THE SOURCE A S E M I - A N N U A L D O N O R U P D A T E S H O W C A S I N G H O W Y O U R G I F T S M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E | J U LY 2 0 2 2
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An overview of two historic moments during the 150th anniversary year of Yellowstone National Park.
CREATING SAFE PASSAGE FOR WILDLIFE IN WYOMING PHOTO: JOSH METTEN
Greater Yellowstone’s vast array of wildlife is something most of us find extraordinary, whether you live here or are a visitor. GYC is working to ensure animals such as elk, mule deer, pronghorn, bears, moose, and more are able to safely move across the landscape when traveling to and from seasonal ranges or simply in search of food or shelter. For decades, GYC has helped wildlife get to where they need to go by limiting barriers such as roads, fences, subdivisions, and other human developments. This work is necessary to sustain the region’s wildlife, yet data shows that highways in particular can threaten the viability of a herd. According to Wyoming Game and Fish, more than 6,000 ungulates die each year from collisions with vehicles on the state’s
highways and interstates. Luckily, there is a solution. Wildlife crossings create safe passage for animals and maintain migration corridors throughout Greater Yellowstone. These structures are proven to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by up to 90 percent by funneling animals near their natural migration paths to a place where they can travel below or above roadways. Currently, Wyoming is leading the way with structures already built in Pinedale and Jackson. Now, ground has broken south of Grand Teton National Park on another exciting project between La Barge and Big Piney. On May 10, 2022, GYC joined the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) for a
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groundbreaking ceremony in celebration of the commencement of the Dry Piney Connectivity Project. The project is designed to reduce collisions on U.S. Highway 189 and will result in nine underpasses and associated wildlife funnel-fencing along a 19-mile stretch of roadway. GYC assisted in securing $18 million for the project by helping WYDOT win a $14.5 million BUILD grant and raising another $400,000 in funding through the Knobloch, Volgeneau, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundations. The project is scheduled to be completed by October 31, 2023. This effort illustrates the power of bringing people together who care about this region to raise the critical funds needed to sustain the region’s remarkable wildlife.
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PHOTO: YNP SUPERINTENDENT CAM SHOLLY AND GTNP SUPERINTENDENT CHIP JENKINS THANK GYC’S WES MARTEL. CREDIT: GYC/EMMY REED
HISTORIC INTER-TRIBAL GATHERING AIMS TO BUILD A BETTER FUTURE Long before the arrival of Europeans and the beginning of the Western conservation movement, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was stewarded by Indigenous people who viewed its lands, waters, and wildlife as sacred. The Indigenous way of caring for the land acknowledged its life-giving energy, was centered on reciprocity, and used Traditional Ecological Knowledge to keep the ecosystem in balance. Today, more than 49 Tribes retain current and ancestral connections to Yellowstone National Park, yet only 27 are engaged in government-to-government relations to protect and conserve the region’s lands, waters, and wildlife. In recent years, the conservation community, including GYC, has begun to acknowledge and confront the continued exclusion of Native voices from the Western conservation movement. Recognizing and reinstituting Indigenous values, beliefs, and practices is a vital step in restoring the cultural and ecological
integrity of Greater Yellowstone. GYC is committed to identifying and fulfilling our role in advancing this paradigm shift. With the milestone 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park this year, we made it a priority to help elevate the Tribal community’s voice in the conservation and management of America’s public lands and national parks. Just last month, GYC, together with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation, gathered nearly 250 people together in Riverton, Wyoming, for a historic InterTribal Gathering. The event drew many inspiring and noteworthy speakers who participated in discussions covering topics such as water protection and climate resilience, tribalfederal consultation, bison restoration, and Indigenous women’s leadership. Additionally, federal agency personnel who attended the gathering were provided training sessions on cultural
sensitivity and Tribal sovereignty. Altogether, the event was designed to facilitate improved government-togovernment collaboration and build relationships, learn, and align interests toward conserving this special place. Dorothy FireCloud, Native American affairs liaison for the National Park Service, had this to say of the gathering: “I was extremely pleased at the turnout for the gathering. It is critical for the success of tribal-federal partnerships that we share projects and activities within each of the respective agencies. Yellowstone National Park has made it a priority to include affiliated tribal nations within the 150th commemoration, and the Wind River Inter-Tribal Gathering demonstrated how it can be done.” The enthusiasm felt at this powerful gathering is driving important progress in many areas of our Tribal Program. Your generous support makes this inspiring work possible. Thank you!
