Montana HD-361 RMGA Volunteer Project Recap
August 6, 2020
Here's a review of the goat count in Montana HD-361 in July 2020.
By: Pete Muennich
It was rewarding to return to where it all began. This past July 17-19, RMGA once again took to the hills on the Montana Idaho boarder in HD-361. This is the same location of RMGA's inaugural survey in 2013 where a small band of volunteers documented a healthy herd of goats not recognized by either of the neighboring states. Flash forward and Montana got it's newest goat district, HD-361.
This year, teams of volunteers rallied at the HQ of project sponsor, Stone Glacier. We visited with Regional Biologist, Julie Cunningham, and divided into survey teams. The entire region was blanketed with RMGA volunteers for the entire following weekend.
Beautiful weather and healthy goat numbers added up to an amazing weekend spent up on top. Volunteers successfully located and documented a minimum of 77 mountain goats. An incredible accomplishment and healthier numbers than expected. Check out some photos from the weekend here.
Montana generally manages for a 4% target harvest objective. This means our recent project results could be enough to petition for an additional hunting permit, taking the district to three total annual permits. Stay tuned for updates regarding how RMGA data is again being used in realtime mountain goat management.