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migration corridors

Field Notes


A wildlife legacy to uphold

Posted on by Meghan Riley

A wildlife legacy to uphold

IMAGINE THIS: It’s spring in Wyoming’s Red Desert, and daybreak unfolds around you. As the sun crests the horizon and illuminates mile upon mile of open sagebrush country, the songbirds’ dawn chorus reaches its crescendo. Sage thrashers and Brewer’s sparrows sing their hearts out. At intervals, the resonant “wups” of displaying Greater sage-grouse join in. Far in the distance, bands of mule deer amble along a well-worn game trail, browsing their way towards summer pasture as the snows recede. A pair of ferruginous hawks wheel overhead in the brightening sky.

Image: ©Scott Copeland Images

It’s a scene that has played out largely unchanged for millenia. Whether today, 100 years ago, or 10,000 years ago, people have experienced the vastness and natural bounty of the Red Desert. These days, as wildlife and the lands they rely on are increasingly whittled into the margins, fewer and fewer places on Earth can offer the same. The Red Desert’s immense territory of sagebrush is a precious thing, supporting groups of species you can’t find many places in North America anymore. It is worth our time and toil to keep it whole and healthy for those who come after us.

Thankfully, we have a brief opportunity to make a big impact. With the revision of the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan by the Bureau of Land Management, the managers who oversee land use in the Red Desert are reassessing everything. The agency will carefully weigh public comments as it decides how best to manage these lands for decades to come. If we want to uphold the Red Desert’s extraordinary wildlife legacy, now is the time to speak up in favor of management directives that will help conserve the area’s exceptional natural resources.

Image: Ken Driese

The BLM is choosing between management actions that will make a real difference to the wildlife that depend on these lands for their survival. Whether you want to see the world’s longest mule deer migration persist, provide desert elk with safe birthing grounds, ensure better nest success for hawks and eagles, or see the most densely populated Greater sage-grouse habitat on the planet protected, your input during this process is critical. With foresight and careful management, generations of people and animals yet to come will be able to experience the Red Desert much the same as those who came before. The opportunity to make that careful, balanced management a reality is here — and it is up to us to speak to the values we hold dear on this landscape.

The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comment on the Rock Springs draft Resource Management Plan through January 17. To make a comment, visit our Red Desert action page. To learn more about provisions in the plan relating to wildlife, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email.

Field Notes


Q&A: An Eagle-Eye View of the Red Desert

Posted on by Max Owens

Q&A: An Eagle-Eye View of the Red Desert

In Wyoming’s Red Desert, the necessity of truly big-picture, holistic thinking around conservation advocacy is on full display. For one, it’s home to big game herds that require intact habitat throughout the length of migration corridors that span hundreds of miles. For another, it’s a place that has been stewarded by people for millennia, whose descendents are still here — and whose voices are critical for any conversations about how this land should be managed.

While obstacles to this kind of big-picture thinking are many, the sheer scale of the landscape presents a unique challenge: At more than a half-million acres, how do you wrap your mind around an area the size of the Red Desert?

Recently, Tribal Engagement Coordinator Big Wind Carpenter worked with EcoFlight, a Colorado-based organization, to share a bigger-picture perspective of the desert … from high above, in a small 6-seater propeller plane!

During the flights, Big Wind narrated a loop over the Red Desert for Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho elders, pointing out many of the cultural resources that hold special significance for more than a dozen Tribes with connections to the land. We sat down with Big Wind to hear about their work with EcoFlight and to learn what insights might be gained from taking to the skies.

[Interview edited for length and clarity.]

Images: EcoFlight

You’ve been sharing the values of the Red Desert with others for years now, but primarily with vehicle tours. How does EcoFlight fit into the work you’ve been doing there?

You could spend your entire life exploring the Red Desert — it’s that big of a landscape. When we leave Lander on a vehicle tour, whether we’re taking elected officials, Tribal people, WOC members, or donors, we know that it’s going to be an all-day trip, because a lot of these areas have long distances between them.

For people who don’t have that time or that mobility, I think it’s important that we try to work out a different tour for them. The intention for this year’s flight was to get some Tribal elders out there. We were able to get Reba Teran, an Eastern Shoshone elder and language teacher, and Mary Headley, a Northern Arapaho elder who teaches at the Arapaho Immersion School, to join us. And then they also brought their helpers with them because they have mobility issues. We’re trying to make sure that people who have mobility issues are still able to see these places, and have these discussions.

Tell us a little about your flight path — which parts of the Red Desert did you get to see?

