Trapper’s Point Working
Group Plans to Protect Bottleneck
by Meredith Taylor
Spurred by growing concerns over development threats to a key portion of an ancient big-game migration corridor in western Wyoming, state Representative Monte Olsen (R-Daniel) has organized a 22-member working group to craft a protection plan for Trapper’s Point, a bottleneck in a critical pronghorn and mule deer migration route west of Pinedale.
The Trapper’s Point Working Group (TPWG) includes representatives from the Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT), Upper Green River Valley Coalition, WOC, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Petroleum Association of Wyoming, Pinedale area ranchers, multi-national energy companies, Pinedale Chamber of Commerce, Sublette County Tourism Board and Green River Valley Land Trust.
Pronghorn and mule deer must pass through the narrow Trapper’s Point bottleneck as they negotiate a web of roads, fences and subdivisions between their summer range in Grand Teton National Park and their winter range on the Pinedale Mesa — the longest big-game migration in the lower 48 states. Human development has reduced the width of this geographical bottleneck from 1.5 miles to a mere .75 mile.
TPWG has identified five potential threats to the continued migration of ungulates through the bottleneck:
• Oil and gas development. Working group members are studying energy-company leases on BLM and private lands in the area, using detailed maps and timelines. Some BLMsections are not leased, some sections have expired leases and some undeveloped leases are soon to expire. The Petroleum Association of Wyoming and several energy companies have offered to limit leasing and development within the bottleneck.
• Private land development. The group’s Draft Comprehensive Plan includes recommendations on ways to protect migratory wildlife habitat on private lands. TPWG is researching Sublette County’s planning and zoning policies and other private land-development plans and alternatives available to landowners adjacent to Trapper’s Point, including off-site mitigation and conservation easements.
• Vehicle collisions with wildlife. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has shared roadkill data on the stretch of Highway 191 that passes through the bottleneck. Highway traffic has increased substantially during the past decade, generating more vehicle collisions with migrating pronghorn and mule deer. After state transportation officials presented information on highway safety and fencing along the corridor, the working group submitted a letter to WYDOT suggesting that speed limits be reduced from 65 mph to 55 mph in the area. However, the department prefers to pursue other alternatives, including warning signs, flashing lights, wildlife detection systems and a wildlife overpass.
• Fences. TPWG members will assess the degree to which highway fencing in the area meets wildlife-friendly standards and then make site-specific recommendations for improvements, particularly along the south side of the highway, where BLM livestock fences block wildlife movement. The group will also work closely with area ranchers to ensure that gates are left open in the late fall and winter, after cattle have moved through Trapper’s Point, to reduce barriers to migrating wildlife.
• Hunting. Biologists will work with sportsmen and hunting groups to investigate potential changes in WGFD hunting seasons or regulations at Trapper’s Point that might minimize negative impacts on pronghorn populations.
In December two different Trapper's Point protection proposals were submitted
by group members to the BLM to be considered in the Draft Resource Management
Plan. Although no consensus has been reached by the group on the future of Trapper's
Point, WOC is heartened that the group is still working together to ensure safe
passage for pronghorn and mule deer migrating on ancient corridors between summer
and winter ranges. |
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