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THE SOURCE A S E M I-A N N UA L D O N O R U P DAT E S H OWC A S I N G H OW YO U R G I F T S M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E | F E B. 2024
WILL YOU TAKE ACTION FOR YELLOWSTONE BISON?
Yellowstone bison deserve a forwardlooking bison management plan that treats bison as wildlife, allows them to migrate, and supports healthy numbers for future generations
Photo: WYDOT
NEW WILDLIFE CROSSINGS COMPLETED! In October 2023, we celebrated a remarkable victory for wildlife migration and movement in Greater Yellowstone. The completion of the Dry Piney Connectivity Project created nine underpasses along a 19mile stretch of highway in Wyoming. These underpasses will allow wildlife to move more easily throughout the seasons and keep people safe while driving along this bustling road. Connected landscapes are what keep Greater Yellowstone’s wildlife healthy and thriving. Situated within the migratory path of the iconic Wyoming Range mule deer herd, U.S. Highway 189 presents one of the largest barriers between alpine summer habitat and the sagebrush steppe ecosystem where thousands of deer spend the winter. Other ungulates including elk, pronghorn, and moose also access seasonal habitat by crossing U.S. Highway 189. With countless animals attempting to cross, this section of highway has historically represented a hotspot for wildlife-vehicle collisions. Amazingly, wildlife have already been reported using the nine underpasses!
To see this project to fruition, GYC assisted in raising the $17 million needed to build the underpasses, along with 33 miles of fencing to encourage wildlife to move toward the underpasses, and two miles of new road. This included helping the Wyoming Department of Transportation secure a $14.5 million BUILD grant with the Federal Highway Administration and secure an additional $400,000 in grant funding through the Knobloch Family Foundation, The Volgenau Foundation, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. GYC is committed to preserving connectivity and restoring the ability of wildlife to move within and across the landscape to meet their needs. Thanks to donors like you, GYC is able to support the construction of wildlife crossings like the Dry Piney Connectivity Project’s nine underpasses and lead other opportunities to preserve wildlife migration and movement across this remarkable ecosystem.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte disagrees and needs a reality check. Head to our website at greateryellowstone.org/ protectbison and sign your name to ask Governor Gianforte to join the majority of Americans who want Yellowstone bison managed as wildlife. We hope you enjoy receiving this biannual update. We want to honor your generosity and commitment to GYC by keeping in close touch with you. Please let us know how you prefer to hear from us by calling 406-586-1593 or emailing us at gyc@greateryellowstone.org. In the meantime, learn about other efforts to protect the region online: BLOG - LATEST NEWS & UPDATES greateryellowstone.org/blog EMAILS greateryellowstone.org/signup ANNUAL REPORTS greateryellowstone.org/financials
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T H A N K Y O U for all you do to protect the wild heart of North America, now and for future generations.
Photo: Bobs Creek Photography/ Shutterstock
GYC AND SUPPORTERS ADVOCATE FOR MONTANA WOLVES Gray wolves are an icon of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Elusive and enigmatic, wolves keep our ecosystem in check, ensure our landscape is healthy, and draw visitors who provide millions of dollars to local communities. But the management of wolves has been contentious in the West. After a long history of aggressive predator management policies and outcompetition for prey species, wolves were eliminated from Yellowstone National Park by 1926. They remained absent until the mid-1990s, when ecologically minded biologists led efforts to reintroduce them to Yellowstone and central Idaho. Since then, populations of this keystone species have expanded across the Northern Rockies, leading to the removal of federal protections and a return of wolf management responsibilities to the states.
With wolf management in state hands, the wolf policies of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have a substantial impact on the wolf population of the Yellowstone region. Even Yellowstone wolves, protected within the park’s borders, are subject to state policies if they cross the park boundary. This is why it is important for GYC to engage in state policy-making processes. One such opportunity arrived in October 2023, when Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) released a draft Montana Gray Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (wolf plan) and an accompanying draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Once finalized, these documents will guide wolf management actions in the state of Montana for years to come. During the subsequent public comment period, GYC’s wildlife team thoroughly reviewed FWP’s draft wolf plan and EIS and submitted formal comments.
Specifically, we advocated for improvements to the plan that account for differences in economic, ecological, scientific, and cultural values of wolves across Montana. We also asked that management actions were based on the best available science, and that the plan provide specific guidelines for how wolves would be managed at different population levels – and allow for public input when tactics change. Importantly, we asked you to submit comments as well – providing FWP with broad-based feedback and showcasing public support for balanced, science-based state management policies that ensure wolves continue to play their critical role on the landscape. Amazingly, more than 2,000 people answered our call to action and submitted comments on the wolf plan to FWP after hearing from us.
On February 2, 2024 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) found a petition by some conservation groups to add Northern Rockies wolves back to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was not necessary, identified Western States wolves as a distinct population, and committed to initiating a process to develop a new national recovery plan for wolves. The agency has also initiated an effort to foster a national dialogue around how communities can live with gray wolves. We applaud FWS for these efforts. At the heart of the debate about wolf status under the ESA are concerns with state-level policies that guide how wolves are managed, which FWS acknowledged in its decision. It’s clear that the states need to live up to their commitments to responsibly manage wolves and protect key populations like those in Yellowstone National Park. PROTECTING THE WILD HEART OF NORTH AMERICA
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