We did two flights that morning, and we kind of did a loop of everything north of I-80. We left the Lander airport early that morning, flew over Red Canyon, flew to where the Great Divide Basin starts over by the Oregon Buttes and the Honeycomb Buttes. Then we moved down to the Killpecker Sand Dunes and Boar’s Tusk. From there, we flew over the White Mountain petroglyphs, checked out Steamboat Mountain, and came back up through the Wind River Range.

For someone like you, who has spent so much time out in the Red Desert, what’s it like to see it from the air?

I think the Red Desert is such a special place, because it has all of these different microhabitats within the area that it covers. You have the south side of the Winds, and the sand dunes, and areas of sagebrush. The plains, the desert, and the mountains meet in this area, but you don’t understand completely until you’re thousands of feet above it. I think the EcoFlight is a very powerful tool to be able to visualize how interconnected these habitats are to one another. It’s such a beautiful thing.

Could you share some of the highlights of the flight?

Being able to see the sand dunes moving in real time was a highlight. The Killpecker Sand Dunes are the largest living sand dune field in North America. When you’re on the ground, there’s always a steady wind, and you can kind of see the sand moving. But when you have a bird’s eye, you can actually see where they’re traveling across the landscape.

Also, there were also some pretty good migrations of antelope coming down off the mountains. Especially knowing how diminished those populations are after last winter, it was amazing to see just how resilient these animals are to be migrating across the land.

What was it like to share an aerial view of the Red Desert with the elders who joined you? And with other, younger Tribal members?

For both Reba and Mary, especially as culture and language teachers, I think it was important for them to be able to tell us the names of these places, and what those names meant, and why they were named a certain way. As an Arapaho person myself, being in a situation where Mary was educating other Arapahos who didn’t know those areas was really impactful. I have Shoshone family (although I’m not a Shoshone Tribal member), so being out there with Reba and hearing their stories, hearing their names, and why they’re named those things felt very impactful to me, too.

Over a dozen Tribes have relations with that landscape: The Shoshone, the Crow, the Cheyenne, and many others have stories about that land and their connection to that landscape. Some of those Tribes, their stories go back thousands of years. So I think it’s really important that not only are those stories told, but that those stories are shared with the next generation. Not only did we have the elders, but we had young people on both of those flights who were able to hear from the elders, and I think that made this very significant.

I think that’s interesting, because you’re in a role where you’re the tour guide. But you’re also learning from your elders, too.

Yeah. I think that’s a part of our culture, as Indigenous people. We look to our elders for guidance, we look to our elders to be able to tell stories. There’s places like the Birthing Rock, and the White Mountain petroglyphs, and all these other sacred sites that are found in the Red Desert. If we don’t relay this information, it will be lost. So it’s important to ensure that our elders are able to have the space to pass on these stories to young people.

Field Notes


Keep up the pressure to save our sagebrush

Posted on by Meghan Riley

The Bureau of Land Management rang in the new year with a bang and has cued up a public comment doubleheader for two upcoming oil and gas lease sales. I hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to share your views on both sales with the BLM in one fell swoop!

First up, the newly proposed September lease sale would open more than 95,000 acres of public land to oil and gas development, 20 percent of which overlaps priority sage-grouse habitat. With sagebrush habitat in freefall, and ongoing sage-grouse population declines, we should be shoring up the best remaining sage-grouse habitat, not leasing it out for industrial development. Also of concern is a parcel directly adjacent to, and possibly overlapping, two Wilderness Study Areas (Alkali Basin/East Sand Dune and Red Lake) and 19 parcels in crucial winter range for mule deer, pronghorn, and elk.

COMMENT ON THE SEPTEMBER SALE

I do have some good news to share: Thanks in part to public comments from people like you, the BLM issued an Environmental Assessment that could remove 80,000 acres of public land from the June lease sale, much of which was also in priority sage-grouse habitat. Now is the time to let the BLM know that we are in favor of these deferrals. That said, dozens of parcels are still being offered in priority sage-grouse habitat along with three parcels in Wyoming’s officially designated Baggs mule deer migration corridor. I encourage you to speak up on behalf of these conservation values on our public lands.

COMMENT ON THE JUNE SALE

Your comments can be brief and highlight your own personal connection to the wildlife and landscapes in question. You may also want to highlight that:

  • The BLM has made previous commitments to avoid new surface disturbance in high priority habitat, yet both proposed sales include parcels that lie within this core sage-grouse habitat.
  • Across the West, we are losing 1.3 million acres of sagebrush habitat annually and the primary threat to sagebrush in Wyoming is development. Protecting core, healthy tracts of sagebrush habitat from disturbance is crucial to the ecosystem and benefits many other species of wildlife that depend on sagebrush.
  • More than 8 million acres of public lands in Wyoming are already leased to oil and gas companies, with 4.2 million acres sitting idle and undeveloped. Companies have ample opportunity for drilling without the BLM leasing additional parcels.

