Using Western Landscapes - Mountains and Plains: The Ecology of Wyoming Landscapes - page 309

Fig. 18.4. Habitat fragmentation from timber harvesting is
clearly visible around the mostly forested Savage Run Wilder-
ness, located in the Savage Run creek watershed on the west
slope of the Medicine Bow Mountains. this is the only entire
watershed in the Wyoming portion of this mountain range

without roads. Red indicates forest meadows; areas of gray on
the left are foothill shrublands. the geometric shapes in the
forests are clearcuts done at various times prior to the 1980s.
Landsat thematic Mapper image, June 24, 1991. cartography
by Ken Driese.

the role of the public in public land management has
been evolving over recent decades. in the early days of the
U.S. Forest Service, for example, management decisions
lay almost exclusively in the hands of the agency's forest-
ers. After World War ii the public took more interest in
what was happening on their lands, and such legislation
as the 1969 national environmental Policy Act mandated
that the Forest Service inform people of significant man-
agement issues and proposed actions. During the past
20 years, partnerships have sprung up across the West,
as illustrated by the Uncompahgre Plateau Partnership
in western colorado. community members from diverse
backgrounds join Forest Service and Bureau of Land
Management employees in evaluating forest conditions
and monitoring the effects of forest management activi-
ties. this collaboration greatly increases understanding of
the complexities of land management while building trust
between the agencies and the public. Participants include
representatives of timber, grazing, motorized recreation,
and environmental interests. As a result, forest manage-
ment has moved forward with less of the conflict and
polarization that had previously characterized agency-

public interactions. Multiple use is better understood; the
values of wildlands are more widely appreciated.

Habitat Fragmentation

Long before europeans arrived in north America, grass-
lands and shrublands extended as far as the eye could
see. in one direction or another, however, there were
ridges, buttes, riparian zones, sandhills, or mountain
ranges—islands on the plains. With variety in available
environments, a greater diversity of plants and animals
could survive. Bison surely found shelter on the lee sides
of ridges, as did native American s. 8 the landscape was
patchy, but at a rather coarse scale.
today, aerial views show a more intricate patchwork
of croplands, human shelters, groves of trees, oil and
gas fields, and wind energy projects—all connected by
roads and superimposed on the landscapes that were
there before. Many populations of animals have found
their habitats broken into patches too small for their
survival, or too isolated from other favorable patches to
enable migration, reproduction, and the procurement of