Join the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance for our film premiere event where we will be screening The Wild Gallatins. Our film has been over five years in the making and we are excited to finally show it to the world!
Following the film, Joseph Scalia III, Psya.D. will lead a "Community-in-Dispute Dialogue" concerning divisions over management of the Gallatin Range and beyond in the Northern Yellowstone Ecosystem.
The Gallatin Range—Montana's largest roadless wilderness—could not be at a more critical juncture. This wild 250,000-acre expanse of public lands immediately adjacent to Yellowstone National Park is under threat by the Forest Service and the Gallatin Forest Partnership—a "conservation" collaborative that is seeking to break up this critical landscape to special interests at the expense of wildlife and wilderness.
The Gallatins are home to wolves, wolverine, grizzly bear, bison, elk, cutthroat trout and many more species.
Do we have the foresight and humility to protect the Gallatins as federally designated Wilderness or will we capitulate to private interests and industrial strength recreation?
"Analysis of the Proposed Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act" by Michael Bader, completed in July 2024, offers a critical examination of the proposed Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act (GYRA). The GYRA aims to institutionalize certain land management practices within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, particularly focusing on the Gallatin and Madison Ranges in southwest Montana.
GYRA Proposal:
The GYRA is based on the recommendations of the Gallatin Forest Partnership (GFP), a collaborative group that influenced the revision of the Custer Gallatin National Forest Plan.
The proposed legislation would designate 124,000 acres as Wilderness, which is only a fraction of the 230,000 acres that are eligible for such designation. The act fragments the wilderness study areas and adjacent wildlands into different designations that allow for various levels of conservation and recreation.
The GYRA would override the Forest Plan, the National Forest Management Act, and the 2012 Planning Rule, potentially leading to increased fragmentation of the ecosystem, degradation of wildlife habitats, and the proliferation of recreation activities that could harm ecological integrity.
Concerns and Criticisms:
The analysis criticizes the GYRA for not sufficiently protecting the wilderness character of the area, particularly by allowing activities such as mountain biking, logging, and high-intensity recreation in areas critical for wildlife.
The act is seen as favoring recreation over conservation, with a significant portion of the landscape being opened up to activities that could threaten species like grizzly bears, elk, and wolverines.
The proposed designations under the GYRA are considered inadequate for maintaining the area's ecological integrity and could lead to increased human-wildlife conflicts and habitat fragmentation.
Environmental and Legislative Implications:
The GYRA fails to address the impacts of climate change on the ecosystem. It also sets a concerning precedent for the management of National Forests, where legislation driven by collaborative groups may override scientific management principles and public involvement, ultimately compromising the public trust and the integrity of the National Forest System.
-Wildgrounds to Playgrounds-
GYWA Webinar Event
Recorded April 8, 2022
Listen to Todd Wilkinson's lecture at the 45th anniversary of the Gallatin Wildlife Association.
http://kgvm.org/show/gwa-45th-anniversary-todd-wilkinson-lecture/
"Yellowstone Wilderness"
A short film by GYWA
About Us...
The Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance (GYWA) is a non-profit grassroots wilderness organization based in Bozeman, Montana. We formed in early 2019, at a time when our very planet and humanity itself are terribly imperiled, and too many conservation groups keep carving up the landscape, and calling it a victory. We aim to rally public support around the proposal to protect the remaining 1 million plus acres of roadless lands on the Custer Gallatin National Forest north of Yellowstone National Park as Wilderness. These vital wildlands contain world-class wildlife habitat and critical landscape linking the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to other large ecosystems to the north, creating connectivity crucial to the preservation of both the region's and the Earth's threatened biodiversity. Because these dangers have been kept from public awareness, we aim to respectfully open up a needed, hard conversation.
Grizzly Bears and Mountain Bikes Don't Play Nice...
Ongoing Support
Consider an ongoing donation of $10 per month.
Donate
Make a donation at a dollar amount that is comfortable for you.
If you prefer to pick up a pen...
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Please send your check to:
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Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance
P.O. Box 5256
Bozeman, Montana 59717
Thank you!