July 2025 Range Riding & Wildlife Update
Summer has been rolling by as July comes to a close. The month brought some warmth and just enough afternoon thunderstorms to keep the dust down while collecting trail camera cards. The thunderstorms also brought a small fire that smoldered along Red Rock River, east of Stibal Lane, and resulted in a brief community gathering as many members showed up to help.
Snow has held on through the heat in some pockets of the Centennial range, but, on the north side of the Valley, the creeks, streams, and spring flows are slowing in the dry conditions. With small sporadic rain falls the grass is holding on to a touch of green going into August. For more drought information please look to the CVA’s Water Report for July.
The Team has continued to ride regularly through participating producers’ herds, checking on health, water, mineral, and losses. There was an increase of foot-rot in a number of pastures despite the drying conditions. There have been a few cattle losses this month attributed to natural causes.
Some participating producers this season are using electric collars on their cattle. These collars allow the producers to hold their cattle in virtual fences that aid in forage management without increased interior fencing. This is the second-year producers in the Valley are working with the technology, and the first year with the current tech. There are cattle herds grazing with the electric collars on private, TNC, and Refuge properties. If you’re looking for them, keep an eye out at night for the flashing green LED lights.
During the month of July, the deer, antelope and elk have been moving across the Valley, keeping away from the heat and bugs and chasing the greener forage. Sage-grouse have started to appear on the roads along with Mormon crickets. By the end of the month, it seems the Team, along with all the wildlife, are appreciating a waning in the prevalence of deer flies and horse flies; and enjoying the hillsides coming to life with a fresh raspberry crop.
CVA trail cameras have picked up grizzly bears eight times, often passing through known corridors and, in a few instances, scavenging on cattle carcasses that died of natural causes. We also had a community member report seeing grizzly bear tracks.
Black bears appeared on cameras seven times, including a very cinnamon colored bear and a bear that seems to be inclined to test the strength of some h-braces. Black bear tracks have also been noted this month.
The Team has continued to capture a few wolves on trail cameras on the north side of the Centennial Valley. Mountain lions have been captured on trail cameras five times this July, including a family unit with two kits.
The Team and cameras cannot capture the entire Valley each day, so community reports are extremely valuable to understand how wildlife use the Valley. If you have any wildlife reports to share (big or small!), please contact the CVA at info@centennialvalleyassociation.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
***2025 content is property of the Centennial Valley Association. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without written permission. This project is made possible through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with support from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, in partnership with Heart of the Rockies Initiative.***