A Showdown Over Elk In Paradise?

Todd Wilkinson

...For all that Paradise Valley represents as a fountainhead of visual awe, the living is not easy for those who steward it’s most coveted, valuable and threatened asset—its open space, he asserts. Tilt is author of a new report, “Elk in Paradise: Conserving Migratory Wildlife and Working Lands in Montana’s Paradise Valley” published by the Bozeman-based organization Property and Environment Research Center ( PERC). Policymakers and even those who blithely pass through the valley believing it is adequately safeguarded may be in for an abrupt wake-up call. Over the years, PERC, which turned 40 in 2020, has been a pioneer in what is called “free-market environmentalism,” espousing the conviction that economic incentives are a more potent force in achieving better environmental outcomes than government regulation...Although Greater Yellowstone’s 22.5 million acres contains massive expanses of public lands, four or five million acres of working ranches and private land—located mostly in mountain valleys along rivers—are crucial to phenomena that transcend borders such a migrations, clean water, even confronting the crisis of exotic noxious weeds impacting rangeland...Private lands provide crucial winter range for wildlife and function as connective travel corridors for wild hooved animals and predators. Arthur Middleton, an ecologist who works with the Wyoming Migration Initiative, the US Geological Survey, the universities of Wyoming and California, and who spends his summers in Cody, says that 80 percent of Greater Yellowstone’s elk rely upon open, unfragmented private land at some time of the year...MORE

State Land Commissioner ‘recommits’ to protecting wildlife

The State Land Office will expand efforts to include wildlife protections in future infrastructure projects. The office made a series of announcements at the recent Upper Rio Grande Wildlife Corridors Summit related to conservation in future State Land Office projects. “I’m here to recommit not only myself, but the state land office, to being a partner in ensuring that wildlife corridors, wildlife crossings, are part of all of our infrastructure plans, our land management plans, our animal management plans,” State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said at the summit. Howard Gross, assistant commissioner for surface resources at the State Land Office, said during a panel discussion at the summit that the agency’s mission is to optimize revenue generated from state trust lands, but the office also has a responsibility to protect “long-term health of those lands for future generations.” “You might recognize a dichotomy in that mission between revenue generation and conservation. But I prefer to look at it as a yin and yang,” Gross said. Under Garcia Richard’s direction, the office will begin incorporating landscape-level planning into resource management and infrastructure programs moving forward. “Planning at this level is something the land office has not done before,” Gross said, adding that the department will create a new position for a landscape-level planner...MORE

Back in 2010 I posted an item about Gov's Richardson and Ritter signing the Colorado/NM wildlife corridor initiative:

According to the MOU, the states will:

° Identify key habitat connectivity, travel and migration corridors used by elk, deer, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep, and, as identified by the two states, other key species of wildlife that migrate across the shared border between the State of Colorado and the State of New Mexico;
° Evaluate and prioritize these corridors, using the best available science, in respect to their importance and identify key habitat connectivity, travel and migration corridors to be further evaluated;
° Consult with and involve the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Tribe, and/or Jicarilla Apache tribal governments when a key habitat connectivity, travel and migration corridor crossing tribal land is identified;
° Map the key habitat connectivity, travel and migration corridors to the greatest extent possible using a mutually agreeable geospatial mapping system and consistent protocols to inform the decision-making processes in both States;
° Identify existing and potential land use changes and other impediments that are limiting, may limit or may eliminate the viability of key wildlife corridors;
° Develop and prioritize strategies that will positively contribute to the protection of key wildlife corridors, consistent with shared conservation objectives;
° Share recommended strategies with land management agencies, counties, municipalities, non-governmental entities, and the public, to inform and guide future decision-making processes.

Notice it will apply to "existing and potential" land use. Basically, if you are an entity that conducts an activity on federal, state or private land that requires a permit, you could be impacted. The general public could also be affected as access could be restricted or totally excluded.

Thanks to the two Governors Bill, you just got slapped by Santa.

By the way, this whole thing has been a project of the Western Governor's Association since 2007. To see what your illustrious leaders are doing for you, both Republican & Democrat, see their Wildlife Corridors and Crucial Habitat Initiative.

I had previously posted about the MOU between the WGA, USDI & USDA here. I had also previously posted Groups Pushing For For A Joint Secretaral Order: Wildlife Corridors. Who was pushing for this? Certain staffers in the WGA and "American Wildlands, Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC), Center for Native Ecosystems, Conservation Northwest, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Defense Fund, Freedom to Roam, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, Sierra Club, Sonoran Institute, The Wilderness Society, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Western Environmental Law Center, Western Wildlife Conservancy, Wildlands Network, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative."

