Mid-September, 2016, while rambling in a seldom-traveled area of the Mount Naomi Wilderness, my son Nate asked, “Dad, what’s the coolest animal you’ve ever seen in the Bear River Mountains?”
“Oh, all the regular creatures you’d expect,” I said. “Deer, elk, moose, coyotes, porcupines, lots of cat tracks, and a couple of badgers.”
We took a few more steps and I glanced at the cliff bands above. Atop a limestone crag was the unmistakable massive shoulders and white wool of a Rocky Mountain goat.
“Uhhhh,” I stammered and pointed, “THAT is actually the coolest animal I’ve ever seen in the Bear River Range.”
We laughed at the timing as the goat nonchalantly climbed out of sight.
The previous spring I spotted a mountain goat on a rock outcrop on the south side of Highway 89, not far from Brigham City. It was absolutely a mountain goat—Oreamnos Americanus. If there was a mountain goat in Box Elder Canyon, then they certainly must be in the Wellsvilles. It is logical that Willard Peak goats would move north.
But this goat in the heart of the Bear River Range was perplexing. Where had it come from? Had it wandered south from Star Valley or worked its’ way northeast from Willard Peak? Either way is a lot of ground to cover where a mountain goat would be vulnerable to predators.
Mountain goats thrive in the highest and harshest alpine environments. They have a two-layer coat—hollow, longer strands of polar-bear-like hair that grow up to 8 inches long and dense wool beneath. They can subsist on moss and lichen. Specialized hooves enable them to climb places predators can’t follow. Their best defense is their climbing skills. Cliffs provide safety, but that comes with a caveat—the leading causes of death of mountain goats are avalanches, rock fall, and, well, falling.
When I returned home that day, I called the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) and asked a slew of questions. The previous year there had been several sightings of a solitary mountain goat near Cinnamon Creek, then in Logan Canyon, and then our sighting further north. There were also sightings in the Wellsvilles. In the years since, several reports trickled in of mountain goats on Cherry Peak. Last spring, a goat carcass was found up Blacksmith Fork Canyon in an avalanche run-out zone.
In 1967 six Rocky Mountain goats were transplanted from Olympic National Park to the Lone Peak Wilderness. Since then another 270 were released in various other locations. Utah goat populations peaked in 2011 around 2,100 animals. Interestingly, the Willard Peak herd has declined from around 200 to about 30 goats.
The 2018 Utah DWR Management Plan states:
“A number of records exist that document the historical presence of mountain goats in Utah prior to reintroduction…. However, there are not as many documented records as with some other wildlife native to Utah, which has led to some controversy about their native status…. They are certainly native to the Northern Rocky Mountains and neighboring states to Utah. UDWR’s position is that mountain goat habitat exists in Utah and that mountain goats are a valuable part of our wildlife resource diversity and are a legitimate part of our modern Utah faunal landscape.”
The Bridgerland Audubon Society’s stance is that mountain goats are a non-native species that may damage endemic plants. Fellow Wild About Utah contributor Jack Green, wrote a 2020 opinion piece opposing the introduction of Oreamnos Americanus in the Bear River Mountains and suggested focusing on restoring bighorn sheep populations instead.
One complication is that bighorns are more susceptible to disease from established domesticated sheep herds than mountain goats are. And for perspective, domestic sheep grazing has far greater impacts on habitat than a small herd of mountain goats ever will.
The Utah DWR has no plans to “introduce” goats into the vicinity because they are already here. Biologists are conducting surveys to understand the impacts goats have on endemic plant species to inform management decisions.
No matter how it all shakes out for the few solitary mountain goats that have worked their way into northern Utah, it is a thrill to watch these impressive climbers roam the wildest and craggiest portions of the mountains—with blasé confidence.
I am Eric Newell, and I am Wild About Utah.
Credits:
Images: Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Friend Weller, Retired Engineer, Utah Public Radio, https://www.upr.org/people/friend-weller
Text: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University
Additional Reading: Eric Newell & Lyle Bingham, Bridgerland Audubon
Additional Reading
WildAboutUtah pieces by Eric Newell, https://wildaboututah.org/author/eric-newell/
Bridgerland Audubon Society, Rocky Mountain Goats in the Bear River Range, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/our-projects/advocacy/mountain-goats-in-the-bear-river-range/
Chadwick, Douglas, A Beast the Color of Winter, Sierra Club Books, 1983, https://www.amazon.com/Beast-Color-Winter-Mountain-Observed/dp/0803264216/
Chadwick, Douglas, Darling Guardians of the Heights, National Geographic, Vol. 154, NO. 2, August, 1978 Available with subscription through https://archive.nationalgeographic.com/
Green, Jack, Locals Can Still Halt Harmful Mount Goat Introduction, Herald Journal, July 24, 2020 https://www.hjnews.com/opinion/columns/soapbox-locals-can-still-halt-harmful-mountain-goat-introduction/article_e85f7536-5201-55d7-b766-f089eb57d7ed.html
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Mountain Goat State Management Plan, https://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/bg/mtn_goat_plan.pdf
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Where to See Mountain Goats in Utah this Spring, https://wildlife.utah.gov/news/utah-wildlife-news/1384-where-to-see-mountain-goats-this-spring.html