Securing the free movement of wildlife: lessons from the American West's longest land mammal migration.

• Author: Cherney, David N.

1. INTRODUCTION II. PRONGHORN MIGRATION OVERVIEW III. POLICY RESPONSES A. Path of the Pronghorn B. Private Lands Conservation IV. LESSONS FOR MIGRATION POLICY A. Symbolic Politics B. Parallel (Contextual) Solutions V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION

   Large mammal migrations are in decline. (1) Nowhere is this more evident than at the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, where 58%, 78%, and 100% of the historic long-distance migrations of elk (Cervus elaphus), pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana), and bison (Bison bison bison) respectively, have been lost. (2) Despite the truncated movements of these species, the region is still home to the longest bison, elk, pronghorn, and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) migrations in the United States. (3) A variety of conservation efforts are underway to preserve the phenomenon of migration in the Yellowstone system. (4) These campaigns predominantly focus on securing the protection of migratory corridors through transboundary management and other large-scale migration conservation strategies. (5)

   In the Yellowstone region, one of the highest-profile cases of migration conservation is the protection of a 340-mile (round trip) pronghorn migration from Grand Teton National Park to the Upper Green River Basin in western Wyoming. Conservationists justify the importance of this migration on three grounds. First, this movement is the longest documented terrestrial large mammal migration in North and South America (excluding barren ground caribou in Alaska and the Yukon). (6) Second, the disruption of this migration will likely cause the localized extinction of pronghorn in Grand Teton National Park. (7) Thud, portions of the migratory corridor have been used by pronghorn for more than 6000 years. (8)

   The initial conservation effort to protect this migration was plagued with controversy. (9) Most stakeholders agreed that maintaining this migration in perpetuity is a worthwhile aspiration for the regional community. (10) However, significant political conflict existed among actors on what strategies should be utilized to conserve the migration. (11) After five years of relative inaction, government actors and private actors separately implemented two major initiatives to conserve the migration in 2008. (12) Today, many conservationists view the protection of this migration as one of the preeminent examples of large mammal migration conservation in the world. This Article examines institutional features responsible for this qualified success story. This Article aims to identify the critical features in the conservation management creation process that allowed stakeholders to transition from political gridlock to substantive conservation of the migration.

2. PRONGHORN MIGRATION OVERVIEW

   Migratory behavior in animals is difficult to distinguish from other forms of geographic dispersal. (13) However, migrations are most easily conceived of as the seasonal movement of animals between two distinct habitats. (14) This Article focuses on a seasonal migration of pronghorn antelope between Grand Teton National Park and the Upper Green River Basin in western Wyoming. The pronghorn migration occurs across a heterogeneous ecological, political, and jurisdictional landscape. This Part provides a brief overview, describing critical features relevant to the conservation of the pronghorn migration.

   Of Wyoming's approximately 525,000 pronghorn antelope, (15) approximately 200 to 300 pronghorn summer in Grand Teton National Park. (16) This population of pronghorn does not stay in Grand Teton National Park during the winter because the deep snow conditions in the park are not favorable to pronghorn survival. (17) This population's migration was first documented in the 1950s, (18) but concern over the future of this pronghorn population did not surface until the planning process for the Jackson Hole National Elk Refuge Environmental Impact Statement in 1999. (19) During discussions over the protection of migratory elk in Teton County, Wyoming, the region's environmental community realized that this area is also home to the longest endemic land mammal migration in North America. (20) This migration is one of just two long-distance pronghorn migrations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. (21)

