Rio Grande Valley Broadband • Entered by Susan Ostlie on March 31, 2022
Valles Caldera – Mountain Lion research
February 28, 2022
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | |
| Post Admin hours | |
| Activity Hours | 1.5 |
| Participants | 1 |
| Total Hours | 1.5 |
Key Issue: Wildlife Protection
Activity Type: Trainings (WALTS, CAREs/GLOWs, research, conferences, workshops, etc.)
Key Partners: Valles Caldera National Monument personnel and student researchers.
Landscape/area: Bandelier National Monument (33677 acres)
Short Description of Activity
Mark Peyton, VALL wildlife biologist, did a presentation on “Mountain Lion Ecology in the Jemez Mountains — Large Mammal Monitoring Project.” This mountain lion project is part of the NPS/US Forest Service landscape restoration program on VALL, Bandelier and the Santa Fe National Forest, and is evaluating mountain lion responses (along with responses of black bears, elk and mule deer) to landscape-scale forest thinning, prescribed fire, and natural- and human-caused-wildfires.
Reflection/Evaluation
This workshop was a pure delight! The photos and anecdotes told by the presenter were most entertaining, and the science was well-documented and clearly explained. It appears that mountain lions are fine with hunting and raising their young in thinned forests, and actually seem to prefer the openness. They are even willing to hunt in heavily burnt over areas. Other large predators had somewhat different preferences, but all of them utilized the thinned and controlled burn areas more than might have been predicted.