Osprey Population Increasing in MT, But the Wildlife Management Success Story Includes Some Conflict

The recovery of the osprey population, a raptor that returns from the south each spring to the western 2/3s of Montana, is a success story that began almost 50 years ago when a widely used pesticide, DDT, was banned.

But this wildlife management success story comes with some conflict. Younger osprey in search of nesting sites to breed and hatch eggs will build nests on power poles, causing outages and putting the birds at risk of electrocution.

NorthWestern Energy crews were in Augusta in early June to install raptor nest deterrents on power poles, along with a nesting platform to encour...