Understanding Biological Corridors

Little more than a century ago, most of the Northern Rockies was a vast, unbroken wilderness: wildlife roamed freely across the entire region. By the early years of this century, however, agriculture and growing towns occupied most of the valley bottoms--prime winter habitat for many wildlife species--while logging and mining roads crisscrossed the hillsides. Dams blocked crucial spawning routes for salmon and trout. Wildlife populations plummeted as wildlands were splintered into small, isolated blocks. Scientists believe that habitat loss due to fragmentation and isolation--which impedes wildlife movement and alters local climate and cover--is the major cause of extinction.

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