Comments on the September sale are due Jan. 19, and comments for the June sale are due Jan. 23.

Thank you for your commitment to the lands and wildlife that sustain us all!

Field Notes


Making your voice heard: An intern’s insight into giving testimony

Posted on by Guest Author

The following blog post was written by Shane Heavin, our 2022 summer migration policy and outreach intern.

What would it feel like to stand in front of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission and ask them to spend $2 million to create access to public lands that are landlocked by private land? As an intern for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, I did just that. And I’m here to tell you it’s not as scary as it sounds.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently made a deal with Uinta Livestock Grazing Partnership, Belle Butte Grazing Partnership, and Bear River Land and Grazing to lease approximately 91,760 acres of private lands bordering roughly 110,000 acres of public lands. The payout will be $400,000 per year for five years and will also lock in public access to the private land for an additional 25 years, ensuring 30 years of public access to public lands inside the Bear River Divide Hunter Management Area. WOC favors this deal as it provides access to public lands, and public lands are what WOC is all about. The Outdoor Council’s long history of public lands advocacy is why I spoke to the commission in support of the Bear River HMA project.

Game and Fish makes it simple to give public comments at a meeting, and there are two ways to sign up to testify. The first is to fill out an electronic form regarding the topic you want to discuss while attending the meeting via Zoom. The second way is to fill out the same document on paper while signing in to attend the meeting in person. You do not have to tell the Game and Fish Commission whether you agree or disagree with the WGFD on the subject or specifically what you want to say, just that you have an opinion you want them to hear.

My supervisor, WOC’s program director, Kristen Gunther, introduced me to WGFD personnel Sean Bibbey, who is knowledgeable about this topic and has put tremendous work into making the Bear River project a reality. I was allowed to ask questions about the undertaking and given complete information about the Bear River HMA project. This made it easy to better understand the issue and write an informed testimony to present to the commission.

The last pieces of the puzzle to effectively speaking to an authoritative group are moral support and building relationships. Moral support and building relationships are among the most significant factors in effectively addressing an audience. Kristen introduced me to several employees of the WGFD and other experts so that I could learn as much as possible about the Bear River HMA project. Kristen also helped me edit my testimony to ensure it was clear and competent. Again, the point of the testimony is not to agree or disagree with WGFD’s position but to effectively convey the interests of the Wyoming Outdoor Council. 

Kristen provided moral support by going with me to meet key members of the Bear River HMA project and was present when I testified in front of the Game and Fish Commission in support of the Bear River HMA. Kristen’s moral support also allowed me to build relationships with WGFD staff that will last well into the future. The fantastic thing about these relationships is that the people you have formed them with will also provide moral support once established. Relationships are like a snowballing effect into moral support. I am not saying that people will always agree with you, but they will want the best for you and sometimes point out things you do not see or understand that may change your point of view.

In this case, attending preceding WGFD events and meetings was a critical part of relationship building. Speaking with WGFD personnel about the subject you are interested in shows them that you are willing to put in the work to research the topic and listen to their point of view. For example, I attended all three days of July’s Game and Fish Commission meeting. Daily attendance allowed me to become more familiar with the commission members and also allowed me to meet some of the commissioners before I had to speak in front of them.

“Speaking with WGFD personnel about the subject you are interested in shows them that you are willing to put in the work to research the topic and listen to their point of view.”

— SHANE HEAVIN, migration policy and outreach intern

Studying the Bear River HMA project materials, speaking with the WGFD about the project, attending many Game and Fish meetings, and having Kristen’s support gave me the confidence I needed to convey WOC’s interest to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. 

And so, on July 19, I gave testimony to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. I  thanked the WGFD, Uinta Livestock Grazing Partnership, Belle Butte Grazing Partnership, and Bear River Land and Grazing for the work they did on this project. I also asked them to approve WGFD’s request to spend $2 million to ensure public access to public lands inside the Bear River HMA. Whether or not my testimony had any effect on the outcome, I do not know. What I do know is that the Wyoming Outdoor Council gave me the confidence I needed to testify and that my voice was heard. If my voice can be heard, so can yours. 

By the way, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission unanimously passed the request to lease public access to the Bear River HMA.

Field Notes


Field Notes: December updates from the Wyoming Outdoor Council

Posted on by Alan Rogers

PLATTE VALLEY DEER NEED YOUR HELP

On December 11, the Platte Valley mule deer migration corridor working group met for the first time. The seven people appointed to the group — representing agriculture, industry, conservation and recreation — are the first corridor working group established under Gov. Mark Gordon’s migration corridor executive order. Unfortunately, the initial meeting indicated that this group will likely consider removing the Platte Valley migration corridor designation, and weakening protections for this important herd. We’ll be blunt: the governor’s office appears to be prepared to yield ground to a small, loud group of voices that oppose the designation of migration corridors. But we know that many more of you value our big game and support common sense, locally-driven conservation protections.

