Wild Neighbors: Looking at animal activity in Gallatin Gateway

By Annie O’Neill EDITORIAL INTERN

Brian Troth has been ranching around Gallatin Gateway for about 35 years now, and he says the elk get worse every year. When a herd shows up at night and tears through his hayfields, the damage adds up fast.

“The effect on farming and ranching is tremendous,” Troth said. “An elk herd can ruin your hay in one night. I’m talking 10 to 20 grand gone in one night.” At one point, he was getting up twice a night to chase elk off his property in 13-below weather.

He has tried using electric fencing, but said it’s ineffective. The only thing that actually works, according to him, is firing a shotgun into the air.

Troth’s story was one of the more personal moments during the “Gallatin Gateway Elk Study and Other Wildlife Updates” presentation on June 30 at the Gallatin Gateway Community Center. The event was put on by the Gallatin Gateway Conservation Alliance, a coalition of local nonprofits, in partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Wildlife interactions like Troth experiences, is a familiar story across the valley. As the elk population grows and development pushes into their old territory, conflict between elk and humans is mounting.

“We’ve got to do something to stop these herds,” Troth said. FWP staff acknowledged the toll on agriculture “cannot be understated” and pointed to habitat security work in forested areas and continued hunting pressure as the main ways to manage elk numbers.

About the study

The study presented, “Living with wildlife: movements of the Gallatin Gateway Elk Herd,” is a bit unusual for FWP. Usually, their work is paid for by hunting licenses and focuses on standard wildlife management. This one was different because it started with the residents themselves.

Longtime locals noticed increasing elk populations for years , along with rising concern about wildlife-vehicle collisions  and elk congregating closer to homes. The community came to FWP and asked, in effect, how can we help animals move through here safely? That led to the study and in the winter of 2023-24, they began collaring elk in order to better understand their movement.

FWP wildlife biologists Julie Cunningham and Noah Starling led the effort. They managed to collar 32 elk with GPS units that log hourly locations, with no injuries to elk or people during capture. Twenty-six of those collars remain active today.

What they learned

Local elk break into two distinct herds, and they behave very differently.

The East Herd has around 900 elk and stays east of U.S. Highway 191. Some migrate onto U.S. Forest Service land to calve in summer, and some head toward Bear Canyon southeast of Bozeman, but most of them just stay in one spot.

The West Herd is smaller; about 250 elk, and stays west of U.S. 191. This herd is largely non-migratory and crosses the highway often.

During highway crossings, the herd clusters and crosses in specific, identifiable spots. Data shows elk most commonly cross U.S. 191 between mile markers 76 and 74, near Bear Creek Subdivision and Wilson Creek Road, as well as between mile markers 73 and 71, near the mouth of the canyon. Drivers should be especially alert in those stretches.

Timing is a big factor, too. Elk are most likely to cross between midnight and 6 a.m. or between 8 a.m. and noon. There are fewer crossings in the summer, but they peak from January to May and again in September and October. They usually avoid crossing the Gallatin River itself and steer clear of dense housing.

The most vulnerable migration route is the path to Bear Canyon, where elk have to navigate an increasingly developed corridor that runs straight through the edge of Bozeman.

What comes next

The collaring phase is complete. Now researchers are watching and waiting to see what the data reveals. The study runs through Oct. 1, 2027.

“We don’t need to be hasty,” Cunningham said. “We wait until the elk show us what they actually need.”

As one longtime resident put it at the meeting, there are simply “way more” elk now than there were 50 or 60 years ago. The study will not fix everything overnight, but the hope is that the data leads to some real solutions for the elk, for the drivers and the ranchers like Troth who are just trying to get through another winter.