I mentioned previously that we didn’t have any snow on the ground at all until it started snowing on December 10th. Then it snowed almost daily through January 8th, putting about 2 feet of snowpack on the ground and more in the mountains. It’s now February 13th and we haven’t had any measurable snow since January 8th and the local news reported that all but two mountain watershed monitoring stations are reporting snowpack at about a foot less than normal. I’ve seen a few photos showing up in my facebook newsfeed of bison and the photographer refers to them as “happy” due to the low snowpack. I can’t say whether it makes them happy or not, but the ecosystem is heavily dependent on winter snowpack for moisture that sustains the rivers and meadows well into summer. The entire region has been under a hard drought and this winter certainly hasn’t helped that and in the long term, the drought is more damaging to the wildlife than winter snows. At this point, we can only hope for some big snowstorms to come through and add moisture into the watersheds though with each passing day it seems less likely. I photographed this moose last week. Moose are dependent on wetlands and marshes for food sources. The winter snow fuels these high elevation wetlands the moose need.