If the Platte Valley is a special place to you, or if you know the iconic Platte Valley mule deer herd well, we encourage you to reach out to us as soon as possible. As the inaugural working group created under the governor’s order, Platte Valley will set an example for how other corridor working groups will operate in the future. And it’s important that this working group hear that the public supports science-based wildlife management that will help sustain our herds — and local wildlife economies — long into the future.

Mark your calendars for our next Conservation Cafeteria on Wednesday, January 6 — we’ll discuss the Platte Valley working group and all things migration. And if you are passionate about Platte Valley deer, please reach out to Kristen Gunther at kristen@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.

HOBACK RV PARK RESIDENTS AT RISK

Early this month the owner of Hoback RV Park informed tenants that they can stay on site through the winter, but their water and septic connections will be cut off after December 31. Residents will have the option to hire a private company to provide septic service to their trailers. This is a slight improvement — longtime residents previously faced eviction at the end of the year — but not a workable solution for all.

The owner, Crowley Capital, faces a number of serious violations of state and county regulations stemming from an inspection of the Teton County property that was requested by the Wyoming Outdoor Council, including liquid sewage seeping up from a failed septic system, disposal of concentrated nitrate waste into an unpermitted sump on the property, discharges exceeding permitted capacity limits, and water treatment equipment that was installed without a permit.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Teton County Commission have the authority to potentially fine the owners hundreds of thousands of dollars for the violations, some of which may date back 20 years and which left residents living in an unsanitary environment. The responsible parties, not their vulnerable tenants, should face the consequences, and the Outdoor Council has encouraged the regulatory agencies to work with the owners on a solution that is considerate of residents’ needs.

If you want to chip in, you can help support residents of the park with a donation through their GoFundMe page. The funds will help tenants pay for alternative septic services or the cost of moving their trailers.

RENEWABLES SITING GROUP BEGINS WORK

The Outdoor Council is taking part in the Wyoming Renewable Energy Siting Collaborative, an effort organized by the University of Wyoming to study issues related to utility-scale wind and solar energy development. Members of the group represent a wide range of interests and will be working together on policy recommendations that would minimize conflicts with wildlife, viewsheds, and other resources.

With sunny skies, plenty of wind, and a skilled workforce, Wyoming has great potential for renewable energy. But like all types of energy development, renewables projects can have unintended consequences if not sited in appropriate locations. A proactive approach to siting will help ensure future development is done right.

Field Notes


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

Posted on 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.

Gov. Mark Gordon stands with members of the tour while visiting the Northern Red Desert on June 11.

Field Notes


We’re working for a strong executive order to protect migration corridors — you can help

Posted on by Kristen Gunther

In late December, Gov. Mark Gordon released a draft executive order that would dictate how Wyoming designates and manages big game migration corridors. 

While the draft is an important first step and brings us closer to a long-awaited solution, it still needs revision to ensure it will include the kind of protections our migrating herds require. We’ve asked the governor to include strong, clear language protecting the most critical corridor habitat — stopover and high use corridor segments — from risky development plans, and underscore the authority of the Game and Fish Department to manage all wildlife based on science, not politics. We’ve also provided many suggestions intended to help make the implementation of the order both efficient and effective in conserving corridor habitats. 

Together with several partners, we submitted comments to the governor’s office on how the final version of the executive order could be strengthened. Other conservation groups are weighing in as well, and nearly 300 Wyomingites signed a citizen’s letter thanking Gov. Gordon for his leadership and asking for strong language protecting wildlife. 

YOUR OPINION MATTERS

There are still opportunities for you to speak up, too. The governor’s office recently announced a four-stop “listening tour” on Saturday, February 1, to discuss the executive order and answer your questions. 

  • RAWLINS | 7:30–8:30 a.m. | Carbon County Higher Ed. Center, 1650 Harshman St.
  • PINEDALE | 10–11 a.m. | Sublette BOCES, 665 N. Tyler Ave.
  • KEMMERER | 12:30–1:30 p.m. | Kemmerer Event Center, 215 Wyoming Hwy 233
  • ROCK SPRINGS | 3:15–4:15 p.m. | White Mountain Library, 2935 Sweetwater Dr.

