Glacier National Park Without Glaciers? Climate Change and Wildlife in the Northern Rockies

 

The answers are many -- as pressing as they are familiar -- from threats to public health, rising seas, loss of arable farmlands, conflicts over resources and so on. But another, often understated, answer is visible from our camp: habitat connectivity. Just beyond the end of the former glacier, there lies a landscape of rolling hills and thick forests, broken only by a line cut through the trees along the border with the U.S.. This is known as the Flathead Valley, which a coalition of local environmental groups calls the "last unprotected piece of Glacier/Waterton International Peace Park." Being at a lower elevation than the surrounding area, it boasts much higher biodiversity than the protected lands in the park. The Flathead is one of those rare, precious places where you could wander for days and only have contrails from jets to indicate you were still in the 21st century. The valley is home to the densest grizzly bear population in inland North America, its rivers carry the cleanest water in the region, and it is the southernmost place on the continent to still host the full regime of native predators: wolverine, grey wolves, mountain lion, lynx, and the grizzlies.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zachary-podmore/glacier-national-park-without-glaciers-climate-change-and-wildlife_b_5157223.html