GYC’s Wind River Reservation office is led by Wes Martel (Eastern Shoshone), Colleen Friday (Northern Arapaho), and Letara Lebeau (Northern Arapaho). They run our programs to protect and restore Indigenous conservation piorities that honor cultural landscapes, Tribal rights, and Tribal ways of life. Read more about our Tribal program and the Inter-Tribal Gathering on our website: greateryellowstone.org/blog
PHOTO: KYLE STONE/NPS
UNPRECEDENTED FLOODING CREATES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATION The unprecedented flooding in Greater Yellowstone last month, which temporarily shut down Yellowstone National Park during its 150th anniversary year, continues to impact the world’s first national park and many of its surrounding communities. This severe weather event is a stark reminder of the power of Mother Nature, but it also offers a chance to re-think where and how we build infrastructure, manage our public lands and floodplains, and address the impacts of climate change. It’s easy to think of this event as an anomaly, but we know that a changing climate means we are not immune to experiencing similar events in the future. Greater Yellowstone is facing changing temperatures and precipitation patterns that are revealing many adverse effects. Whether it is the widespread die-off of whitebark pine, parasitic roundworm causing high mortalities in moose, or fish kills in the Yellowstone River, the climate-related events impacting the region’s lands, waters, and wildlife are undeniable.
The Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment — released last year — indicates that these climate trends will likely continue. With this in mind, we know we have an opportunity to make smarter, more innovative decisions in how we protect Greater Yellowstone now and in the future. GYC is working alongside agencies, our non-profit partners, key stakeholders, and others to support efforts to rebuild Yellowstone’s gateway communities with an eye toward resiliency. Places like Gardiner, Emigrant, Red Lodge, and Cooke City are open for business and need your support. If you are planning a trip to the northern area of Yellowstone this season, we encourage you to spend time in these communities and everywhere in between. We are also using the Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment as a guide to plan and fund projects that will help minimize the effects of a warming climate. Putting a “climate lens” on things like forest management and local
agricultural practices is essential for mitigating disruption and enhancing natural resilience to change. The good news is there are concrete actions we can take to make a difference. GYC and our partners have organized volunteers to plant willows along rivers and streams to help keep water temperatures down, limit bank erosion, and create better habitat for birds and fish. We are also helping build support and funding for wildlife crossings throughout the region, which allow animals to safely access cooler, high elevation refugia in the hot summer months. We have and will continue to work with various ranger districts to implement prescribed burns that can help limit catastrophic forest fires. And, we are restoring riparian and wetland areas to provide cold, clean rivers for native fish species like the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. There is a lot of important work to do to meet climate challenges head on. Your support helps us respond with creativity and resolve.
Sierra Harris joined GYC in May as our Climate Change Coordinator and brings over 30 years of conservation experience from various agency and non-profit positions. Her work will include building and managing a cohesive climate program throughout Greater Yellowstone by working closely with Tribal, federal, and state agencies as well as a variety of stakeholders. Read the Greater Yellowstone Climate Assessment Report at G R E A T E R Y E L L O W S T O N E . O R G / R E P O R T
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STAYING COMMITTED TO YELLOWSTONE WOLVES
PHOTO: GOEDDELGALLERY.COM
Wolves are critical to the health of Greater Yellowstone and are seen as one of the most fascinating and economically valuable species in the region. Since their reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, wolves have restored balance to the ecosystem’s predatorprey dynamics and have demonstrated amazing resilience to the brutal forces around them. Today, wolves represent a tremendous conservation success story, and Yellowstone is recognized as one of the best places in the world to observe them in the wild. In 2011, with populations surpassing initial recovery goals and state management plans established, wolves in Greater Yellowstone were removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act. Since then, even with wolf hunting seasons in place in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, the number of animals has remained stable, and the states continue to meet the recovery criteria outlined in the delisting rule. Even so, issues persist, which is why GYC is committed to ensuring wolves remain successful long into the future. Over the years, we have worked with partners and local business to advocate against bad state wildlife policies throughout Greater Yellowstone. We have also implemented wildlife conflict
reduction programs that benefit all wildlife, like helping fund voluntary grazing allotment retirements to remove sheep and cattle from high conflict zones, installing electric fencing to keep bears and wolves away from livestock, and supporting range rider programs to keep bears and wolves wild and livelihoods in place. Even as our on-the-ground conservation work progressed, the outlook for Greater Yellowstone’s wolves changed in 2021 when politicians in Montana and Idaho passed new laws calling for more aggressive wolf management. Previously, hunting and trapping quotas immediately north of Yellowstone limited the mortality of Yellowstone wolves that travel just outside the safety of the park. With the new regulations, quotas were lifted and as a result 21 Yellowstone wolves were killed last season. Local businesses, park officials, conservation groups, and wolf advocates were outraged. Now, with the State of Montana poised to make recommendations for the next hunting season, GYC and our partners are actively advocating to restore low quotas set in previous years. We have our work cut out for us, but with your support we are committed to safeguarding Yellowstone’s iconic wolves. To read specifics on this effort, visit greateryellowstone.org/wolves.
We hope you enjoy receiving this bi-annual 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: SOCIAL MEDIA: Greater Yellowstone Coalition @GYCnews @greateryellowstone BLOG: greateryellowstone.org/blog PODCAST: greateryellowstone.org/podcast EMAIL UPDATES: greateryellowstone.org/signup SEMI AND ANNUAL REPORTS: (delivered to active donors) greateryellowstone.org/donate
THANK YOU for all you do to protect the wild heart of North America, now and for future generations.