Field Notes

ANOTHER SEASON IN THE RED DESERT

Posted on June 29, 2022October 27, 2022 by Kyle Elmquist

This spring, John Mionczynski a local ethnobotanist, biologist, and historian, accompanied Citizens for the Red Desert into the landscape to help educate and inform tour participants about the natural wonders and uses of the desert ecosystem. Above, you can see him pointing out the geological anomalies of the Great Divide Basin as tour participants take in the dramatic expanse of badlands throughout the Honeycomb Buttes Wilderness Study Area. Off in the distance, stand the Oregon Buttes, another WSA. Part of Mionczynski’s knowledge includes the abundance of edible and medicinal foods that grow throughout the Red Desert. Pictured above, he digs up biscuit root for tour participants and explains how this root vegetable was a staple for an Indigenous diet, often ground into flour and made into bread. Later on the tour, near a bubbling spring, Mionczynski explained how water is a precious resource. This spring, and others like it, are scattered across the desert and attract wildlife from miles around and support a thriving habitat.

In late May, CfRD joined Southwest Wyoming Off-Road Trails on a tour to explore the motorized recreation potential of the area. This is one of many groups who add value to the desert and show that working together can simultaneously support the landscape, stimulate local economies, and empower our communities. Above, you can see the way these ORV enthusiasts spent their day in the desert, taking in the scenes near Oregon Buttes and the White Mountains.

On June 28, members of Citizens for the Red Desert spent another day in the desert, visiting three sacred petroglyph sites and the Boars Tusk. Yufna Soldier Wolf, the Tribal advocacy coordinator for the Indigenous Land Alliance of Wyoming, is pictured above, discussing ways in which we can better manage and protect these sites, especially within the context of the forthcoming Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan.

Field Notes

Scenes from Run the Red and Wyoming Public Lands Day 2021

Posted on October 22, 2021October 22, 2021 by Alan Rogers

SCENES FROM RUN THE RED AND WYOMING PUBLIC LANDS DAY 2021

On Wyoming Public Lands Day, we gathered in South Pass City with hundreds of you to cheer on the Run the Red trail race runners and celebrate all our public lands have to offer us. After the 2020 event and many other in-person gatherings were cancelled due to COVID-19, being together in the Northern Red Desert with our community of members, partners, and friends was that much more special. Thank you to all the runners, volunteers, musicians, dancers, and everyone who joined us in the desert!

You can read more about the day in this story from the Casper Star-Tribune.

Field Notes

A dream for the Red Desert

Posted on February 8, 2021February 22, 2021 by Alan Rogers

It’s the heart of winter in Wyoming and, for many of us, it’s a favorite time of year. The days are short and the nights are cold, but the snow brings a quiet, peaceful stillness and lends a special beauty to everyday life. For some, that means skiing, snowmobiling or ice fishing. For others, hunkering down with a hot drink and good book or movie is the best way to enjoy the season.

The midwinter weeks are also a time to take stock of the past year and plan for the one ahead. These days, a lot of us at the Wyoming Outdoor Council have been daydreaming about the Red Desert.

The Red Desert is commonly described as the largest unfenced area in the Lower 48. While its size and remote nature are impressive in themselves, this doesn’t paint the full picture. The desert is truly unique, with sweeping views, thriving wildlife, and mind-bending geological features. The ruts of the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails crisscross land that has been used by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. The few nondescript county roads meander to the horizon.

Even in Wyoming, it can be hard to believe a place this rugged still exists. But there is life here. Wildlife abounds, including elk, mule deer, and Greater sage-grouse. Ranchers run cattle, and many hunters, hikers, mountain bikers, and off-road enthusiasts consider the desert their best-kept secret. From the sand dunes, buttes, and badlands to the aspen oases and expanses of sagebrush, the Red Desert is as diverse as the people who care for it.

