Wyoming’s historic migratory paths and the wildlife that traverse them will both be more secure thanks to a $6.5-million award to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and its partners.

The funding from the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will amplify efforts to preserve “grass highways” and winter range for the estimated 75,000 big game animals in the Greater Yellowstone region of Wyoming. In addition to landowner incentives, the funding will enable project partners to leverage state-of-the-art GPS collar data to focus work on the most critical projects for big game migration.

TNC and 13 project partners will enlist this funding through NRCS’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program, a highly competitive federal program designed to support conservation partnerships. Together, partners will help implement four activities: conservation easements to protect lands from development, fence modifications to allow wildlife to safely cross fences, invasive species control to improve forage quality and habitat leases for private landowners who provide critical forage to big game.

“Private landowners are critical partners in the preservation of big game migration routes and habitat,” TNC said in a new release. “Being able to support them through projects like fence modifications and weed abatement creates a win-win partnership for conservation.” 

By pulling together the resources and expertise of more than a dozen other partners, the conservancy says the impact of these public dollars is amplified considerably.

“There are a lot of talented people in this state who are working hard to find conservation solutions that work for both people and wildlife. When we went to partners to pull together this proposal, it was clear that maintaining healthy big game populations is a priority for agencies, NGOs, landowners and researchers, and together they came up with over $12 million in contribution to leverage this grant,”  said Abby Scott, TNC’s northwest Wyoming program director and the project lead. “This award really reflects the power of partnership.”