If you get an opportunity to attend and voice your thoughts, we hope you’ll share the following:

  • Thank the governor for taking important steps to protect migration corridors. Gov. Gordon’s forthcoming executive order will mark an important step forward, and his staff and the citizens who advised him worked hard to find balance and protect critical habitat while also allowing for responsibly-sited industrial development. 
  • Express the value of big game herds and the importance of protecting their habitat. Share why you personally value your local big game herds, and what value they bring to your community. Emphasize the world-class quality of our wildlife, and the importance of conserving it for future generations. 
  • Emphasize that Wyoming people and science are in agreement: We can protect critical habitat while also developing energy resources. Gov. Gordon’s executive order will allow us to make smart decisions about where to site industrial infrastructure. By prioritizing the siting of infrastructure outside these narrow and vital corridors, we can ensure that animals can move between winter and summer range and that we protect critical habitat without diminishing the energy economy.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Research has shown us that migrating mule deer follow the same route each year, and pass on this migration knowledge from mother to fawn. Research has also shown that human development along these routes can cause disruptions, particularly at stopover points where animals pause to rest, eat, and gain strength for their long journey. Over the past three decades, we’ve seen mule deer populations decline in Wyoming by more than 30 percent, and failure to preserve the migration corridors that mule deer and other ungulates depend on as a seasonal lifeline would have lasting effects on these species. 

The future of our wildlife depends on our actions today. It’s vital that we keep working together to help establish meaningful protections for corridor habitat, because we only have one chance to get this right. That’s why we’ll keep engaging with the governor’s office until we’re satisfied the executive order offers adequate corridor protections. And we’ll fight a misguided effort in the Wyoming Legislature to undermine the entire process. 

LEGISLATIVE OVERREACH INTO WILDLIFE HABITAT 

House Bill 29, brought by the Select Federal Natural Resource Management committee, would sacrifice corridor habitat for oil and gas development, strip Game and Fish of the ability to responsibly manage big game based on science, and torpedo extensive collaborative work by stakeholders — the energy industry included.

The bill would give county commissioners, who have no authority over wildlife or the appropriate scientific expertise, the responsibility of creating migration corridor working groups. The groups would be required to consult with the Office of State Lands and Investments, the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the Department of Revenue, among other agencies, but not the Game and Fish Department. The biologists and other experts who are responsible for managing our wildlife would be completely removed from the equation to create a process more friendly to oil and gas. Local working groups would even be empowered to amend the scientifically-defined boundaries of wildlife corridors!

If HB 29 is passed, not only will it undermine all the good faith work that stakeholders have invested in the governor’s executive order process, it will also virtually guarantee that no migration corridor can be designated in the future. That’s why we’ll be working hard during this year’s legislative session to defeat this toxic bill. And we need your help! 

CONCERNED ABOUT THE BILL? HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Attend one of our upcoming Beers & Bills events to learn more about this bill and other conservation legislation as we approach the Legislature’s 2020 budget session. 

Sign up for our email alerts to receive updates on this and other key conservation issues in Wyoming, and to learn how and when you can take action. 

Field Notes


Big wins in the legislative interim — but we’ve still got work to do

Posted on by Kristen Gunther

DECEMBER 2019 UPDATE: Bills for the Wyoming State Legislature’s 2020 budget session are being prepared for introduction. In the coming weeks, we’ll begin our pre-session planning — stay tuned for more details about the bills we’ll expect to see. We’re excited to support the formation of a Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund account, and we’ll continue tracking efforts around Greater sage-grouse mitigation and new channels to fund wildlife crossings from the Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee. Along with those details, we’ll be keeping you posted about the best ways to engage with ongoing budget negotiations, and how to speak up against legislative attempts to interfere with big game migration corridors.

Last month, we shared an update with you about the chaos and lack of transparency that has riddled this legislative interim. We highlighted four problematic bills that would have explicitly undermined our shared Wyoming conservation values: two that would have essentially killed rooftop solar in the state; one that would have opened the door to making Wyoming the nation’s dump for nuclear waste; and another that would jeopardize big game migration corridors, undermine science-based wildlife management, and strip authority from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

You responded in force. Because of your dedicated engagement — writing to and calling legislators, showing up at committee meetings, and spreading the word about the importance of fighting these bad bills — we have some great news to report. 

Anti-solar and pro-nuclear waste bills defeated

When the legislature’s Joint Corporations Committee considered gutting the state’s net-metering law — the statute that enables homeowners and small businesses to connect rooftop solar panels to the grid — the response from the public was swift. We’ve been in touch with hundreds of you who are passionate about protecting renewable energy options for Wyoming consumers, and supporting the small but growing in-state solar industry. After hundreds of messages were sent to the committee (more messages than the committee has received on any other topic this interim); after citizens gathered around the state to discuss these bills; and after four hours of public testimony in a packed meeting room, the committee voted not to advance either anti-solar bill forward. The Wyoming people spoke up, and the committee took the time to listen — that’s right, Wyoming people won. 

