Thomas Paragi

• Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Alaska contains 11% of North America's boreal forest, the most extensive network of conservation lands on the continent, and several species of declining boreal birds, making it a critical component of boreal bird conservation and management. A variety of actions by federal, state, and environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) have import...

Quantifying a fundamental life history event like parturition for any species is important both for wildlife management and research purposes. Surveys to estimate reproductive success for large mammals are typically done by visual observations on the ground or from the air and are time consuming, expensive and labor intensive particularly when cond...

Predation on moose calves by bears can influence moose population dynamics and limit harvestable surplus. Moose abundance in the middle Kuskokwim Valley of western interior Alaska (Unit 19A) began declining in the early 1990’s to a chronically low level by 2005 despite indications of good moose nutrition, prompting closure of moose harvest. Lethal...

Abstract: We sought to evaluate the initial efficacy of a July 1998 landscape-scale (214 km2) prescribed burn in the East Fork Dennison Fork of the Fortymile River to convert spruce (Picea spp.)-dominated stands to grasses, forbs, shrubs, and hardwood saplings beneficial to early-seral wildlife in eastern Interior Alaska. We used 1:63,360-scale col...

We monitored forage-based indices of intraspecific competition at changing moose (Alces alces) densities to gauge short-term, density-dependent environmental feedback and to ultimately improve management of moose for elevated sustained yield. In 4 areas of interior Alaska where moose density recently changed, we evaluated the magnitude of change am...

Presentation to the Science & Technical Committee, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry. http://forestry.alaska.gov/Assets/pdfs/forestpractices/2014_09_30_Paragi_Wildlife_vegetation_interactions_regen_AK_boreal_forest.pdf http://forestry.alaska.gov/forestpractices

We present methodology for assessing browse removal to help evaluate resource limitation among moose Alces alces populations in large, potentially remote areas of boreal forest. During 2000-2007, we compared proportional removal (ratio of browse consumption to browse production) in eight areas of Interior Alaska, USA, with multi-year twinning rates...

During 1991 – 1994 we tested whether martens (Martes americana) selectively used postfire seres in the Alaskan taiga and whether selection could be explained by differences in marten hunting behaviour, habitat, prey abundance, or demography. Forest seral stages included early-successional tall shrub – sapling (1985 burn), midsuccessional dense tree...

We encourage informed and transparent decision-making processes concerning the recently expanded programs in Alaska, USA, to reduce predation on moose (Alces alces). The decision whether to implement predator control ultimately concerns what society should value; therefore, policymakers, not objective biologists, play a leadership role. From a mana...

To forecast the potential effects of forest management on wildlife habitat, I surveyed late-seral features in boreal forest near Fairbanks, Alaska. I sampled 75 randomly selected plots stratified among nine stand types to count and recorded physical characteristics of snags, cavity trees, and Picea spp. trees with rust brooms. Snag density differed...

Fire has been the dominant disturbance in boreal America since the Pleistocene, resulting in a spatial mosaic in which the most fire occurs in the continental northwest. Spatial variation in snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) density reflects the fire mosaic. Because fire initiates secondary forest succession, a fire mosaic creates variation in the a...

Fire suppression and limited timber markets presently hinder maintenance of the early successional broad-leaved forest for wildlife habitat near settlements in interior Alaska. During 1999-2003, we evaluated the efficacy of prescribed burning, felling, and shearblading (with and without debris removal) to regenerate quaking aspen (Populus tremuloid...

Last Great Wilderness: The Campaign to Establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, by Roger Kaye.

Last Great Wilderness: The Campaign to Establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, by Roger Kaye.

Knowledge of lynx (Lynx canadensis) use of burned areas is desirable to anticipate the effects of fire management in the taiga. During 1991 to 1994 we tested whether L. canadensis and snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) selectively used post-fire seres during winter in the Alaskan taiga and whether selection could be explained by population trends an...

We determined characteristics of natal dens used by radio-collared fishers in southcentral Maine. Twelve adult (≥2 yr old) females were monitored for periods of 1-5 yr each during 1984-1989. Estimated whelping dates of 12 litters were March 3-April 1, and females used 1-5 natal dens each until denning ended in early June. All 33 natal dens were in...

Concern over harvests and a lack of reliable estimates of allowable harvest led us to estimate recruitment and survival from 31 radiocollared female fishers (Martes pennanti) in south-central Maine between 1984 and 1989 to determine population trends and to estimate sustainable levels of harvest. Mean annual percentage of adult females (≥2 yrs old)...

We studied natal dispersal of fishers (Martes pennanti) in a harvested population in southcentral Maine during 1984-90 because of concern over the high level of harvest and a lack of information about fisher dispersal. Probability that an individual would disperse by the end of its first year was 73 and 100% for males and females, respectively (n =...

We examined the causes and timing of moose (Alces alces) calf mortality during 1988­ 90 in 2 locations in western interior Alaska. Annual survival rates of all calves in 1988 (0.34, n = 42) and 1989 (0.29, n =47) on the NowitnaNational Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and in 1990 (0.25, n = 62) on the Koyukuk NWR were not significantly different. Survival rat...

With a statewide human population of about 677,000 (2006-2007 estimate) and at least 84,000 licensed resident hunters, many Alaskans rely on wild game for a significant part of their total diet. Even within Anchorage, the largest city with 283,000 residents, many families consume wild-taken fish (primarily salmon and halibut) and game (Moose, Carib...