Defenders of Wildlife Blog

The Upper Hoback of the Wyoming Range is part of a vital wildlife corridor for many species, including the imperiled Canada lynx.

It’s been almost a year since we heard about the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to allow oil and gas drilling in the Upper Hobackregion of the Wyoming Range, but the wait was well worth it. We learned on Friday that PXP, the oil company proposing to drill 136 new wells in a critical wildlife corridor, agreed to sell their leases and forego the project entirely!

This is a major victory for the broad coalition known as The Citizens for the Wyoming Range, which has been battling the environmentally damaging proposal for more than a year and a half. With the help of the Trust for Public Land, the coalition negotiated a buyout of all of PXP’s existing drilling leases throughout the entire Bridger-Teton National Forest, and the leases will be retired forever. That means the myriad species that use the forest–deer, elk, moose, bears, bobcats, pronghorn antelope, lynx and more–can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Defenders played an important role in raising awareness of the disastrous drilling proposal. By sending out alerts to our members, we were able to help generate more than 60,000 comments in opposition to the proposal. Further, Defenders expert David Gaillard led an independent effort to document wildlife that travel through the Upper Hoback region. He set up remote cameras to photograph all the species that would be at risk of losing vital habitat if drilling was allowed to occur. See a photo slideshow of his trip to setup the cameras, as well as the video below summarizing what he found:

Tragically, Dave died at the end of last year in a ski accident, so it only feels right to dedicate this incredible win for wildlife to all his hard work. And thanks to all Defenders supporters for helping to make this a lasting part of Dave’s legacy!

Read more about Defenders efforts to protect wildlife in our national forests.

A proposal for 136 new oil and gas wells in a sensitive wildlife area south of Jackson Hole, Wyoming has been put on hold pending further review, announced the U.S. Forest Service yesterday. The Forest Service is now considering an alternative to the original drilling plan with fewer roads and infrastructure relocated from the western end of the project where it poses the greatest harm to the endangered Canada lynx and other wildlife.

Defenders lynx expert David Gaillard has been working with a broad coalition called Citizens for the Wyoming Range to prevent the project from destroying critical wildlife habitat. This summer he placed remote cameras along the Upper Hoback Rim and documented mule deer, elk, moose, a black bear, a bobcat, pronghorn antelope and a fox or coyote all using the area. These species and many others will be at risk if the project moves forward. (See video below)

Defenders’ members helped generate a record 60,000 comments raising concerns about this project, a key factor in the Forest Service’s decision to withdraw the plan for further analysis.  But the battle isn’t over until we know the lynx and other vulnerable wildlife are safe. The expanded environmental review is slated for completion in early 2012, before Bridger-Teton National Forest officials decide whether to approve the drilling project and under what conditions.

Thanks to Defenders activists and others who responded to our alerts on this issue and helped us gain this important reprieve. We’re likely to need your support again in 2012 to make sure that this and other harmful projects do not threaten native wildlife on our national forests in Wyoming.

Smile, wildlife! You’re on candid camera.

Canada lynx are highly elusive forest cats that prey on snowshoe hares in remote alpine reaches of the Rockies.

When Defenders’ Northern Rockies Representative Dave Gaillard set up cameras in the wilds of western Wyoming in early August, he wasn’t sure what he would find. Dave knew the area was a vital movement corridor for many species (see slideshow in original blog post), including mule deer, elk, moose and pronghorn antelope. But, as an expert on mid-sized carnivores, he was most interested in capturing on film one of the most elusive animals of all—the imperiled Canada lynx.

Lynx are extremely rare and stick to remote alpine regions where they can hunt snowshoe hares, their primary prey. Because of their unique habitat requirements, lynx populations are spread very thin in isolated mountain forests across the Rocky Mountains at very low densities. In fact, scientists believe there may be as few as 10 individuals in the entire greater Yellowstone ecosystem encompassing the national park and surrounding areas.

In three consecutive years, lynx were tracked moving through the Hoback Rim of the Wyoming Range. The white box indicates the corridor where cameras were placed in hopes of documenting lynx in the area.

That’s why protecting their habitat is so important. The area where Dave put the cameras is along the eastern portion of the Hoback Rim of the Wyoming Range in Bridger-Teton National Forest, a relative “hot spot” of lynx activity in previous years. (One research study shows lynx using the area in three consecutive years. See map at left.)

Unfortunately, the U.S. Forest Service has been considering a proposal to allow oil and gas exploration smack dab in the middle of this important wildlife corridor. Dave’s hope is that by documenting the wildlife that use the corridor, we can help convince the Forest Service not to approve the project, or at least not without substantial modifications to ensure lynx and other affected wildlife will not be harmed..

