What a view! The food, however, was so-so…
– S. Gordon

Access to goat habitat can be, shall we say, challenging…(500 foot cliff, no ropes, severe vertigo…)
– S. Gordon

Typical goat habitat
– S. Gordon

Some of Steve’s study areas in the Powell River backcountry
– S. Gordon

This photo shows just how close both conventional and helicopter logging is coming to occupied mountain goat habitat. Note the >35 ha clear-cut adjacent to occupied goat habitat.
– S. Gordon

Classic “old-school” field-biology. Watching goats through a 60x spotting scope. Randomized “instantaneous scan sampling”…and a whole lot of hours.
– S. Gordon

Long-term observation allowed sexing of juveniles through behaviour – repeated observations were important
– S. Gordon

Note the small flowered penstemons in full bloom
– S. Gordon

How does one go about catching a mountain goat?
– S. Gordon

Steve’s had an exciting and rewarding career – with the opportunity to make a difference!
– S. Gordon

Admittedly, some days were better than others…
– S. Gordon

No regrets
– S. Gordon

Steve Gordon – “Goats, grizzlies and goshawks: adventures of a habitat biologist”
by Andrew Bryant, 21 Mar 2019.

Steve works for the B.C. Ministry of Environment as a “Habitat Biologist” based out of Nanaimo.   He prefaced his talk as “not to be interpreted as expressing government policy”…and then told his story.  And what a story it is.  He’s served variously as a “Land Use Planning Biologist”, “Ecosystem Section Head”, “Field Operations Supervisor”, “Forest Ecosystem Specialist”, and “Habitat Protection Officer”.

But the bulk of his career, and the bulk of his talk, has been related to mountain goats.

As part of his M.Sc. research at Royal Roads University, Steve spent two years observing mountain goats in their natural habitats high in the backcountry behind Powell River.  His focus was to evaluate the impact of helicopter-logging on the behaviour of these magnificent beasts.

In biological terms, mountain goats are quite unusual.   The species (Oreamnos americanus) is the only species in the genus.   They live in impossible terrain.  Where death is a  single mis-step away.  That’s what mountain goats do.  That’s what mountain goats are.   Life on the edge.

Oh.  And Steve did it too.  It rather looks like he enjoyed it.