Photo: G. Dan Hutcheson, WildPhotons
Life on the Rocks: A Portrait of the American Mountain Goat, by veteran wildlife manager and scientist Bruce L. Smith, recently won the National Outdoor Book Award in both the Nature & Environment and Design & Artistic Merit categories. This visually breathtaking and exhaustively researched book brings to life the world of one of the continent’s least-known and most fascinating wildlife species—the American mountain goat. It has been selected by the Missoulian as a recommended read for Montana adventurers and by Montana Outdoors magazine as a “stunning” production. A recent review in the Jackson Hole News & Guide includes an interview with Smith and describes how his interest in mountain goats goes back to the 1970s, when, as a graduate student, Smith first entered the Bitterroot Wilderness to search for the elusive animals. The book was featured as the cover story in Natural History, and has been featured in Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Big Sky Journal and the Anchorage Daily News.
Smith has also been traveling around Montana speaking about his many years studying, tracking, and photographing mountain goats in the wilderness at events sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation and other conservation organizations. His presentations focus on the unique characteristics of this animal, and the current challenges facing mountain goats in light of habitat loss due to human intervention and climate change. At a recent event in Boulder, Colorado, Smith fielded questions from the audience on how best to get involved in mountain goat conservation. Another talk in Hamilton, Montana, resulted in the formation of a volunteer group ready to assist Smith in his studies this coming winter.
For more information on Bruce Smith’s work, please visit his webpage and blog.
