conservation

When StoryCorps came to Jackson last summer, friends Arne Jorgensen and Anne Cresswell discussed the lack of concern for affordable housing in their community.

This week the U.S. Senate passed a sweeping and historic bill that would make the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent. A feat many hunters and fisherman, along with environmentalists, had thought was impossible after the GOP allowed it to lapse last year.

The Murrie family played an important role in preserving wild places in the Jackson Valley…and around the U.S. When StoryCorps came to Jackson this summer, friends Nancy Leon and Jean Jorgensen remembered Mardy Murie and the contributions her family made to conservation.

The last few years have brought revelation after revelation about just how long and complex the migration routes are for Wyoming's elk, pronghorn and mule deer. Everyone involved in wildlife agrees these routes need special protections. But there hasn't been a comprehensive set of maps showing this maze of routes zigzagging all over the state. Until now.

Wyoming Public Radio's Melodie Edwards sat down with Matt Kauffman and Emilene Ostlind, two of the editors of Wild Migrations: Atlas Of Wyoming's Ungulates.

An 18-wheeler spins its tires through snowy mud on an undeveloped well-pad in the Powder River Basin. In the bitter morning cold, workers in black overalls and face masks move gravel where oil tanks will soon stand.

From the Gros Ventre Valley of Wyoming to a Walmart parking lot in Logan, Utah, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb traveled to all kinds places for his new book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. Goldfarb says beavers have super powers. In fact, he calls them ecological and hydrological swiss army knives. And in the right circumstances, Goldfarb says they can tackle all kinds of problems that plague the West. Wyoming Public Radio’s Maggie Mullen spoke with the author ahead of his visit to Teton County Library Wednesday, September 26 starting at 5 p.m.  

Wyoming has a lot of wind energy but conservation biologists warn Wyomingites need to pay attention to how turbines can be harmful to wildlife. Biologists are figuring out ways to protect wildlife while still producing wind energy. Wyoming Public Radio’s Kamila Kudelska spoke with Holly Copeland, the director of science for the Nature Conservancy in Wyoming, on which animals are in danger.

This month, hundreds of game wardens and conservation officers from around the country and Canada gathered in Cheyenne for the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association’s annual conference. While serious conversations about poaching, large carnivore attacks, and stress were important, the most anticipated event was the Warden Skills Competitions.

It will soon be impossible to get oil and gas leases on 24,000 acres of the Wyoming Range. Conservation non-profit the Trust for Public Land bought out existing leases within the Wyoming Range to maintain the area for wildlife and recreation. It’s the second time the groups have done this in the western part of the state – bringing the total number of retired acres by the trust to 80,000. Chris Deming, a project manager with the Trust for Public Land, who helped lead the way for both acquisitions.