Beth Madden, Prairie Denizen
By Judy Tsiang
The 2024 Bozeman Christmas Bird Count has wrapped up, and in what has become a post-count tradition, counters enjoyed the after-party at Beth Madden’s house, a warm space peppered with bird art of all kinds, representing a collection over a lifetime of fascination with the natural world. That is just one of the ways in which Beth has contributed to the well-being of Sacajawea Audubon Society.
Beth moved from upstate New York for college, drawn to the University of Montana’s Wildlife Biology Program. After earning her BS in zoology, she moved to Montana State University for grad school.
Her research took her to North Dakota where she studied the effects of fire on prairie songbirds. She also studied Bald Eagles in southwest Montana, when they were still listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Beth became a biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) , working on national wildlife refuges throughout North Dakota and eastern Montana, advising managers on how best to manage their resources. Eventually she found a home at Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge, an isolated outpost in the northeast corner of Montana, where she remained until retiring to Livingston in 2009. By the time Beth moved to Bozeman in 2017, she had become involved with Sacajawea Audubon Society and was known in the community as a prairie advocate.
Beth also volunteers as the Montana Coordinator for the USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). This landmark survey was created in 1966 in response to declines in bird numbers. Beth is responsible for staffing 106 breeding bird survey routes scattered throughout the state. Results paint a sobering picture: there are now 3 billion fewer birds in North America than there were 50 years ago. https://www.3billionbirds.org/
Prairie birds, in particular, are some of the earth’s most imperiled species, as they have been losing their habitat at an alarming rate. “We have lost more than 53% of our grassland birds since 1970,” Beth noted. Luckily, we live near some areas where prairie birds can still be observed. Each summer Beth leads a popular SAS field trip to some grassland areas north of Big Timber, where species like longspurs, Sprague’s Pipits, and Long-billed Curlews can still be seen.
Beth serves on the SAS Conservation Committee and works on both the Cats Indoors and Bird-Friendly Windows campaigns. To help homeowners with reducing bird window-strikes, Beth and her husband Bill Klenn promote an inexpensive and effective window pin-striping technique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nOjJa1tHL0 that they have generously shared with community members.
Beth also developed the popular Great Migration Challenge for SAS, an obstacle-course game that illustrates the hazards faced by birds as they migrate. In kit form, the game is ready to go for any educator wanting to borrow it. Many have seen it, and/or played it at events like the Bridger Raptor Festival.
“I never cease to be amazed at the quantity and quality of work that Sacajawea Audubon Society completes on behalf of birds and conservation,” Beth said of our chapter. “I am so glad to be part of this productive community.” Beth is also a lifetime member and former board member of the Montana Native Plant Society, noting the many areas of mutual concern between the two groups.
For the new year, Beth looks forward to leading an overnight prairie bird trip where participants will stay at the J Bar L Ranch, a holistically managed cattle ranch in northern Sweet Grass County, Montana. Click HERE for trip details.
