ANNOUNCER: On this episode of EcoSense... MELISSA ROMAN: Just like most animals, if you give them their space, they're going to be fine.

A mother with her kit, you give them distance."

NAKIA WILLIAMSON: What we're trying to preserve is not just the culture and unique identity of the Nez Perce people, but those basic fundamental elements of life that creates life for everything and everybody.

PATRICK: We have more snow to ski on, but also more water in the streams to enjoy fishing and floating and all the other things we love to do here.

♪ ♪ JENNIE: If you've never seen a wolverine, you're not alone.

There are only about 300 in the lower 48 states, but we were able to see three up close at Zoo Montana.

JEFF EWELT: Alright, come on in, you guys.

♪ ♪ Okay, so this is their night house.

This is where they usually come at night if they want to.

♪ ♪ Zoo Montana, we're an adorable little zoo in Billings, Montana and we feature animals from the 45th parallel north.

Most of our animals are rescues of some sort.

Those rescues can include injured animals, ex-pets and animals that get themselves into too much trouble in places like Yellowstone Nation.. ♪ ♪ MELISSA: One of the most common questions we get is how are you in there with them?

Aren't wolverines vicious?

Everybody thinks they're ferocious, vicious animals that just are going to attack at the drop of a hat.

But just like most animals, if you give them their space, they're going to be fine.

A mother with her kit, you give them distance.

[laughs] You let them do what they want to do, and we can all coexist here.

JEFF: Here at Zoo Montana, we kinda have a little bit of a hands-off approach.

We watch 'em, make sure things are going okay, but we let mom be mom, and she knows what's best for that baby.

And so that hands-off philosophy, I think, is a reason that we've been relatively successful here with our wolverine breeding.

In fact, the baby that we currently have right now, her name is Enda.

She is the only wolverine kit born in a zoological park in North America this year.

MELISSA: Amari's mothering style, she is a helicopter mom.

She definitely is focused on those kits.

They are her whole world.

We actually allow our wolverines to do what they would do naturally in the wild, especially during denning season.

They have caches like they would in the wild.

A cache is where they're going to store food.

It's a very important process for them and it's something that we try to mimic here.

We do try to do a lot of things here to keep things as natural as possible for them.

Allow them to climb, allow them to dig, allow them to be wolverines.

JEFF: We are an AZA accredited zoo, which stands for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, And so, if you're looking for a reputable animal facility to visit, look for those three letters.

That AZA accreditation is a pretty rare thing in the United States.

Out of the 3,000 plus animal facilities, less than 10% of them are accredited by AZA.

You'll hear this term enrichment, which basicall.. mental stimuli.

Enrichment can be multisensory, it can be smell, it could be vision, it could be touch.

MELISSA: So cinnamon, we put around it is one of their favorite enrichment activities.

They are a very scent-based animal.

They are mustelids, so they scent mark everything just like your weasels and your otters and badgers, things like that.

And the cinnamon just sends them into a craze.

They love it, and they will rub it all over themselves so that they smell like cinnamon, which is wonderful.

For a brief period, they don't smell like the little skunky mustelids that they are, and they smell like cinnamon instead.

JEFF: They're incredibly active animals.

They have this kind of bound to them where it looks like they're running.

They can do that for 16 plus hours a day.

And a wolverine, it is nothing for a wolverine to travel 40 miles a day just to find food.

We are so extremely happy that recently they were actually put back on the endangered species list, considered a threatened species.

And obviously anytime that that happens, that means they're going to get a lot more protections.

So you're not going to see the trappings, you're not going to see the huntin.. which really is what's decimating these populations, with the exception, of course, of climate change and loss of habitat.

So, anytime we see an animal put on the endangered species list, people that, like us, at zoological parks, we celebrate because that means it's going to give that population an opportunity to ramp back up.

A question that we get a lot is why is it important to breed in captivity?

The important thing to remember is it's for genetic diversity.

And so, the hope is that as populations dwindle, we can replenish these populations.

AZA has got an amazing bank.

It's called the Species Survival.. basically of the world's most endangered species, where we're breeding for that genetic diversity.

So, if and when we can release these wild populations back out there, there's no inbreeding, and we have great representation of different genes.

It's just going to help bolster the population over time.

MELISSA: This kit is set to go to another facility in Pennsylvania.

In the fall, she'll actually be transferred out there.

So right now, we're actually.. with crate training on her so that that'll be a seamless transition and nothing stressful for her.

There's a bit of a matchmaking system for wolverines in captivity, so she's already got a mate waiting for her, so that we can have a, hopefully, fingers crossed, another litter next year.

JENNIE: What inspired you to work with wolverines?

KIM HEINEMEYER: We don't hardly know anything about them.

