Loving Our Wild Backyard: How Can We Save the Mini-American Serengeti?

The wildlife in Yellowstone National Park is threatened by urban sprawl; they cannot thrive and exist within the boundaries of the park, because they depend on habitat outside of the park to migrate through a larger area, the "Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem" - like they have for tens of thousands of years. Much of this land is privately owned and being quickly developed. Learn how wildlife overpasses, land conservation through land trusts, zoning, and actions you can take can help us protect what makes this the Yellowstone area so special.

What sets Bozeman and southwest Montana apart is its natural sense of place. Beloved expressions are its world-class wildlife, working farms, ranches, and cherished open space. But they are under threat by unchecked sprawl.

Bozeman journalist Todd Wilkinson leads a lively conversation with experts on what we can do to save the best of the Northern Rockies that remain.

Bozeman-based Todd Wilkinson has been a journalist for 40 years, whose work has appeared in National Geographic, The Guardian and other publications. He also is author of award-winning books on topics ranging from Ted Turner to Jackson Hole Grizzly 399 to Ripple Effects: How to Save Yellowstone and America's Most Iconic Wildlife Ecosystem. He is founder of Yellowstonian (yellowstonian.org), a non-profit conservation journalism site devoted to exploring the wonders and threats to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Most recently, he wrote a foreword to a new unprecedented scientific analysis on the consequences of sprawl on Greater Yellowstone. It can be viewed at yellowstonesprawl.com.

Presented by Gallatin Valley Earth Day in partnership with Yellowstonian with support from Numbers USA, the Gallatin Wildlife Association, Gallatin Valley Land Trust, and the Center for Large Landscape Conservation.

MEET OUR PANELISTS

Chet Work is the Executive Director for Gallatin Valley Land Trust, he has spent the last 25 years working in conservation, a majority of that time within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Chet has served in leadership roles for the Nature Conservancy and the Teton Regional Land Trust in Driggs prior to joining GVLT. Chet has been with GVLT for the last 5 years and has grown the organization's ability to help local landowners conserve their land and to help our community acquire parks and trails. Recently, GVLT has opened an office in Livingston and increased GVLT's ability to leverage federal funding for local conservation.

Cindy Riegel has dedicated her career to integrating science, policy, and political action to achieve conservation results. From reintroducing peregrine falcons on a remote mountain near Lander, WY in the early nineties to a 10-year stint as an elected official for Teton County, ID. Cindy's knowledge and experience with local land use planning has inspired her to start a collaborative movement that highlights the critical role local communities, organizations, and elected officials play in safeguarding the natural and cultural heritage of the GYE.

Deb Davidson - As Chief Strategy Officer at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Deb Davidson directs program development, fundraising, external relationships, and partnerships to advance the organization’s connectivity conservation programs. Her work in conservation for more than 20 years has largely focused on the protection of wildlife corridors and large landscapes, with a specialty in network development, connectivity policy, and science in western North America.

Eric Ruark is a national expert on how lifestyle migration from one part of the country to another, (i.e. wealthy folk choosing a place for lifestyle decisions), results in bigger sprawl impacts. Eric Ruark is the Director of Research and Sustainability, and Director of Public Relations for NumbersUSA. He has worked on immigration policy since 2008. Eric has researched and published extensively on U.S. immigration policy, and his work has been cited in national and international media reports. He testified before the Senate on agricultural guest worker programs in 2011.

Randy Carpenter has had a career working with community leaders in the Northern Rockies, helping them understand the challenges that come with growth and change, and tailoring locally based solutions to address those challenges. Randy was a community planner in Iowa, followed by 13 years with the Sonoran Institute’s Northern Rockies Program. Randy served as a Project Director for Future West from 2014 to 2022, providing information and assistance to fast-growing counties and cities in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and beyond. After serving as the Exec Director of Headwaters Community Housing Trust, he is now the Exec Director of Friends of Park County, a non-profit organization in Livingston dedicated to helping Park County and Livingston develop smart, informed land use policies that protect the integrity of the wildlife habitat and water resources of Park County.