Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
some prediction models, based on a 2003 USGS study and 1992 temperature predictions,
suggest that the park's glaciers could disappear altogether by 2020.
Perhaps nothing divides Westerners more than how to use and manage the forests.
Whether it is the creatures that live in them, logging operations, forest fires, recreation, or
potential wilderness, residents are passionate about their beliefs. Both sides of any issue
typically have ardent followers, making legislation a painstaking process. Whether it's
clear-cutting issues or motorized-vehicle access, forestry can be touchy subjects at the lunch
counter. Check any newspaper in the state and you're bound to see articles and letters to the
editor about these topics.
Another contentious issue in both states is the government-sponsored reintroduction of
the wolf, which started in 1995 when 66 Canadian wolves were transplanted to Yellow-
stone National Park and central Idaho. The population has rebounded and, in some people's
minds, become a threat to humans and livestock. At last count, there were close to 1,700
wolves in the three-state region and about 100 in Yellowstone Park alone. Area ranchers
say wolves decimate livestock and elk herds; environmentalists say the animals have a right
to thrive on land that was once theirs. Wolves were relieved of their endangered-species
status in all three states by 2012, hunting seasons were put in place, and 2012 witnessed 861
human-caused wolf deaths, including lethal removals of “problem” animals.
Major environmental issues in Wyoming also include water quality, especially associ-
ated with coal-bed methane, a form of natural gas. Wyoming is the country's third-largest
coal-bed methane producer, much of it coming from the Powder River Basin in the north-
east part of the state. Wyoming is also the seventh-largest oil-producing state, with five
large refineries and the fourth-largest volume of oil reserves. Like Montana, Wyoming faces
issues with hard-rock mining and coal-fired power plants. And as is true around the country,
and the world, the process of fracking—extracting natural gas from shale rock layers using
hydraulic fracturing—is stirring up significant controversy in these resource-rich states.
LEAVE NO TRACE
Leave No Trace is an educational program that teaches outdoor enthusiasts how to
protect the places they love from human-caused recreational impact. However, the
Leave No Trace ethic extends far beyond backcountry and wilderness areas. As more
and more people are recreating in “front country” settings, knowledge of how to ap-
ply Leave No Trace principles becomes increasingly important.