Strong, spirited public opposition was also a factor in defeating a proposal to store the nation’s high-level radioactive waste in Wyoming. This “zombie” bill reflected an idea has been considered repeatedly by decision-makers in the last several decades, and defeated each time — it’s been rejected by two different governors. Analysis also quickly revealed it would bring in only a few million dollars, while posing risks to Wyoming lands and people. Once again, Wyomingites of all stripes reached out to decision-makers and to their friends and neighbors, making it clear that the Wyoming public won’t allow our state to be turned into a nuclear waste dump. And at the Joint Minerals Committee meeting earlier in November, it was clear that the public response against this bill had been heard loud and clear: the bill’s original proponent withdrew the bill wholesale. 

We are grateful to the legislators on these committees for taking the time to listen — and then respond positively to — strong, unified public input against both proposals. The successful outcomes on these bills reflect the power of Wyoming citizen voices and input: when we say that your voice matters and makes a difference, this is why. 

Still on the horizon: legislative takeover of wildlife migration management 

Unfortunately, not everything we have to share is good news. Despite strong public opposition against a Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee bill that would derail conservation of wildlife migration corridors, the committee elected to move this bad bill forward. Stakeholders ranging from agriculture and county governments to sportsmen and conservation groups weighed in to raise concerns — both in advance and in the meeting room. A Game and Fish Commissioner objected to the idea that anyone but the Game and Fish has the authority to designate habitat, while the governor’s policy advisor said the timing for the legislation was problematic given the pending migration corridor executive order that Gov. Gordon will issue. But the committee refused to take a step back. 

That said, the public continued to make a big impression: the committee readily acknowledged that Wyoming people are incredibly invested in protecting wildlife and the landscapes that support them, and referenced the immense amount of contact they’ve received on this issue. Though the committee made some attempts to make the bill look more palatable, it remains a dangerous, anti-wildlife, and anti-science proposition. We’ll need your help to make sure this bill doesn’t move forward in Cheyenne in 2020, and that the Governor’s executive order is strong and will be successfully implemented. 

As always, thank you for all that you do to fight for good conservation policy for Wyoming. Your voice is critical — and it matters. Please stay tuned as we move toward this year’s session … we’ll need your help again! 

Field Notes


This chaotic and rogue legislative interim requires citizen voices!

Posted on by Kristen Gunther
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Over the last several months, we’ve been hearing from many of you who are frustrated that the Legislature has been unusually difficult to keep up with. We hear you. Here at the Wyoming Outdoor Council, we, too, have been struggling to deal with legislative committees’ lack of transparency, last-minute additions to meeting agendas, information gaps, and problematic interventions into other branches of government. We will be advocating for increased transparency and accountability in the coming months.

The chaos of this interim demands, more than usual, a high level of public attention and participation. That means that you’ll be hearing from us frequently in the coming weeks as we work to combat a few very bad ideas with major ramifications for Wyoming.

Here’s an overview of some of the upcoming bad draft bills we need to defeat:

Political interference in wildlife migration corridor management

Over the summer, the Outdoor Council tracked and provided feedback to the governor’s Wildlife Migration Advisory Group. All stakeholders were at the table, including the oil and gas industry. The group’s hard work, collaboration, and good-faith negotiation resulted in full stakeholder consensus on a proposed state-level solution that will protect Wyoming’s most critical wildlife habitat, create balance among uses, and support the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. On the recommendation of this group, the governor will be drafting an executive order concerning migration corridors, an important step for protecting the future of our big game herds.

This should have been the beginning of a new chapter for wildlife migrations, with big game corridor management now guided by a citizen-backed state process designed to meet all needs. 

Instead, seemingly out of the blue, the Select Federal Natural Resource Management committee suddenly decided to take on the topic of big game migration. They’ve now drafted a bill that undermines science, the authority of the Game and Fish, and the entire North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Most importantly, it poses a direct threat to the vital habitat that keeps our big game populations alive. 

Why did this happen? How was a process started by the governor suddenly undercut by the Legislature? The oil and gas industry presented its point of view to the governor’s advisory group multiple times — and received everything it asked for — but apparently, the industry wants more. Specifically, it’s clear that they don’t want to be required to mitigate their impacts to migration corridors. So rather than work in good faith with the rest of the stakeholders, industry voices have ignored recommendations that their representatives agreed to and asked the Legislature to intervene. 

Unfortunately, lawmakers are listening. The resulting bill would let oil and gas call the shots and would undo years of important collaborative work on migration corridor identification and protections. Rather than let science and thoughtful public input guide wildlife management, this disastrous bill would cede wildlife authority to inappropriate agencies (e.g. the Department of Revenue) and undermine the governor’s commitment to sensible, compromise solutions. It’s an egregious overreach, and it’s just plain wrong. 

