Back to StoriesA Monumental Moment
April 14, 2024
A Monumental MomentAdvocates see Madison-Gallatin National Wildlife Monument as path toward permanent environmental protections for Greater Yellowstone
Story and photos by David
Tucker
For
decades, conservationists have fought to protect the wildlands surrounding
Yellowstone National Park. There have been great successes, such as the
Wilderness Areas that share borders with Yellowstone, but permanent protections
for large portions of the Madison and Gallatin ranges have been harder to
secure.
Now, Bold
Visions Conservation
executive director Stephen Capra has proposed the Madison-Gallatin National
Wildlife Monument, an unconventional idea that looks to succeed where other
efforts have stalled.
“The
monument idea is based around wildlife,” Capra said at an April 8 public
presentation in Bozeman. “These are the most critical wildlife corridors in America,
and [they’re] continuing to be degraded by the National Forest Service. There’s
not going to be much to stop them unless we can designate this area a
monument.”
According
to Capra, who previously worked to secure two national monuments in New Mexico,
the region’s robust wildlife populations are a key differentiator that could be leveraged to create
the nation’s first terrestrial wildlife-focused national monument (marine
monuments exist in Hawaii). The monument would be comprised of two units: the
Madison-Gallatin Unit to the northwest of Yellowstone, and the Henry’s Lake-Island
Park Unit adjacent to the park’s southwest corner. Taken together, the units
would comprise up to 1.6 million acres.
“If we
don’t protect this area, it’ll be one of the most important areas … in the
Lower 48 to be lost,” Capra said, “and it will be lost if the Forest Service
continues to manage it the way they are,” alluding to logging and road
construction. “They basically clearcut the area on the Idaho side of the border.
You can see the clearcuts from space.”
Currently,
the Custer Gallatin National Forest is being sued to stop logging
operations near
West Yellowstone which, according to the Forest Service, will have “no
significant impact” to the ecosystem, although it calls for 5,551 acres of
clearcutting along with other thinning and harvesting activities. Because any monument
would be established on primarily Forest Service land, the agency would likely
take over management once the entity was established. If Capra gets his way,
they’ll be managing for wildlife instead of board feet.
Other efforts to protect these public lands have
focused primarily on additional Wilderness designations, which require an act
of Congress. National monuments are established by the sitting U.S. president
using the authority of the Antiquities Act, a key distinction for Capra.
“I took a
look at realistically what can be done in an environment like this, with a
governor like we have, and the Legislature and people like [U.S. Sen.] Steve Daines,”
he said. “It came to me that most logical approach is the president using the Antiquities
Act and bypassing Congress and getting it done.”
The high-alpine basins of the Henry's Lake Mountains would be one of the wildlife-rich landscapes included in the proposed Madison-Gallatin National Wildlife Monument.
Still, monuments
aren’t created overnight. Indeed, Capra noted that no management plan for a
potential monument has been drafted, and efforts in New Mexico took nine years.
“Every time you make a monument, it’s a little bit like legislation,” he said. “You’re
making sausage.”
With the
idea now public, Capra and his team will begin what they hope will be a
fruitful, community-based process. “This isn’t my decision; this is really the
decision of the community. I think we’re at a point where people are ready for
something big and bold to happen.”
For now,
Bold Visions Conservation is seeking input from all regional stakeholders as
they begin the process of forwarding the monument proposal. “We’re just trying
to christen the ship here and get started with an idea that maybe can move the
ball forward.”
Visit bvconservation.org/land to learn more and provide
feedback.
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