KEEPING FORESTS HEALTHY, BALANCED

Greater Yellowstone is an extraordinary natural and cultural landscape and its varied public lands are a big part of what make it so special. The Bridger-Teton National Forest, one of five national forests within the region, has some of the wildest lands and rivers, providing critical habitat for wildlife, supporting several long-distance migration routes, and boasting amazing terrain for backcountry recreation.

In 2019, the 3.4-millionacre forest announced it was preparing for a new Forest Management Plan, which will guide everything from recreation access to wildlife habitat to logging for decades to come. To prepare for this effort, the agency has been gathering information

ALSO ACCOMPLISHED IN 2020: and data in anticipation of upcoming public participation. Likewise, GYC and our partners are preparing for this effort by conducting inventories of lands with wilderness characteristics and rivers and streams with wild and scenic eligibility determinations. Five field inventories told us that 800,415 acres, including areas on the West Slope of the Wind River Range, an extension of the Gros Ventre Wilderness, and areas in the Southern Wyoming Range were candidates for land protection because of their wilderness characteristics. They boast outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation, are primarily affected by the forces of nature rather than man, contain unique features and values that should be protected, and can be adequately managed.

We also reviewed all 783 streams within the forest and chose to conduct a field inventory and analysis of 120 rivers and streams for their wild and scenic character. After the assessment, we identified 57 streams that have outstandingly remarkable values, which makes them candidates for Wild and Scenic River eligibility; the highest administrative form of river protection in the United States.

Working in coalition with 20 conservation, nonmotorized recreation, and sportsman groups, we

COMING UP:

Campaign SPOTLIGHT

HIGHLIGHTS hope to come to consensus around recommending protections for this important landscape. We will push for collaborative solutions that protect the many ways this forest is important to humans and wildlife alike.

GYC is working with our partners to inventory lands and waters that need protection in anticipation of the upcoming forest plan revision. This document will guide the forest’s management for decades to come.

You help us build the data necessary to protect Greater Yellowstone well into the future.

THANK YOU!

To learn more about this effort, visit greateryellowstone.org/blog.

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT : CONFLICT REDUCTION EFFORTS

PHOTO: HENRY FINKBEINER