What Dave found was impressive indeed. See the video below compiled from all the footage captured by three remote cameras in just over a month. Mule deer, moose, a giant bull elk, a black bear, a bobcat (we think)**, either a fox or a coyote (too hard to tell)**, a couple domestic cows, even a few human hunters wandering by.

Sadly, no lynx this time. But the video is an excellent reminder of the great diversity of animals that we’re fighting to protect on our public lands.

Thanks to Dave and citizen scientists Kerry Gaillard and Michael Osgood for all their hard work!

Learn more about Defenders work in the Northern Rockies and our joint efforts to protect the Wyoming Range

**In case you missed them, here are some still images of the suspected bobcat and fox/coyote.

This spring, we reported on a proposal to turn a vast, undeveloped basin south of Jackson Hole, Wyoming into a major industrial oil and gas field.  This summer, our Rocky Mountain staff had the opportunity to visit this area and document the unique wildlife values at stake. Check out my photos below:

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Pronghorn antelope

Pronghorn antelope en route to the Hoback Rim, an area proposed for oil and gas development.

Sagebrush

Looking north from the sagebrush meadows to the forested Hoback Rim, a vital wildlife travel corridor.

Camera1

A photo of a camera we deployed to document wildlife using the area.

Camera2

A second camera we deployed that evening in the forested corridor of the Hoback Rim. The same well pad is about a quarter-mile from this spot.

Yellow field

The main access road from the Hoback Rim down to the Noble Basin.

Noble Basin 1

Three of the 17 proposed well pads are to be located within a mile of this spot, the closest within a couple hundred yards.

Noble Basin 2

Noble Basin 3

Aspen

An aspen stand as we head back up through the Hoback Rim corridor.

The Upper Hoback area provides habitat for an entire suite of wildlife, including pronghorn antelope, mule deer, elk, moose, black bears, mountain lions, wolves and possibly grizzly bears (it lies at the southern frontier of the Yellowstone population’s current range).  Yet our chief concern is the potential impact of this project on the imperiled  Canada lynx.

Lynx are exceedingly rare in the greater Yellowstone area, such that their entire population is believed to be fewer than 10 animals! The northeastern portion of the Wyoming Range, where this oil and gas project is proposed, provides some of the very best habitat for lynx in the entire state because of its abundance of snowshoe hares–the lynx’s main prey.  And if that isn’t enough cause for concern, the oil and gas project is located right next to a vital travel corridor for lynx, and its main access road goes right through it!

Don’t just take our word for it, here is some language from the **Forest Service’s recent environmental impact statement that describes the importance of this area to Wyoming’s imperiled lynx population:

Portions of the project area including the South Rim and parts of Middle Beaver Creek drainage have been described as prime lynx habitat… Experts have described the southern portions of the project area and the land immediately south of the project area as vital to the survival of lynx in Wyoming, and as the highest quality lynx habitat within the state… Recent research has shown that the unprecedented density of snowshoe hares present in the area likely contributes to the quality of the habitat as well as the consistent history of occupation in this area by lynx… Hare densities in this area are the highest ever observed in the greater Yellowstone area… Besides naturally occurring lynx, reintroduced lynx from Colorado have, on several occasions, dispersed to the area immediately south of the project area… The nearest denning activity to the project area has been documented in the vicinity of the South Rim about 1 to 2 miles west of the project area…

Radio collared lynx from the Wyoming Range have been tracked making regular long range movements through the project area. A single male made extra-territorial exploratory movements to the north of his delineated home-range each of at least four summers. The male used the South Rim as a travel corridor to travel to and from his home-range each year. The South Rim may represent vital linkage habitat, connecting lynx habitat in the Wyoming Range to suitable habitats with the Wind River Range, the Gros Ventre Range, Yellowstone and other suitable habitats farther north…

(**The project lies in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, so the Forest Service has authority over if and how the drilling is conducted.)

Here is a map of lynx movements through this area from a research project.  The project area is outlined with a white box.

Source: Squires et al. 2003, Distribution of lynx and other forest carnivores in the Wyoming Range, southcentral Wyoming, Final Report. Rocky Mountain Research Station and Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Hope!

There is still hope that this potentially devastating project can be stopped, or at least scaled way back to ensure minimal harm to lynx and other wildlife.  A unique coalition of conservation advocates like Defenders of Wildlife, plus hunters, outfitters, residents and many others who know and love this area have joined forces to do just that.  Visit www.wyomingrange.org to learn more, and how you can help!

“Fracking” is shorthand for Hydraulic Fracturing: a drilling method used to extract oil and gas by injecting fluids into a deep well. The practice threatens ground and surface water quality, which is particularly worrisome to local landowners and given the project’s location at the headwaters of the Wild and Scenic Hoback River, a tributary to the Snake River.