Preserving the Bridger-Teton National Forest

The Bridger-Teton National Forest, one of five national forests within the region, has some of the wildest lands and rivers, providing critical habitat for wildlife, supporting several long-distance migration routes, and boasting amazing terrain for backcountry recreation.

In 2019, the 3.4-million-acre forest announced it was preparing the creation of its new Forest Management Plan, which will guide everything from recreation access to wildlife habitat to logging for decades to come. To prepare for this effort, the agency has been gathering relevant information and data including inventories, assessments, and plans for public participation.

Likewise, GYC and our partners are preparing for this effort, by conducting citizen inventories of lands with wilderness characteristics and rivers and streams with wild and scenic eligibility determinations.

Over the past two years, we completed land and water inventories. In fact, five field inventories of areas within the forest told us that 800,415 acres including areas on the West Slope of the Wind River Range, an extension of the Gros Ventre Wilderness and areas in the Southern Wyoming Range were candidates for land protection because of their wilderness characteristics including their outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation, they are primarily affected by the forces of nature rather than man, they contain unique features and values that should be protected and they can be adequately managed for their wilderness characteristics.

GYC and our partners reviewed all 783 streams and chose to conduct a field inventory and analysis of 120 rivers and streams for their wild and scenic character. After the assessment, we identified 57 streams that have outstandingly remarkable values, which means they meet the requirements for Wild and Scenic River eligibility: the highest administrative form of river protection in the United States.

Learn more about the river inventory

We will work hard for collaborative solutions that protect the many ways that this forest is important to humans and wildlife alike.

Working in coalition with other conservation, non-motorized recreation, and sportsman groups in Wyoming, we hope to work together and come to a consensus around recommending management protocols that will conserve this important landscape for decades to come.