This is a mapping project, pure and simple (with each state wanting $1 million dollars for their "Decision Support System"), and the maps will be used to influence land use decisions.

Interestingly, the current NM map for "Sensitive" habitat shows that 95%+ of it is south of Santa Fe. When it comes to wildlife habitat, Santa appears to be more interested in the South Pole than the North Pole. I'm sure that was caused by "climate change".

What Santa doesn't realize is that when all these projects are completed both he and his sleigh will be excluded from these areas and not even Rudolph will be able to save him.

Then in Feb. of 2018, Interior Sec. Zinke signed Sec. Order 3362, about which I wrote:

The order calls for "prioritizing active habitat management." That would mean such  management or projects would have priority over other uses or projects, such as livestock grazing. The order also says it is "crucial that the Department take action to harmonize state fish and game management and Federal land management of big-game winter range and corridors." It will be interesting to see who "harmonizes" who. We know what that has resulted in historically.  Also note the order assumes Zinke's reorganization plan is finalized including management based on regions.             

And finally, this Spring the NCBA wised up and is supporting an effort to rescind Sec. Order 3362:

The 121-year-old National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says stockmen and women haven’t been considered in the program spawned by former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s Secretarial Order 3362. The year-old order seeks to improve habitat in Western big game migration routes and winter ranges and directs federal agencies to act accordingly. Elements of Zine’s wildlife migration declaration “typically result in inappropriate restrictions on grazing and ranching activities,” the beef trade group’s resolution reads. The cumulative result is “prioritization of big-game habitat conservation and restoration,” and “inappropriate impacts to adjacent private lands.”  

  

Wildlife Groups Seek Endangered Status For California Mountain Lions

Two wildlife advocacy groups have petitioned California to grant endangered species status to the state’s mountain lions to help protect them from encroachments that threaten to drive them to extinction. “Our mountain lions are dying horrible deaths from car collisions and rat poison, and their populations are at risk from inbreeding,” warned Tiffany Yap, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity, which presented the petition with the Mountain Lion Foundation. “Without a clear legal mandate to protect mountain lions from the threats that are killing them and hemming them in on all sides, these iconic wild cats will soon be gone from Southern California.” The petition filed Tuesday by the wildlife groups argues that six isolated and genetically distinct cougar clans from the California-Mexico border to Santa Cruz comprise a subpopulation that is threatened by extinction. A recent study determined that there’s nearly a 1 in 4 chance that the mountain lions in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains could be wiped out in the next 50 years. The mountain lions are not federally protected. If the state opts to grant the animals state endangered species status, that would result in restrictions on housing and commercial development and roadways to include considerations for the mountain lions’ survival. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has three months to make an initial recommendation to the Fish and Game Commission. The commission will then vote on the status after a public hearing later this year. The sought-after status is part of a mosaic of protections mountain lion supporters are trying to create in the area. In March, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors passed a groundbreaking new law protecting “wildlife corridors” and other land use restrictions to safeguard movement of the animals through the region. The wildlife passages are now part of the zoning law in the region adjacent to Los Angeles County...MORE (emphasis mine)

Zinke talks migrations

Overlooking a valley that’s a mixing pot for migratory mule deer, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reaffirmed his commitment to protecting migrations used by elk, deer and other critters, and the winter range they lead to. “I signed a secretarial order to begin the process of looking at key components of wildlife corridors, flyways and beginning a conservation plan to protect those critical components of our system,” Zinke said from a Willow Flats overlook behind Jackson Lake Lodge. Zinke signed his secretarial order 3362 in February, but since then questions have arisen about whether it’s really changing policy to achieve migration conservation. “We’re very cautious about mineral withdrawals and mineral leases to make sure we don’t have to do a lease, and then come back and do a taking,” he said...MORE

Just like his reorganization proposal, Zinke is falling right in line with Dem's and enviros.
See this from 2010: Democrats Introduce "Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act" To Help Wildlife Cope With Climate Change,or the Wildlands Network's Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of 2016

Commentary: Conservationists can work with Zinke to protect wildlife corridors

Americans support conservation. We have protections for water, air, land and animals, though many of these are now being called into question. The discord mostly arises about details: the what, the where, the how, and — of course — the cost. So consider this. The year is 2007, the state is Wyoming, and Dirk Kempthorne, the one-time governor of Idaho, sits at the helm of the Department of Interior for the administration of George W. Bush. The head of Agriculture is Mike Johanns. It was then that a little known and yet far-reaching conservation victory was achieved. It is notable for what was accomplished then, and for what has not been accomplished since: the protection of animal migration. What was protected was the Path of the Pronghorn, the first and still the only federally recognized wildlife migration corridor in the United States. Now that Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has called for protection of big game corridors across the U.S., the experience of Path of the Pronghorn provides guidance for how to replicate this success...MORE

