2015_02_17 Leaving Only Footsteps-Think Again.docxVIP

Leaving Only Footsteps? Think AgainBy CHRISTOPHER SOLOMON February 17, 2015户外运动打破了大自然的宁静克里斯托弗·所罗门 2015年02月17日ONE of the most popular places for backcountry skiing in North America is Teton Pass in Wyoming, high above the adventure playground of Jackson Hole.北美洲山地滑雪最著名的胜地之一就是怀俄明州的提顿通道(Teton Pass)，它俯瞰着冒险的乐园杰克逊山坳(Jackson Hole)。This winter, as skiers and snowboarders unload gear for a day of sweat and powder-skiing, the researcher Kimberly Heinemeyer has been moving among them with a clipboard. Dr. Heinemeyer, a senior scientist with the research group Round River Conservation Studies, explains that she’s studying the effect of recreation on wolverines. She asks skiers if they will wear a small orange GPS armband for the day that tracks their movement. Most people gladly agree.这个冬天，每当滑雪爱好者终结了挥洒汗水和疾驰雪中的一天，卸下装备之时，研究人员金伯利·海因梅耶(Kimberly Heinemeyer)就会拿着一个写字夹板，在人群中穿梭。海因梅耶是弯河保育研究机构(Round River Conservation Studies)的高级科学家。她解释道，自己正在研究度假活动对狼獾的影响。她询问滑雪者，能否在身上佩戴一个小小的橙色GPS臂带，记录他们在一天时间里的活动。多数人会欣然同意。Wolverines, famously tough and elusive animals also known as “mountain devils,” are in trouble in the region. Roughly 300 are thought to remain in the northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest. Climate change is eroding the late-spring snowpack that the animals depend on to survive. Even so, in August, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew its proposal to list the animal as a “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act. Environmental groups are suing.狼獾这种被称为“山地恶魔”的动物是众所周知地凶悍且行踪诡秘，然而它们现在却在这个区域遇到了麻烦。据信在落基山(Rockies)北部和太平洋西北部(Pacific Northwest)地区，现存的狼獾只有300只了。气候变化侵蚀了动物们赖以生存的晚春的厚实积雪。尽管如此，美国鱼类和野生动物管理局(United States Fish and Wildlife Service)还是在去年8月，放弃了将狼獾列为《濒危物种保护法》(Endangered Species Act)定义的“濒危”物种。环保团体对此提起了诉讼。Over the last five winters, scientists have been trapping and fitting GPS collars to wolverines in Idaho and now in Wyoming while also affixing them to snowmobilers and those backcountry skiers. Then they’ve tracked the movements. Preliminary findings show that wolver