Not many folks know it, but mountain goats are one of the most under-publicized mammals in the country, having just one book written about them in the last 30 years.

Until now.

Bruce Smith, a noted wildlife biologist who worked for 30 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will be in Kalispell today to give a presentation on his new book, “Life on the Rocks: A Portrait of the American Mountain Goat.”

While mountain goats are well known to Flathead Valley residents who can easily see them at Logan Pass in Glacier National Park or at the goat lick on the southern boundary of the park, that is not the case with most people across the country, Smith said.

“There’s no Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for mountain goats ... They have no organized constituencies that advocate for their conservation,” Smith said. “Because of that they are kind of out-of-sight, out-of-mind. It’s amazing how many people haven’t seen a mountain goat.”

Mountain goats are featured in many photo books, but Smith said the last time a book was entirely dedicated to mountain goats was 30 years ago when Whitefish author Douglas Chadwick wrote “A Beast the Color of Winter.”

He said that Chadwick agrees that it was time for an update “because there has been research done over the last 30 years.”

Smith’s book is a coffee-table style publication with over 100 photographs that Smith has taken over the years, as well as chapters on the species’ natural history, biology and behavior, and conservation challenges.

Smith did his graduate work at the University of Montana that included a three-year study on mountain goats in the Selway-Bitterroot area south of Missoula.

“Writing this book on mountain goats kind of takes me back full circle, 40 years,” he said.

Before retiring about 10 years ago, Smith spent most of his career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyo., working mostly with elk and other large mammals.

“But I’ve always been fascinated with mountain goats,” said Smith, who now lives in Sheridan, Mont.

Smith will give his presentation at the Museum at Central School at 7 p.m. today.

The event is sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, the National Parks Conservation Association, Flathead Wildlife Inc., the Montana Wildlife Federation, Glacier Climate Action and the Wilderness Institute.

For online information on “Life on the Rocks,” go to www.upcolorado.com/book/New_Titles/2917.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at [email protected].