For generations the Red Desert has sustained a way of life that is undeniably Western and provided opportunities for work, play, and quiet contemplation to anyone who seeks it. There is a balance that works, and we as Wyomingites have the power to uphold it. That’s why the Outdoor Council has spent years working to keep the desert the way it is — a working landscape rich with wildlife, history, and open space.

In 2020, we joined together with like-minded people from all walks of life in Citizens for the Red Desert, a coalition of Wyoming citizens and organizations who love the desert. We also hired a new staff member, Shaleas Harrison, to coordinate the effort. The people in this group all have different reasons for taking part, but they recognize that there is a common ground when seeking to preserve all the diverse values and uses of the desert.

While Citizens for the Red Desert is relatively new, the passion for the Red Desert is anything but. Wyoming residents first proposed that a portion of the desert be permanently protected as a winter game preserve in 1898, and in the century that followed, a host of other conservation efforts were considered.

These public lands have seen relatively little new development in recent years. A patchwork of agency-level protections helps sustain the Red Desert elk herd, the White Mountain Petroglyphs, the sand dunes, and other values. But it is a tenuous balance that could easily unravel. Increasingly, dramatic shifts in federal land management priorities add an additional layer of uncertainty about the future.

As Wyomingites, the Red Desert helps tell our story. Now, we want to tell the story of the desert.

In the coming year the Outdoor Council will be working with citizen and tribal partners to chart the course to permanent protection of this special place — based on the existing framework that respects the full range of opportunities this land provides. For more than 130 years, Wyomingites have shown their support. An enduring, Wyoming-grown solution can make that dream a reality and keep the special values of the Red Desert intact for generations to come.

Field Notes

New staff member serves Red Desert citizens’ group

Posted on January 23, 2021January 29, 2021 by Alan Rogers

Early in 2020, the Wyoming Outdoor Council became involved with Citizens for the Red Desert, a loose coalition of people from a variety of backgrounds who value Wyoming’s Red Desert and all it has to offer. At the end of the year, as the group began to coalesce further, we brought on Shaleas Harrison to serve as its coordinator. Harrison is a native of northwest Wyoming, an educator, and a former staff member of the Wyoming Wilderness Association who brings a deep knowledge of, and respect for, the Red Desert.

After a few weeks on the job, here’s what Harrison had to say.

Tell us a little about yourself

I grew up on a small, multi-generational farm in northwest Wyoming growing beans and barley, so I feel I have an intimate connection to Wyoming landscapes and the people that live and work here. I studied molecular biology and chemistry for my undergraduate degree and completed my master’s in natural science and environmental policy at the University of Wyoming. My graduate research revealed how people came together to overcome complex socioeconomic, cultural, and political problems of land management in Wyoming. I am also a teacher — connecting people to nature and using nature as a teaching tool. I worked as a teacher on the Wind River Indian Reservation and taught physics, biology, and chemistry in Saratoga and in Baja California, Mexico. My favorite place is Adobe Town in the Red Desert, and I am so excited to be applying all my passion and abilities as the coordinator of Citizens for the Red Desert!

What do you love about Wyoming’s outdoors?

There aren’t too many places you can go in this world and still hear the cry of a wolf and bump into a grizzly bear on a trail on the same day. I also have a deep connection to our desert lands. The colors, lines, and textures have a way of cleansing the mind. Wyoming’s intact wild landscapes are our most precious and valued resource.

Your new position revolves entirely around the Red Desert. Why is the desert special to you?

Like many deserts, it’s a place that is underappreciated and not well trafficked. It’s a place you can go and not have to book a reservation or worry about your favorite place being “full.” There aren’t any campgrounds, and you can shoot guns or ride your dirt bike or let your dogs roam, without bothering anyone. I like that about deserts. You can escape the riffraff of towns and even the tourists. While they stick to the mountains, I’m perfectly happy in the desert, even in the middle of July. The vast vistas clear your mind; they teach us things. One has to spend loads of time there to really feel its power, and the Red Desert is powerful and full of so much beauty. It feels right being here and trying to make sure it stays that way.

