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An Inventory of Recreation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem INTRODUCTION

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An Inventory of Recreation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem INTRODUCTION AN INVENTORY OF RECREATION IN THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM INTRODUCTION The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is one of the largest, intact temperate zone ecosystems on earth, with all its native wildlife. The 23 million acre GYE is characterized by rich wildlife and fishery resources, wild landscapes that provide unique opportunities for solitude, and massive expanses of public lands. As a result, outdoor recreation plays an important economic and social role in Greater Yellowstone. Communities like Teton Valley, ID have shifted from an agriculturally based economy to one driven largely by recreation and tourism. In booming western communities like Bozeman, MT, the quality of life provided by access to healthy public lands and world class outdoor recreation resources has attracted a large amount of skill, talent, and new business opportunity (Rasker 2012). As Greater Yellowstone grows in popularity, many are concerned that public land managers will be increasingly challenged to find balance between accommodating opportunities for new and better recreational experiences, while also protecting the natural resources and wild character that make the GYE ecologically unique and attractive for outdoor recreationists. Some of the major challenges land managers are facing are damage to soil and watersheds, increases in exotic species, wildlife habitat fragmentation, crowding, noise, loss of wild character, and conflicts among user groups (GYCC 2006). Urban interface areas are growing, environmental impacts of recreation are increasing, and public interest in recreational opportunity is rising (USFS 2015). At the same time, infrastructure condition is declining, and agency budgets continue to decrease (USFS 2015). Despite growing pressure on recreation managers resulting from population growth and changing technologies, Greater Yellowstone is unique, and recreation must be considered in this context (GYCC 2006). Some argue that the old golden rule of the outdoor recreation community, place first, is fading and needs to be re-invigorated (Solomon 2016). Additionally, outdoor recreation faces threats in the future; some estimate the recreation sector of the Montana economy will be heavily impacted by climate change due to increases in wildfire frequency and severity, lower, warmer stream flows, and degraded snow conditions (Federation et al. 2015). At the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, our mission is to work with people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of Greater Yellowstone. We are outdoor recreationists, and recognize the important role that outdoor recreation plays in the health, well- being, and economic prosperity of places like the GYE. In light of the potential challenges that rising visitation, regional population growth, and limited agency resources might pose for balancing rising recreational demands with conservation of the resources that make the GYE special, we want to take steps to ensure that all stakeholders are moving toward working in an integrated fashion to responsibly plan for outdoor recreational access. We identified the need for an inventory of recreational use patterns, benefits, and challenges as being an important first step. A shared vision for recreation in the GYE must start with a common understanding of what we know and don’t know about the state of outdoor recreation in this region. The purpose of this report is to identify what we know about: 1) where, how, and to what extent people are recreating in the GYE, 2) the benefits and impacts of recreation in the GYE, and 3) examples of solutions to challenges at the intersection of conservation values and recreation priorities. GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM RECREATION INVENTORY . 1 . BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY Recently, increasing demand for recreation access has generated friction between recreation and conservation groups. Efforts to change the Wilderness Act to accommodate mountain biking access, and a push for a bill to allow backcountry paddling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are just a couple examples. A wedge between conservation and recreation interests is detrimental as we face the need to work together now more than ever. At the same time, MT Governor Steve Bullock has developed a state office of outdoor recreation, in recognition of the crucial role our public lands play in the economic prosperity of the state. With threats to public lands and growth in Greater Yellowstone, alliances between recreationists and conservationists will be key to maintaining high quality recreational experiences and ensuring the GYE remains intact well into the future. Recreation and conservation are inherently tied. Often, outdoor recreation fosters appreciation for the natural world. Our outdoor experiences in the GYE are enhanced by healthy environments. The outdoor industry recognizes public lands as a crucial investment. For example, the 2017 Outdoor Recreation Economy report states, “America’s land and water underpin the American spirit. Investments in outdoor recreation on public lands and waters earn compounding returns in the form of healthier communities, healthier economies, and healthier people.” Many of our nation’s most noteworthy conservationists such as John Muir, John Wesley Powell and Teddy Roosevelt were avid outdoor adventurers. Today, modern day conservation and public land advocates are linked to the outdoor industry such as Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard, North Face founder Doug Tompkins or Black Diamond’s Peter Metcalf. The Outdoor Industry Association’s policy agenda includes defending important land protection laws like the Wilderness Act and the Antiquities Act, and protecting policies and processes that facilitate stewardship of public lands in the United States (outdoorindustry.org). The outdoor industry is proving to be an increasingly important force. The Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact (or REC) Act of 2016 mandates consideration of outdoor recreation as part of the U.S. economy, and illustrates the growing role of the outdoor recreation industry in U.S. society. To build the foundation for a shared understanding between conservation and recreation interests in the GYE, we attempted to describe the current state of outdoor recreation in the region. To do this, we conducted a thorough literature review of recreation impacts, benefits and management strategies, held interviews with land managers and recreational users around the region, and hosted 2 roundtable workshops with recreational users in communities of the GYE. Additionally, we compiled and synthesized existing recreational use information, and collated all existing recreation related geospatial data from the major state and federal public land and wildlife management agencies. We developed a set of maps to depict the intersection of recreation and conservation priorities in the GYE, that we hope will aid the discussion about what we do and don’t know about recreational use patterns and potential challenges. From a coarse perspective, participation in outdoor recreation and visitation to public lands of the GYE is large. Urban areas of the region are growing rapidly. This growth might be contributing to rising participation in recreational activity. However, with the exception of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, there are not enough years of data on recreation related GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM RECREATION INVENTORY . 2 . visitation to decipher trends. At relevant decision making scales, we found that recreational use data (patterns, intensity, etc.) are sparse in the GYE. At the ranger district level of the U.S. Forest Service, decisions about recreation management are mostly based on anecdotal information, such as perceived recreational demand rather than recreational use counts. The Madison and Gallatin mountain ranges outside Bozeman and Big Sky, MT, Teton Region (ID and WY), and Cody, WY are hotspots of recreational resources and opportunity. Information shown in the interactive maps of digital applications like Adventure Projects corroborates these hotspots as areas of high recreational demand relative to the rest of Greater Yellowstone. Qualitative insights from interviews indicate a simple look at where recreation infrastructure is concentrated on the landscape may not capture other areas of high demand (e.g. outside of Red Lodge, MT). There is a pressing need for quantitative and spatially explicit information to back generalizations about where, how, and to what extent people are recreating in Greater Yellowstone. The good news is there is recognition that the growth and prosperity in some of the urban interface areas of the GYE is attributable to spectacular public lands and world class recreational opportunities. In some cases, the economic benefit stems directly from the outdoor industry being the primary driver of a community’s economy. In others, the prosperity is tied to the place attracting a highly talented work force, new business, and growth in the technology industry (Rasker 2012). Additionally, we found there is general consensus that outdoor recreationists are increasingly engaged in advocating for the public land issues that matter to them; this engagement will be important to conservation of the GYE for generations to come. In general, we found challenges at the intersection of conservation and recreation exist around the GYE, but concerns about increasing pressures are most prevalent in the major population centers of the region (i.e. Bozeman, MT and Jackson, WY, which respectively sit within counties
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