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Foes align to protect migration bottleneck
Mineral industry officials, conservationists agree to protect narrow Trapper's Point.

By Rebecca Huntington

Conservation and industry groups, which are often at odds, have agreed to work together on a protection plan for a critical migration corridor, a state representative said Thursday.

Rep. Monte Olsen, HD-22, said mineral industry officials approached him with concerns about development at the Trapper's Point migration bottleneck, which is west of Pinedale along Highway 191. Pronghorn and mule deer migrate through the narrow passage on their journey from summer ranges as far north as Grand Teton National Park to winter ranges south of Pinedale.

Already narrow, the historic migration corridor has been further squeezed by housing developments. In addition, the Bureau of Land Management is now considering oil and gas leasing at Trapper's Point as the agency revises a Pinedale Resource Management Plan, which dictates where drilling will be allowed.

At the behest of oil and gas industry representatives, Olsen set up a meeting Oct. 1 in Daniel to discuss the future of Trapper's Point. The meeting drew conservationists, industry, state officials and county representatives, Olsen said.

The meeting brought to the table groups that often are at odds over how federal lands should be managed. Despite such disparate interests, those at the meeting agreed to concentrate on writing a protection plan for 800 acres of BLM land surrounding Trapper's Point, Olsen said.

"This is rather unique," he said. "We really can work together."

The idea is to write and submit a protection plan to BLM before the agency makes final decisions on the Pinedale Resource Management Plan, which encompasses the Upper Green River Basin and Trapper's Point.

"We'd rather be proactive than reactionary," Olsen said.

Writing a protection plan is a way for locals to guide development on federal land, particularly if diverse interest groups speak with one voice, he said.

Oil and gas drilling is not the only threat to the migration corridor, Olsen said. Housing developments and highway improvements also could impact Trapper's Point, which is why he invited Sublette County planners and state highway officials to participate, he said. Something as small as how a yard is fenced may be a factor, he said.

"I will not limit it to oil and gas," he said. "That is a disservice to industry, which initiated this, and it misses the larger picture."

Wyoming Game and Fish regional wildlife Supervisor Bernie Holz, who attended the Daniel meeting, said it was promising.

"That industry requested the meeting, I think, is significant," Holz said.

The migration corridor "has great historical and conservation significance," he said. Archeologists have documented pronghorn bones dating back 5,600 years at Trapper's Point, where Native Americans likely exploited the narrow passage to kill pronghorn.

At a symposium in Pinedale earlier this year, biologist Joel Berger launched the idea of creating a special designation for the entire migration corridor, which includes the Trapper's Point bottleneck. The pronghorn migration from Grand Teton to the Upper Green River Basin is deserving of permanent protection as one of only two remaining pronghorn migrations in the U.S. and one of the longest terrestrial mammal migrations in North America, Berger said.

Likewise, Holz said, "We'd like very much to conserve that migration."

The ad-hoc group will meet again at 10 a.m., Oct. 14, at the Daniel Community Center.

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