They're this animal that lives up high out of our vision, out of our, kind of, reality, often the edge of our consciousness almost.

And so, they're just a bit of a reclusive and mysterious animal.

And because I'm really attracted to species that we know very little about and that require these vast natural landscapes, they're just kind of a natural for me.. pretty passionate about.

JENNIE: Tell me a little bit about what wolverines are like.

KIM: Wolverines have a reputation that is much larger than they are in reality.

They're like mid-sized dog size, so they're not very big.

They're like 20 to 40 pounds.

They're in the weasel family, so they share that family with not only weasels, like skunks, otters and other species, but they're the largest in that family.

JENNIE: What areas of the U.S. would you find wolverines?

KIM: They're currently only in the northern Rockies, so like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and then over in Washington, in the mountains through Washington and Oregon.

Historically, they occupied all the way down to Colorado in the Rockies and down to California.

JENNIE: So, why are they not in California or Colorado anymore?

KIM: Well, in the 1930's they were extirpated from all of the U.S.

There were no wolverines here by 1930.

And they've naturally recolonized these landscapes as far down as pretty much Yellowstone.

And they just haven't made it all the way south to Colorado or even Utah.

They require a lot of space.

Males cover up to 450 square miles in their home range.

That's like the size of Indianapolis.

JENNIE: Do they require a certain climate?

KIM: Well, they're high elevation, and they're cold adapted and they're circumpolar, so the northern latitudes of North America and Asia and Europe.

JENNIE: So, as the planet warms, what will they do?

Just keep looking for colder areas?

KIM: Well, we don't really know what's going to happen to wolverines as the climate warms.

Certainly, they're at high risk down here in the southern portions of their distribution because we're going to lose snow.

They require snow for denning.

They use snow to preserve food.

They forage on these carcasses in the winter.

And if there's not snow to preserve those carcasses, that will be an impact on 'em.

JENNIE: Is there any human conflict with the wolverines?

KIM: That's one good fortunate thing about wolverines, where they live, they really don't care about us.

They don't kill our livestock, they don't get in our garbage cans, they don't really conflict with us.

I did some research on winter recreation because a lot of people like to go into the wilderness areas or the un-roaded areas, and we needed to understand how they responded to that because they're not used to really any disturbance up there.

There's no predators up there in the winter, the wolves have come down and followed the ungulates to the wintering areas in the low valleys, the bears are asleep, right?

So, the wolverines have always had these high elevation landscapes to themselves, and they're not used to a lot of other large things moving around in it.

So snowmobiling and backcountry skiing are starting to have an effect on wolverines and displacing them from some of their high valued habitats.

And that's important because, in the winter, it's a harsh place to live.

They're covering a huge amount of ground, trying to make a living, finding carcasses under the snow.

And so, they need all that space.

JENNIE: So, is there still a lot to learn about wolverines?

KIM: There's so much to learn about wolverines and stuff that's so important for us to understand how to help them survive in our changing world.

In the lower 48, they occur in the higher elevations of mountain ranges.

Those functionally are islands as we move through the Rockies or through the Cascades.

And so the big challenge for wolverines is that they occur in kind of these small populations on these mountains and they need to connect with each other to maintain genetic flow, to recolonize habitats.

These small populations tend to blink out because they're small, right?

Like one thing happens and they're gone.

So we need to be able to allow them to recolonize these high elevation habitats and that requires them to move through valley bottoms where we all live.

So that keeping them connected across these landscapes is one of our big challenges.

And then allowing them to occupy those high elevation spaces, hopefully with enough snow to keep them going.

JENNIE: In the Pacific Northwest, the Nez Perce people are working hard to restore declining salmon populations.

Sometimes progress means going back to the perfection of nature's original engineering.

NAKIA: Chinook salmon is a very vital part of Nez Perce identity, going back to the creation of our people and placement within this landscape.

And so we have a story that our people entered in a relationship with not only the salmon, but all of life that comprises this landscape, all of biology, all of the ecology of this land was put into place at that particular time.

And those animal people could speak and advocate for themselves.

They didn't need us, but when the time of our people were placed here, their voice was silenced.

And so, that's part of our responsibility as Nez Perce people living here, was to speak their voice and to speak on their behalf.

The salmon right now is in a very perilous spot.

That also that's being reflected in our culture, our loss of language, a loss of culture identity, a loss of connection to this landscape.

Because the salmon has faltered and their numbers have dwindled, that also you see an impact to the Nez Perce people.

And so basically, we're speaking it as a preservation of this cul.. and way of life that has existed here on this landscape for tens of thousands of years.

Our lives were centered around these river valleys and centered around all of these rivers.

The Snake River, the Clearwater River, the Columbia River, all these rivers were the lifeblood for our people and this land.

