White-tailed ptarmigan listed as "Vulnerable". This bird serves as an indicator species for the alpine tundra, and denotes overall ecosystem health. It is not a conservation concern and is abundant in alpine zones across North America, indicating that this region is not undergoing dramatic climatic, temperature, or precipitation shifts. The lack of overgrazing by cattle, the lack of human development in alpine zones, the difficulty in accessing its remote habitat, the low densities at which it occurs and the laws regarding the limits to hunting bags allow the white-tailed ptarmigan to thrive. White-tailed ptarmigan The white-tailed ptarmigan ("Lagopus leucura"), also known as
Ptarmigan Tunnel Ptarmigan Tunnel The Ptarmigan Tunnel was built in 1930 through the Ptarmigan Wall at an elevation of in Glacier National Park, near Many Glacier. The tunnel allows hikers to avoid a strenuous climb over very steep terrain between Many Glacier and the Belly River valley. Two opposing steel jackhammers drilling from either side of the tunnel and a series of ten-hole rounds of dynamite gradually broke through the mountain in less than three months. A wide area, originally for guide and tourist horses, extends from each portal with a masonry retaining wall. Natural rock lines the interior walls. Heavy iron