Interior Secretary Zinke signs order prioritizing big game migration corridors

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Friday announced an executive order that would increase hunting of big-game herds in western states, which he said will help preserve the population for animals such as mule, deer, elk, and antelope. The order aims to improve the habitat of the animals, which Zinke says have been harmed by residential development. "​We all know that animals go where animals want to go, and more often than not, that's dependent​ ​upon natural features like watersheds,​ ​rather than whether land is owned by the BLM, state, or private landowners,” Zinke said in a statement. “We need to manage appropriately. ​My goal is healthy herds for American hunters and wildlife watchers, and this order will help establish better migration corridors for some of North America's most iconic big game species like elk, mule deer and antelope.” Easing the way for migration corridors will allow the animals to more easily travel from feeding grounds where they breed to hunting grounds. His order would have the Interior Department work with state and private landowners, through voluntary agreements, to study the migration habits of wildlife across the federal lands of several western states, to find ways to improve their habitats. As an example, Zinke said the federal government could work with ranchers to modify their fences and collaborate with states on on sagebrush restoration. The states partnering on the study are New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, California and Colorado. “These states generally have expansive public lands with established sagebrush landscapes along with robust big-game herds that are highly valued by hunters and tourists throughout the nation,” the text of the executive order says...more

The enviros were immediately critical. Actually, they didn't criticize the program specifically, because this is an approach they have supported for many years. Instead they used this as an opportunity to personally attack Zinke:

The Center for Western Priorities responded to Friday's announcement, saying Zinke was trying to "greenwash" an abysmal public lands record. “There’s no doubt that planning for wildlife migration is important. But there is not a single Interior Secretary in U.S. history who has inflicted more damage to America’s great conservation legacy than Ryan Zinke. Under his leadership, the Interior Department has proposed gutting park and wildlife budgets, undertaken the largest elimination of public land protections in our nation’s history, and undermined the most reasonable safeguards protecting wildlife from the impacts of oil drilling. We won’t allow the secretary and his staff to greenwash this abysmal record with meager policy crumbs.”

The NRA had a different take:

The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) today applauded Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Order to enhance big game migration corridors. The Order calls on the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service to work together with state fish and game agencies to identify and improve these critical habitats across the Western United States.  Private landowners may join these efforts on a voluntary basis. "The NRA applauds Secretary Zinke's decision to prioritize big game corridors and improve wildlife habitat on Federal lands. With this action today, the Secretary is taking steps to protect healthy wildlife populations and recognize that sportsmen are an integral part of modern natural resource management," said Chris W. Cox, NRA- ILA executive director.  "This action will help make certain that future generations can enjoy abundant, healthy game populations.” ​

The order calls for "prioritizing active habitat management." That would mean such  management or projects would have priority over other uses or projects, such as livestock grazing. The order also says it is "crucial that the Department take action to harmonize state fish and game management and Federal land management of big-game winter range and corridors." It will be interesting to see who "harmonizes" who. We know what that has resulted in historically.  Also note the order assumes Zinke's reorganization plan is finalized including management based on regions.                

Sec. Order 3362 is embedded below:

https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/so_3362_migration.pdf

Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative tackles predation

Imagine a grizzly bear wandering south from the Yukon into the Alberta Rockies and encountering a mate that made a similarly remarkable journey north from 
Yellowstone National Park in 
Wyoming. This type of encounter is part of the vision of an ambitious wildlife conservation effort in Western Canada and the United States. Called the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y), the purpose is to create a wildlife-friendly corridor through a 3,200 kilometre stretch of land spanning from the Yukon to Yellowstone National Park. It is a collaborative effort to create habitats that allow large wild animals such as grizzly bears and wolves to thrive and move more freely through areas that were in their historical range before European settlement. Increasing human activity, development in natural areas and habitat fragmentation are contributing to the decline in wild mammals. It also limits their ability to adapt to climate change, which is a serious and increasing threat. Animals will have to move to habitats with more favourable conditions or perish if climate change drastically changes current nature reserves. There is little hope that wild animals could successfully reestablish themselves elsewhere if safe connections between natural areas are lacking. This large-scale North American conservation project is important for several reasons...more

Please take the time to read this.  It will explain the battles to come.