory Hatch.
The major impacts on human use will be on the type and areas where forest thinning takes places and a prohibition of new snowmobile routes (but not on open snowmobiling). Packed snowmobile trails give a winter advantage to coyotes and bobcats, animals that have relatively smaller feet than lynx.

Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He has been a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and also its President. For many years he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Recent Posts
- Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court May 19, 2022
- BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review May 17, 2022
- Conservation Groups Threaten To Sue On East Paradise Grazing Decision May 12, 2022
- Gratitude for National Parks May 11, 2022
- Jimmy Carter Supports Protection of Izembek NWR Wilderness May 10, 2022
Recent Comments
- Rich on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Jannett Heckert on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- rastadoggie on Gratitude for National Parks
- rastadoggie on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Megan on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Ida Lupine on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Ida Lupine on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Robert Raven on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Martha S. Bibb on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Maggie Frazier on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Ida Lupine on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Ida Lupine on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Laurie on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Charles Fox on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Maggie Frazier on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review