Ruffled feathers: Blackfoot-Clearwater owl nest pits FWP vs. photographers

For at least a decade, a pair of great gray owls have made their nest each spring in the top of a broken cottonwood tree trunk on the Blackfoot-Clearwater Game Range northeast of Missoula. They fledge chicks almost every year, and they’ve become increasingly popular with wildlife photographers — including professionals — who appreciate the nest’s easy access and visibility from the ground. 

So it made sense that some photographers were upset this spring when they learned that the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks planned to remove the nest.

Why would FWP do that?

Mainly because of the photographers themselves. And because the nest wasn’t actually natural. 

With me today is Joshua Murdock, outdoors and natural resources reporter at the Missoulian. He visited the nest with an FWP biologist and met with photographers.