What excites you about working with Citizens for the Red Desert?

So many people for so many years have fought hard to ensure the Red Desert is protected. I really believe this is my calling and a way to give back to Wyoming, the place that has given me so much.

Field Notes

Governor tours the Red Desert with citizens group and Outdoor Council staff

Posted on June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by Steff Kessler

Gov. Mark Gordon spent Thursday, June 11, visiting Wyoming’s iconic Northern Red Desert for a firsthand look at one of the state’s wildest landscapes. The tour was organized by the Wyoming Outdoor Council and our partners to familiarize the governor and his staff with some of the most beautiful and treasured corners of the desert as well as introduce him to citizens representing a variety of interests who value, work in and recreate on this important landscape. Many representatives of Citizens for the Red Desert, a grassroots group, also participated in the trip.

The Northern Red Desert contains nationally-significant cultural and ecological resources, including the greatest concentration of Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas in Wyoming, crucial winter range and migration corridors for mule deer, pronghorn, and a rare desert elk herd, North America’s largest living sand dunes, historic trails including the Oregon and Pony Express National Historic Trails, and indigenous cultural sites including petroglyphs, buffalo jumps, and other respected places. It is a vast landscape that offers a range of potential for outdoor recreation and hunting, supports ranching, and is considered the largest unfenced area in the Lower 48.

The tour was designed to provide the governor an overview of these special values. Along the way, the governor visited sites such as Whitehorse Creek and the dramatic Honeycomb Buttes wilderness study areas; visited with local rancher Jim Hellyer and his family; heard about the Oregon Trail and westward expansion from Todd Guenther, a Central Wyoming College professor and historian; and met with Rick Lee, director of the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce and Bobbi Wade, a local outfitter, to discuss outdoor recreational opportunities. Jason Baldes, an Eastern Shoshone tribal member and the tribal buffalo coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation accompanied the trip to highlight the history of indigenous use and current tribal values within this landscape. John Mionczynski, an ethnobotanist and expert on the desert provided additional background on the ecology, geology and history.

*Bobbi Wade, a local outfitter, discusses outdoor recreation at Chicken Springs.*

The wildlife values of this landscape were in constant view, and the connection of this Red Desert habitat to what’s known as the “Golden Triangle” to the north along the Wind River Front — so named for its wealth of big game and sage-grouse populations — was highlighted by wildlife experts on the trip. Lauren Heerschap, with WyoClimbers and a Wyoming Outdoor Council board member, also shared information about the value of this landscape as the recreational scenic gateway for national and international climbers accessing renowned climbs in the Wind River Range.

Jason Baldes, an Eastern Shoshone tribal member and the tribal buffalo coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, discusses the historical significance of the Red Desert to indigenous and current tribal members.

John Mionczynski discusses the Red Desert’s fascinating geological history in front of the Honeycomb Buttes.

The Outdoor Council is tremendously grateful for the governor’s time to take this trip, and we and others benefited from the questions and perspectives he and his natural resource and energy staff shared with us. Gov. Gordon engaged in thoughtful conversations throughout the tour, and was obviously seeking to understand this diverse landscape and the perspectives presented.

The Red Desert is largely comprised of public lands managed by the BLM. This agency revises its management directives about every 20 years through a public planning process resulting in a resource management plan. The Red Desert’s fate is currently under debate due to the ongoing revision of the BLM’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, which will determine how 3.6 million acres of public lands, including the Red Desert, will be managed over the coming decades. Recent plan revisions from elsewhere across the West have stripped designations that protect wildlife habitat, cultural sites, and more.

It is our hope that through the direct experience of this landscape, and his conversations with people who cherish it, Gov. Gordon will see that the Northern Red Desert is a national treasure worth protecting — a place beloved by a diversity of Wyomingites for its many values and uses and deserving of a BLM management plan that will ensure its special values remain for future generations.