Big Hole National Battlefield

Big Hole National Battlefield was the site of a battle on August 9-10, 1877 between U.S. Army forces and the Nez Perce people. It was part of a five-month conflict as the army tried to force the Nez Perce onto an Idaho reservation. The Battle of the Big Hole was a critical event in the war. Although it was a tactical victory for the Nez Perce, the significant losses they suffered ultimately led to their defeat two months later.

Sport fishing is a popular activity in national park sites throughout the country. Proper catch and release fishing methods increase the chances of survival for the fish you choose not to keep.

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.

Artemisia species, commonly known as sagebrush, are far from being the only species on the landscape. The sagebrush biome is composed of a rich mosaic of thousands of diverse plant species, which are largely driven by differences in climate, soil and elevation. These distinct sagebrush plant and animal communities occur in approximately 70 park units across the western U.S— all of which are experiencing significant threats from wildfire and droughts.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park.

In the face of tremendous loss and suffering, Nez Perce women demonstrated resilience during the Nez Perce War of 1877. After the Battle of Big Hole, as the Nez Perce fled their homes and embarked on the Lolo Trail to reach the reservation in Montana, it was the women of the tribe who kept their people strong.

The goal of a September 2014 prescribed fire at Big Hole National Battlefield, Montana, was to mimic the historic role of fire on the mountain slope while improving the vigor of the native vegetation. The area contains one of the larger remaining populations of Lehmi penstemon. A cooperative effort set up research plots to observe fire effects on this rare wildflower. Parts of the area will be burned in successive years, with yearly monitoring.

In 2014 the first of four planned small-acreage prescribed fires was completed on Big Hole National Battlefield’s Howitzer Hill. The site’s burn plan seeks to sequentially burn individual “blocks” of land on the Howitzer Hill and the adjacent Horse Pasture slope to maintain the open look and feel of the steppe vegetation similar to conditions at the time of the 1877 battle.