Simply put, it’s the job of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department — not politicians — to interpret the science and manage our wildlife. We need to let this committee know that. 
If you have an interest in supporting migration corridors, please watch your inbox. The committee will meet on Wednesday, October 23 in Casper, and members of the public are encouraged to attend and comment.

Zombie nuclear waste proposals return to Wyoming

Nuclear waste was another topic not publicly vetted for the interim. But sometimes, bad ideas take on a life of their own (or rise from the dead). If you were surprised to see this issue resurface after being vetoed by Wyomingites repeatedly over the decades…well, we were, too.

As many of you have read, a special subcommittee of the Joint Minerals committee met last month to discuss whether Wyoming should consider storing spent fuel rods (high-level radioactive waste) in our state. This is an idea that has been proposed and shot down more than once; two different Wyoming governors have vetoed it. Storing nuclear waste poses many practical and logistical threats to Wyoming, and wouldn’t even generate the amount of money legislators hoped. We find it unacceptable that the Legislature chose to consider such a controversial topic without proper public vetting. 

For more details, check out our fact sheet on nuclear waste storage — and learn why it’s (still) a terrible idea for Wyoming. The Minerals committee will consider this topic at their upcoming meeting on November 5 in Casper, and we’ll send an alert to our members to remind you of this opportunity for public comment.

Killing off rooftop solar in Wyoming?

Last year, Wyoming’s House of Representatives passed a bill that the Outdoor Council (alongside partner organization Powder River Basin Resource Council) worked to advance, which would have supported expanded opportunities for rooftop solar arrays. Unfortunately, the bill hit a brick wall in the Senate, where it was considered a threat to coal-fired power plants. However, the Legislature decided to take on rooftop solar as an interim topic.

The Corporations committee’s work on this issue took a destructive turn when opponents of small solar used the discussion as an opportunity to make our current laws more hostile toward solar. The committee is now considering two draft bills that would effectively gut solar opportunities in Wyoming — damaging a growing industry, killing jobs, and reducing the ability of consumers to choose how they want to power their homes. 

We’ll be reaching out to you prior to the final Corporations meeting, which is scheduled for November 18–19 in Cheyenne, to let you know how you can speak up for renewable energy choices for Wyoming consumers. 

Final thoughts

These are only three of the many issues that citizens have struggled with during the legislative interim. Overall, many of us have been dismayed at the flood of last-minute decisions and lack of transparency we’ve seen, including left-field attacks on local conservation and community planning efforts, changes in meeting locations and topics, and sometimes late circulation of meeting materials. 

But we’ll continue working hard to bring you the information that you need to stay informed and engaged. The Outdoor Council is committed to advocating that our state legislature work in the public eye and for the public interest of Wyomingites. We believe that together we can achieve important policy victories that secure a strong, conservation-focused future for Wyoming — and defeat bad ideas that threaten our shared heritage and love of the outdoors. 

Thank you for being an important partner in this work, and stay tuned to learn more about opportunities to ensure we can move forward together, instead of doubling down on the bad ideas of the past. 

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Field Notes


Wyoming poised to safeguard big game migrations

Posted on by Kristen Gunther

DECEMBER 2019 UPDATE: We eagerly await the draft of the Governor’s executive order, and we anticipate that it will arrive this month. In the meantime, we’ve continued our advocacy to support the three officially designated mule deer migration corridors in the state (Baggs, Sublette, and Platte Valley), as well as turning our attention to the two corridors next in line for designation (the Sublette pronghorn, or “Path of the Pronghorn,” and the Wyoming Range mule deer). The coming year will hold many opportunities for Wyomingites to get involved in the management of and advocacy for migration corridors, so if you’re interested in mule deer, pronghorn, and/or elk, we’d love to hear from you!

Nobody knows the value of Wyoming’s wildlife more than the people who live here. It was Wyoming residents and leaders — across the spectrum — who initiated the West-wide stakeholder plan to protect the Greater sage-grouse, and now Wyoming is poised to do the same for big game migrations.

This summer, Governor Mark Gordon convened the Wildlife Migration Corridor Advisory Group made up of citizens who represented oil and gas, mining, agriculture, conservation, recreation and hunters, as well as a county commissioner and a Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner. The Wyoming Outdoor Council contributed extensively to the discussion and made recommendations on behalf of the conservation community.

The Outdoor Council’s recommendations to the advisory group

Among our recommendations, which were grounded in the best-available science and sought to establish balance, we suggested that the group protect corridors through legally-binding oil and gas lease stipulations to guide development on public lands. We also supported efforts to create collaborative, voluntary approaches to conservation for landowners, investments in wildlife-friendly infrastructure, and to reaffirm the independence of the Game and Fish Department as the authority managing wildlife for the people of Wyoming.

