Moving forward…
YSP Partners and staff walk a fence line in Paradise Valley looking for game trails and damaged fences from wildlife frequenting the highway.
Hello Neighbors,
As all of you reading this are aware, June’s flood event impacted our community in ways that will be felt for many years into the future. It also brought people together in a surge that we can all be proud of. If you follow Park County Community Foundation, Park County Environmental Council, Montana Freshwater Partners or the Upper Yellowstone Watershed Group (to name a few) you’ll know what we’re referring to. Conflict, as we’ve seen recently, has a unique way of harnessing the power of Community. Many thanks to all of you out there who stepped up to lend a hand!
Reflecting on recent events, Yellowstone Safe Passages has asked ourselves, “How does the flood affect our work?” The answer is short and simple: It elevates the importance of big-picture thinking.
The flood event has made it clear that our work on Highway 89 requires thoughtful “high-level” strategy and a deliberately inclusive community-oriented design. We simply can’t address one detail of wildlife-vehicle conflict (say wildlife mortality) without pulling on another, such as impacts on local livelihoods. If anything, the flood event reminds us that glaring threats don’t always look like an epic flashpoint flood. In fact they rarely do. The threats we are focusing on occur every day, all year round. But of the many external forces challenging our ability to lead meaningful and quality lifestyles here in the Upper Yellowstone, the issues inherent in wildlife-vehicle conflicts are actually within reach of resolving. Perhaps more importantly, this conflict has even more potential to harness the power of community than that of a major flood. Just like the high waters of June, we too are self-determined and we’re leaning in as a community.
Over the next 12 months, here’s what you’ll see from Yellowstone Safe Passages:
Development and public rollout of a fine-scale assessment of HWY 89 Livingston to Gardiner. See below for an expanded description.
Community “Q&A” Gatherings in Livingston, Emigrant and Gardiner. See below for details!
Collaborative Mapping Workshops inviting locals to the table.
Continued presence at the Livingston Farmers Market and other local events.
Advancing our partnerships with statewide players such as Montana Department of Transportation, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and the Federal Highway Administration.
Please read on for more details and news from Yellowstone Safe Passages.
FINE SCALE HIGHWAY ASSESSMENT
What’s a “Fine-Scale” Highway Assessment? Yellowstone Safe Passages has partnered with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University to develop a fine-scale Wildlife and Transportation Assessment of highway 89 from Livingston to Gardiner. This assessment will be an interdisciplinary collaborative process that will bring together a diversity of stakeholders, data, and information to ultimately identify the areas with the greatest need to address wildlife-vehicle conflict and develop recommendations for potential short- and long-term actions to make Highway 89 safer for people and wildlife. There are many ways to get involved, so please feel free to reach out for more information!
You can also join the upcoming conversations (see below), which will offer a more detailed explanation of the assessment and YSP’s forecasted work over the coming months.
COMMUNITY GATHERINGS
The upcoming events in Gardiner and Emigrant will be an opportunity for locals to learn more about the fine-scale assessment. We welcome feedback in any form, which will help us do the best job possible at incorporating local perspectives into this work.
Both events will be interactive and all are welcome!
EMIGRANT HALL
Wednesday, September 14th from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Early bird happy hour starts at 5:00 p.m @ the Old Saloon.
GARDINER COMMUNITY CENTER
Thursday, September 29th from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. In addition to Q&A we will also place maps out for locals to draw on.
Featured Team Member
Meet Kelsie Huyser! Kelsie is a Senior Program Coordinator for National Parks Conservation Association. Kelsie supports NPCA’s Northern Rockies landscape connectivity initiatives from the Yellowstone Field Office – protecting and restoring habitat and migration corridors through community engagement and on-the-ground habitat improvements that facilitate wildlife migration beyond park boundaries.
Kelsie also grew up ranching and dairy farming in rural Montana, which happens to make her one heck of a good cow milker. So good, in fact, that she has milked big horned sheep on a research capture for FWP. Kelsie has worked for state wildlife management agencies in Montana and Alaska where she gained considerable experience in education and outreach, as well as engaging a broad array of folks in wildlife management issues. Kelsie also holds a Masters degree in Environmental Management with a focus in Integrative and Public Land Management. Through her education and career, Kelsie has focused on cross-boundary issues facing wildlife and the restoration of migration corridors, habitat connectivity, and wildlife friendly land use practices. Some of Kelsie’s recent work has been wire fence removal at nearby ranches. Pictured above is Kelsie with Mac, a stern but helpful pack friend helping haul steal posts out of the back country.
Yellowstone Safe Passages wouldn’t exist without supporters like you! Please help us by spreading the word. Forward our newsletters to friends and family. Host a neighborhood Q&A with our staff. Join our community Facebook group. Check out our website. Reach out.
Until next time…
Be well. Drive safely.
Yellowstone Safe Passages is sponsored by a local non-profit. If you wish to support our work monetarily, 100% of your donation is tax-deductible and goes directly toward our collaborative’s yearly operating budget.
