Waterfowl Protection at Berkeley Pit

Join Dr. Stella Capoccia, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Butte’s Montana Technological University and learn about her research on protecting waterfowl that land in the Berkeley Pit, one of the US’s largest superfund sites. Dr. Capoccia’s findings address climate trends, biodiversity, avian biology as they relate to the area, and showcases the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to successful waterfowl and waterbird protection efforts.

On November 28, 2016, an unprecedented fall migration event resulted in roughly sixty thousand Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese landing in the Berkeley Pit. Mine personnel worked around-the-clock for days trying to haze the birds off the water. Other than that event, most of the observed avian activity on the pit averages below 100 birds per day. This stark difference draws questions of why the numbers in 2016 were so high and what can be done to improve practices in the future. Dr. Capoccia’s research reports on an on-going investigation to answer those questions and develop advanced protocol for future events.

Dr. Capoccia’s main research interests focus on human dimensions of wildlife management and the human-animal relationship. Her current research looks at trends in waterfowl migration and helping to develop an updated mitigation plan for the Berkeley Pit. Dr. Capoccia and her colleague, Mr. Swant, received the 2018 Wildlife Conservation Award from the Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society for their work.