JACQUELINE KOCH: For 30 years, the National Wildlife Federation has been fighting alongside Northwest Tribes, the states of Washingt.. and conservation organizations to protect the salmon runs of the Columbia River Basin from going extinct.

These salmon runs at one time were among the largest in the world and they are central to the northwest way of life, from the Pacific coast, all the way to inland Idaho.

When you think about tribal communities, the regional economy, small businesses and a fragile ecosystem, these salmon are the beating heart of our northwest way of life.

They're being pushed to the brink of extinction, and this is all largely due to four dams on the lower Snake River, and climate change is making it worse.

In the winter, we're having lower snow pack, so that means less water in the river.

In the summer, as the surface temperatures are rising, you have the added component of the reservoirs behind the dam, which are shallow and absorbing all of the sun's heat.

That brings in all kinds of warm water into the stem of the river.

And that warm water is lethal to the salmon.

Salmon are cold water fish; they cannot survive very well above 68 degrees roughly.

And we've been seeing temperatures consistently by the end of summer up at 72 degrees.

JAY HESSE: I work on salmon and steelhead and fish recovery for the tribe, trying to achieve the goals that the tribe has set for healthy and abundant fish stocks.

From day to day, I help work on how we manage and operate a hydro system, dams and their associated reservoirs and adjust those operations in a way that is less bad for fish, taking a bad situation, making it less bad.

The tribe worked in partnership with other fish managers here in the basin as well as the ag industry, fishing industry, private landowners, to establish a common set of goals, numbers of fish coming back, that would represent healthy and abundant fish stocks.

When the tribe entered into the treaty of 1855 with the United States, there were over 2 million anadromous fish that came back to the Snake Basin representing really seven core species, five species of salmon and steelhead, plus white sturgeon, plus lamprey.

That's not where we're currently at these days.

If I make this full cup of 16-ounce drink represent that historic abundance, that was the tribe expectation for what would be here into the future.

There is fluid in the bottom of this glass.

It represents 7,572 fish, natural origin fish that returned in 2023 back to the Snake River Basin Not exactly thirst quenching.

When you think about the tribe's expectations and the nutritional value to sustain not only human bodies but cultures as well.

We are about 480 miles from the ocean.

In the Snake River, there are four dams that have inundated 140 miles of that once and historically riverine habitat.

So, we look at all of those factors that reduce survival and abundance of fish and figure out how we can change those types of things.

There isn't just one thing that we can do and make it all better, but the studies do say that removal of those four dams will have a significant improvement on the numbers of fish coming back to the Snake River basin.

It will restore riverine environment accelerating how fast the juveniles get to the ocean.

JOSEPH OATMAN: I'm a descendant of Chief Looking Glass.

He was one of the key tribal negotiators for the Nez Perce.

When the tribe was negotiating the treaty, he had this to say around that time and that was our children's children, those yet unborn, even though they may be confined to reservation, to survive in this white men's encroaching world, our ancestral lands that had provided for our needs, will only continue to do so if our rights to fish, hunt and gather remain intact.

And we were also making sure that we took what we needed for ourselves.

Traditional Nez Perce diet was made up of 50% of salmon.

Each and every day for each and every tribal member.

But there's many other inhabitants within the watershed that also depend upon these very fish.

And so, we wanted to make sure that enough fish make it through our fishery to feed all of the insects all the birds, the bears, eagles, trees.

Everything that was out there relied upon salmon just as much as we did.

When we look out to the future, we want to see a free-flowing Snake River once again.

We want to be able to hand off to the next generation.

We want to leave things better off for them so that they can go out to all these places that were guaranteed to us by treaty.

JAY: We are just right on the edge of those fish and those resources disappearing.

If we continue status quo, we think we have about two to three fish generations.

So, 10, to 15, to 20 years before a number of those are gone forever.

JACQUELINE: This has been more than 50 years; we've been pushing these salmon runs to extinction.

People think that those dams provide us with clean energy.

And if we're being honest, we can't call it clean energy if it's killing wildlife and putting an entire ecosystem at risk.

Now the truth is, is those dams only provide 4% of the region's energy, only 4%.

And the energy experts will tell you that energy is readily replaced by truly clean renewables such as solar and wind power.

In 20 years, we've paid $26 billion in fish recovery efforts that could be considered among the most expensive fish recovery effort in history.

And by all accounts, it's a dismal failure.

NAKIA: Everything that our people are is connected to the land and to the rivers.

Our whole identity, the sounds of our language is replicating the sounds of this land.

The numbers that we use in our ceremonies are the numbers of this land.

It is our hope to reestablish these river systems, which are the lifeblood of this land, that we're going to be able to realize a part of who we are because our people and our way of life is sustained over tens of thousands of years.