   The migration begins near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in the eastern portions of Grand Teton National Park. The terrain where pronghorn antelope reside is typified by open sagebrush habitat. (22) In the fall, the pronghorn move into the Gros Ventre River Drainage in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. (23) The geography of this portion of the migratory corridor is invariant and characterized by steep rugged terrain that, at places, is no more than 100 meters wide. (24) Such topography is unusual for pronghorn, as they typically inhabit flat, wide-open areas where the species' exceptional eyesight and running abilities serve as a defense mechanism against predation. (25) The pronghorn continue their migration by entering a mix of public land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and privately owned land in the Upper Green, north of Cora, Wyoming, in Sublette County. (26) This portion of the migratory corridor is also invariant and prone to constrictions. (27) At Trappers' Point National Monument near the town of Pinedale, the migratory corridor transitions to open-range and terminates in the Upper Green River Basin of Sublette and Sweetwater Counties, Wyoming. (28) In the basin's expansive range, the migratory pronghorn population joins 100,000 bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, and pronghorn for the winter. (29)

   Ecological threats to the pronghorn migration fall into two major categories: obstacles and habitat destruction. (30) The invariant portions of the migratory corridor, where the passageways for pronghorn movement constrict, are referred to as "bottlenecks." (31) Conservationists fear that human development within these bottlenecks could physically restrict the pronghorn migration because pronghorn antelope have trouble jumping over fences. (32) The inability of pronghorn antelope to navigate past fences was documented in 1983, when several hundred migrating pronghorn died en route to their winter grounds when a newly constructed fence obstructed their migration. (33) Additionally, conservationists worry that natural gas development within the more expansive areas in the southern portion of the migratory corridor will disrupt the migration through behavioral changes. (34)

   The pronghorn summer and winter ranges provide a useful framework for understanding the socioeconomic and political landscape of this pronghorn migration. The differing socioeconomic and political perspectives are central to understanding conflict in this case. The pronghorn's summer range, Teton County, is the most liberal county in Wyoming, (35) and it is the wealthiest county in the United States. (36) Financial investments represent the dominant form of personal income. (37) In contrast, the economy of the pronghorn's winter range, Sublette and Sweetwater Counties, is driven primarily by resource extraction. (38) Per capita income of these counties is less than half of Teton County. (39) Sublette and Sweetwater Counties are politically conservative (40) and ranching is central to the identity of many people in these counties. As such, the loss of ranchland is a major concern in the local politics of these counties. (41) The American Farmland Trust estimates that up to 336,000 acres of ranchland in Sublette County, approximately eleven percent of the county's area, will be converted to rural housing development by 2020. (42) The political division between the summer and winter range is also evident in the distribution of environmental nonprofit organizations along the migratory corridor. Environmental nonprofit organizations tend to lean towards Democratic ideologies. (43) Thirty-two environmental nonprofit organizations have an office in Teton County. (44) In contrast, only four environmental nonprofit organizations have offices in Sublette or Sweetwater Counties. (45)

   Despite divergences in socioeconomic status and political affiliation, consensus exists across the political spectrum that maintaining the pronghorn antelope migration in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in perpetuity is a worthy goal. (46) Conflicts over conserving the migratory corridor are primarily limited to differences in defining the problem, or "problem definitions," and methods for determining which strategies are appropriate to achieve successful protection. (47) A previous study on the migration's policy process suggests that there are three major political problem definitions asserted by stakeholders: the ecological-scientific definition, the local rights definition, and the cultural value definition. (48)

   The ecological-scientific definition frames the problem as a lack of formal protection for a presumed intrinsic value of migration. (49) Stakeholders who subscribe to the ecological-scientific definition suggest approaches that range from the development of a new federally protected area to a memorandum of understanding between the major federal landowners. (50) Ecological-scientific stakeholders generally advocate federal protection. (51) The local rights definition frames the problem in terms of individual property rights and interests. (52) Stakeholders representing this view assert that effective protection can occur through bottom-up informed dialogue involving landowners on the proper management of the pronghorn migration corridor. (53) Viewing the conservation of the pronghorn antelope migration in parallel with individual conservation management for private benefit, the local right stakeholders generally advocate the management of the pronghorn migration conservation through private individual management of private lands. (54) The cultural value definition overlaps with certain aspects of the two other definitions; the cultural value...