Safeguarding our migrating herds requires stronger coordination between public and private stakeholders, among state agencies, and between the state and federal government. We echoed what the Wyoming public overwhelmingly believes: we can have responsible energy development without sacrificing our wildlife.

We echoed what the Wyoming public overwhelmingly believes: we can have responsible energy development without sacrificing our wildlife.

– WYOMING OUTDOOR COUNCIL

The group’s consensus: a state-level solution for development

We were impressed and heartened by the depth of engagement on this committee, and appreciated a frank, ongoing discussion with the citizen stakeholders charged with creating recommendations. While ultimately the group did not choose to recommend oil and gas lease stipulations, the group’s recommendations chart a new path forward to achieve balance. After lengthy negotiations, the group recommended a state-level process that would empower Wyoming decision-makers to shape on-the-ground development, ideally allowing our state to ensure that migrating herds are not harmed by development and other forms of habitat fragmentation. 

The stakeholder consensus was not to manage habitat at the federal level, but to ask Governor Gordon to develop an Executive Order — patterned after the sage-grouse executive order — that gives Wyoming clear legal authority to site development outside of sensitive habitats. In this framework (like the sage-grouse framework), the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission would work with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to manage siting of proposed oil and gas development projects, and ensure they are placed in areas that do not impede corridor functionality or connectivity. 

The recommendation language reflects the group’s understanding of the best available migration science, and the group’s recommendations are very clear that migration corridors—especially the most sensitive portions such as stopover and high use—are vital  habitat. Therefore, the group recommended that the state should operate under the presumption that development will not occur in these particularly critical areas unless sound evidence suggests that development could be accomplished in a manner that will not harm wildlife habitat. 

Other recommendations

The group created a wealth of recommendations about many land use and management challenges distinct from oil and gas development. These include: 

  • Establishment of local working groups to provide insight, feedback, and access to local knowledge associated with identified corridors;
  • More proactive engagement from landowners;
  • A change to Wyoming law requiring commercial-electrical generation solar and wind power projects be reviewed by the Industrial Siting Council to ensure they do not impact the functionality of corridors;
  • Requests for funding for wildlife-friendly infrastructure and habitat work (e.g. invasive species); and
  • Consensus to prevent recreational infrastructure within corridor habitat.

Will this approach work?

Migration routes cross multiple types of landscapes with multiple governing authorities, and therefore cannot be conserved with a single overarching action. Rather, conservation requires ongoing collaboration and dialogue — the kind embodied by the advisory group’s negotiations. We believe the committee’s recommended approach, if executed well, puts Wyoming in the driver’s seat. That means we have the chance to achieve the real balance that Wyomingites overwhelmingly wish to see: protection of migratory herds and vital habitat alongside responsibly-conceived and sited development projects. The future of our big game herds — and our outdoor heritage —  relies on getting this right.

And we think that Wyoming is well-positioned to get this right. But not everyone is on board with the group’s recommendations for a path forward.

Migration legislation: an end-run around citizen consensus?

One legislative committee, prompted by industry interests who are dissatisfied with what the citizen stakeholder group recommended, is currently considering a bill that would hamper science-based wildlife migration corridor management. This committee’s approach seeks to remove the Game and Fish Department’s authority to identify corridors, and could open the door to higher levels of development within corridors, contrary to what the stakeholder group recommended. 

The Outdoor Council is  tracking these efforts and working with partners to oppose this approach. We support the Governor’s citizen advisory group and their recommendation for a sensible, balanced, and science-based approach. In the coming weeks, we will share further information about how to engage with this committee to oppose this bill, which will be considered in late October. 

Finally, it’s important to remember that the solution that the Governor’s group recommended to address oil and gas impacts is implemented at the development stage, after a lease has been sold and a proponent wishes to drill. We think that’s a workable solution to manage habitat, and an executive order should give the state more leverage to ensure that federal management actions will dovetail with our state-level plan. In this time of widespread leasing, however, we will also continue to work at the federal level to fight back against leasing in these habitats in the first place. As Wyomingites, we know that some things simply aren’t for sale. 

If we wish to secure a future that conserves large, intact landscapes and robust migratory big game herds, Wyoming must ensure that development happens on our terms. We believe that it’s not only possible to create a balance between conservation needs and energy development, but that it’s critical. The implementation of this advisory group’s recommendations will be a l turning point, and a key step in defining our state’s future. Once we lose migration corridors, that’s it — they’re gone. We must get this right. 

Stay tuned for more information about opportunities to support conservation of corridors.