And nowadays we plan 5 and 10 years and 20 years, that's not enough.

♪ ♪ What we're trying to preserve is not just only the life of our people, the culture and unique identity of the Nez Perce people, but those basic fundamental elements of life that creates life for everything and everybody.

JENNIE: Inside the Yellowstone ecosystem, a group of conservation partners are working together to try to solve challenges caused by a changing climate.

RICH CHANDLER: Yellowstone Club is located in southwest Montana.

It is nestled in a very unique and amazing watershed; that's a key tributary to the Gallatin River just outside of Big Sky, Montana.

JENNIE: What changes have you seen in the snow coming in over these years?

RICH: Once in a while we would see a very dry fall or a very quick runoff spring.

It seems more and more of these are more frequent.

A year like we just had, where it was very warm and very dry, pretty much throughout.

Several ski areas weren't able to open.

PATRICK BYORTH: Over the last decade, what we've seen is the pattern and the intensity of our precipitation is changing.

We're seeing more rain in place of snow and our snow pack is developing later in the year and often, less snow falls.

KRISTIN GARDNER: I think the trends that we'r.. now are going to get worse.

We're likely going to see earlier snow melt.

I've heard changes of almost even a month ahead of what we're seeing right now which will likely result in lower stream flows, warmer temperatures, stressing the aquatic ecosystems.

PATRICK: During the winter and late fall and early spring, the ground is frozen.

So, when it rains rather than snows, that water runs off quickly and it doesn't stick around, as opposed to snow pack, which is stored and often lasts in the high country back in the mountains late into June and early July.

JENNIE: What concerns you the most about the change in snowfall and water flow?

KRISTIN: We're seeing these low stream flows in the late summer, and at the same time we have warming temperatures, which creates warmer water temperatures.

And those warmer water temperatures stress the native fish populations and aquatic insects.

We see more algae growth with warmer water temperatures and algae in noxious blooms can cover the stream bed, and that can also harm the spawning grounds that trout need to reproduce.

JENNIE: So there is a program recycling wastewater.

Can you tell me about that?

RICH: What we are exploring here in the Yellowstone Club and across the community of Big Sky, is very unique.

It's turning reclaimed water into snow.

In most instances across the country, water is extracted either as surface water or groundwater.

And then it is sent down to a septic system, but if you're in a more municipality type system, it goes to a centralized treatment facility, in which nutrients are removed from that water.

The water is disinfected, it's filtered, and in most instances, that water is then directly piped to surface in rivers where it's downstream forever.

This concept of using reclaimed water for snowmaking does quite the opposite.

Instead of sending it down the river, we send it uphill to the upper ends of our watershed where, not only are we able to use this for recreation, in this case skiing, we also see it as a major conservation effort to where that water helps maintain flow into the river system.

Later into the season, it produces longer colder flows that are very important for the watershed function.

JENNIE: There's a trickle-down effect that's happening here.

Can you explain that to me?

RICH: So, when we look at taking the reclaimed water and we apply it through our snow machines to make snow, that water comes through those machines as a liquid form.

It's then turned into a mist that then freezes.

Once frozen, we use our snowcats to spread that snow out to make a base layer for skiing on.

After that base layer is established and natural snow then builds on top of it, that snow with the grooming continues to stay compacted.

And as we start hitting April and May, that compacted snow melts off much slower, 19 days slower than the adjacent uncompacted snow.

Now when that uncompacted snow melts off in those early runoff flashes, you'll still see ribbons of compacted snow present on the ski runs.

And that's very important because that water's slowly infiltrating back into the watershed and it's recharging after all that other snow has flushed off and melted out.

This water practically looks like tap water.

It looks like bottled water.

It's very clean and you can't see any impurities in ..

It's also disinfected.

We wanted to reuse that.

PATRICK: So this project actually helps us sustain snow pack longer.

We get an extra measure of treatment through the snowmaking process.

We have more snow to ski on, but also more water in the streams to enjoy fishing and floating and all the other things we love to do here.

JENNIE: And how much does it cost to do this?

RICH: Well, our project at the Yellowstone Club was all in about $13 million to do our snowmaking expansion.

JENNIE: So, if a resort -- ski resort owner comes to you, you're fully willing and able to share your information?

RICH: I didn't do this to be one and done.

I did this to start a concept to see this through the whole way.

Whatever we can do to help other ski areas, we look forward to it.

JENNIE: So, can you tell me what it was like to turn it on for the first time?

RICH: We turned the system on together just after midnight on November 19th, 2023.

And to watch the snowmaking start up and to watch this whole process unfold under the stars, not just the commissioning of a new system, which is an event of its own, but knowing that we had reclaimed snow, knowing that we're starting something different in Montana, it meant everything to us and it was really special.

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