Research & Monitoring
RARE CARNIVORES
Since the 1990s we have been monitoring the existence and distribution of rare carnivores in the Southwestern Crown of the Continent ecosystem.
NATIVE FISH
A collaborative group of partners works to inform the conservation strategy that will best protect and restore westslope cutthroat in the Swan Valley.
WATER QUALITY
Since 2005, SVC has contributed to water quality efforts by monitoring temperature in ten tributary streams and key reaches of the Swan River to contribute to understanding ecosystem scale effects of climate change.
PAST PROJECTS
Over the years we have grown, adapted, and completed a variety of projects based on the valley’s conservation needs.
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From 2017-2019 SVC teamed up with the U.S. Geological Survey and Earthwatch Institute to study environmental variables that influence berry production in the Swan and Mission Mountains.
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In June of 2016, SVC partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to conduct flammulated owl surveys at several sites on the Flathead National Forest in the Swan Valley, Tally Lake area, and near the South Fork of the Flathead River.
While we did not flnd any fammulated owls, this data was still valuabie for unserstanding distribution across their breeding range.
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For multiple years SVC joined forces with the Blackfoot Challenge, Clearwater Resource Council, and the Missoula County Weed District to monitor our lakes for veligers, the free-swimming, microscopic larvae of zebra and quagga mussels.