By Christina MacIntosh
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — In a twist, two of 10 segments of Wyoming’s proposed Sublette Antelope Migration Corridor will not be considered for protections from some forms of development.

Gov. Mark Gordon announced Thursday that he intends to promote eight segments of the corridor to the next step toward formalizing protections: review by a local working group of representatives for agriculture, energy, wildlife and motorized recreation interests.

Gordon opted to strike the “East of Farson” and “Red Desert” segments from the larger corridor. After the working group’s review, he also has final say on formalizing the protections.

“Ultimately, the governor followed the science,” said Amy Edmonds, a spokesperson for Gordon.

For years, the fate of the Sublette Antelope Migration Corridor has been one of the biggest open questions in western Wyoming wildlife management. 

The decision, in a nutshell, boils down to how many acres of pronghorn habitat should be protected from development. Any new protections would essentially extend formal recognition of the “Path of the Pronghorn,” the first-ever federally recognized migration corridor that protects pronghorn migration on the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Any protections that are formalized would apply on state and federal land, not private property. Conservationists have long sought corridor “designation” as a way to safeguard the thousands of pronghorn in the Sublette herd, something state wildlife biologists have recommended. In the long-running debate, wildlife advocates have tangled with influential lobbies in the state that represent ranchers and the oil and gas industry, trying to influence the outcome.

The governor’s decision marks the third turnaround on the question of what corridor segments to designate.

The initial migration corridor drafted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, based on GPS collar data, had ten segments. During the subsequent public comment period — which elicited 524 comments in favor of the entire designation and six opposed — the influential Wyoming Stockgrowers Association opposed the designation of the East of Farson and Red Desert segments.

The department then trimmed those segments from the corridor it recommended the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission advance toward “designation.” At the time, the department said threats in those segments were insufficient for additional protections.

The commission, in turn, bucked the department’s recommendation, advising Gordon to “designate” and protect the pruned segments.

That came after a lengthy back-and-forth about the best available science and tradeoffs of including the segments in the designation. During a September vote, commissioners were torn on whether to include the segments, but ultimately voted unanimously to advise Gordon to designate all 10.

After that vote and before Gordon’s announcement Thursday, Jim Magagna, vice president of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association, spoke with the governor and conveyed the lobby’s concern.

“I did convey that on behalf of the stockgrowers,” Magagna said.

Magagna leases Bureau of Land Management land that intersects with the two segments for grazing. He has, however, maintained throughout the process that this is unrelated to his organization’s position on their designation. The area he leases already has protections for sage grouse and the designated Sublette Mule Deer Migration Corridor, so his operations wouldn’t be affected by another designation, he said.

The stockgrowers’ issue with including the segments was that the corridor, at 60 miles wide, was “overly broad” and not in line with the spirit of the governor’s executive order that kickstarted the migration corridor designation process, Magagna said.

“They should be true corridors, not expansive areas that just happen to have some movement through them,” Magagna said. “That defies the idea of what a corridor is.”

After September’s commission meeting, wildlife, conservation and hunting advocates rejoiced at the turn of events. The governor’s Thursday decision elicited mixed feelings.

“The designation is great. That’s fantastic news,” said Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation Executive Director Renee Seidler. “But the fact that two segments were removed is very disappointing.”

Others’ views of the governor’s action weren’t as glass-half-full.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council is “largely disappointed” by the decision, said Meghan Riley, the organization’s wildlife program manager.

“Leaving out two segments of this corridor leaves really valuable data about animal movement on the table and makes it hard for the state to protect the integrity of the population,” she said.

Antelope are nomadic, which is why their movements don’t look strictly migratory, she said. About 20% of the herd uses the axed segments, leaving them vulnerable.

Riley was not entirely surprised that the segments will not be a part of the final designation, but thought that they might at least be reviewed by the local working group.

The Wyoming Wildlife Federation, a sportsmen advocacy organization that previously supported all 10 segments, issued a press release lauding the governor’s decision to move forward with the designation process. The federation didn’t mention the nixed segments.

Game and Fish Commissioner Ken Roberts, who led the charge to include all 10 segments in the commission’s recommendation, was diplomatic about the governor’s decision.

“I felt it was my duty to push all I could push for the wildlife,” he said. “Differing minds on differing things, I guess.”

That said, he was pleased with the big picture.

“We’ve got to remember that we got a big, huge chunk,” he said. “Even with the eight.”

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