Endangered Wildlife Like miners who watched caged canaries for signs of bad air, biologists monitor certain animal and plant species as indicators of overall ecosystem health. Diminishing timber jobs in the Northern Rockies are a result of technological changes in timber processing, not wilderness designation. This restoration will continue well into the 21st century, easing the transition from a timber-based economy. The majority of habitat fragmentation is a result of wildland roadbuilding.
Roads make interior forests accessible, exposing wildlife to increased mortality risks.
Wildfires For decades, Smokey Bear has led us to believe that all wildfires are destructive. In truth, forest ecosystems in the Wild Rockies have evolved with wildfires to create a diverse mosaic of habitats. Industrial logging and massive fire suppression efforts have altered the course of forest succession here, resulting in fires that burn larger and hotter. Left to its own pace, nature will correct the imbalance created by excessive manipulation of forest ecosystems in a more efficient, complete, and cost-effective way.