After a three-year delay in implementing Wyoming’s big game migration protection policy, some members of Wyoming Wildlife Taskforce have urged wildlife managers to take action.

On December 14 in Cheyenne, the group held their final meeting. Sen. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs) expressed his frustrations stating, “We’re missing opportunities. It frustrates me to no end to sit here and say we have to have the best available science when we can’t afford [it] for every single wildlife population or corridor in the state of Wyoming. We’re going to miss a lot of opportunities and we’re going to develop some critical areas for wildlife.”

Over the course of two years, the taskforce has met to discuss policies related to hunting opportunity and sportsperson access. While migration corridors were not discussed, they appeared on the agenda at the meeting.

The Sublette pronghorn migration is a well-known corridor in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The northern sections have been protected since 2008 while it’s southern sections have been delayed.

Wyoming is a leader in identifying numerous big game migration routes across the state. From 2016 to 2018, progress was made when mule migration routes were designated in the Green River Basin, Platte Valley, and the Baggs area. But in 2019, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department was approached by industry groups about developing a process that addressed their interests. Migration designations have been at a standstill ever since.

The pronghorn migration route waiting designation is commonly used to migrate the Green River basin and beyond- including to Jackson Hole via the well-known “Path of the Pronghorn” The route is being destroyed by private land development exempt from Wyoming’s migration order. Due to threats like natural gas fields and solar energy development, public land portions are also damaging it.

Fish and Game Director, Brian Nesvik, called the process “a tight balancing act.” For now, the goal is to encourage Game and Fish to be transparent and open regarding this migration designation. 

 

About Daniel Schwab Wyoming
Based in Afton, Wyoming, Daniel Schwab is an incredibly talented businessman, passionate about his community and the environment around him. Having lived in Wyoming’s Star Valley for most of his life, Daniel Schwab is someone who knows the ins-and-outs of the land. As a child, he spent his hime fly-fishing and adventuring in spring creeks, which gave him a foundation of his passion for the environment. He takes these memories with him on every professional venture he makes.

More recently, Daniel Schwab Wyoming is the Founder and Director of TerraWest Conservancy. TerraWest is a company specializing in helping private landowners protect the habitats that endangered or threatened species call home. Not only that, But Daniel also owns Feathered Hook of Jackson Hole, a private fly-fishing club with over 100 miles of premier water. In 2019, Daniel opened a conservation-based property in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Renegade Wyoming.

When he’s not working in the environment, Daniel Schwab Wyoming takes his love of the environment a step further, photographing wildlife and the environment. One thing he truly believes is that the photographs he takes are a gift from God. He has never and will never sell any of the photographs he’s taken for profit. Instead, he donates the photos to charities or gifts them to family and friends. One of his main reasons for taking these photos is to help show other people the beauty of the world that God gave us.