Sustaining Lynx Habitat in Managed Landscapes

A central question facing resource agencies is how best to manage the cumulative impacts of forest management on lynx within a multi-use context. Timber harvest and thinning practices clearly affect lynx distribution within home ranges (see below). By spring 2007, we expect to have obtained over 70,000 highly accurate GPS points for lynx on the Seeley Lake/Garnet and Purcell Mountains study areas. These data could provide the basis for modeling how forest management should be configured on the landscape in ways that maintain sustainable lynx habitat, both spatially and temporally.

 

image showing how lynx use is affected by management activities
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