Engage, Enhance, Conserve, Preserve

Community engagement is a core part of the UYWG mission. Through conversations, active-listening, events, hands-on education, and other activities, UYWG works to engage people in the Upper Yellowstone watershed—its natural systems, culture, and community.  Community engagement is not only desirable, but necessary for a collaborative approach to problem-solving and ensuring equitable, sustainable decision-making. We emphasize inclusivity and transparency as we engage the community.

Preservation of agriculture as a prime economic activity is the single best way to preserve the Valley’s wildlife, open space, and ecosystem services. Preserving agriculture in the Paradise Valley preserves open space, helps manage growth, and is compatible with conserving natural resources. Just as importantly, working lands are central to retaining the Valley’s rural and small town lifestyle. The UYWG further understands, however, that the preservation of working lands requires attention to a complex array of issues including, but not limited to, land tenure, development pressures, commodity prices, and managing disease transmission between wildlife and livestock.

In 2018, the UYWG initiated a collaborative, community-based drought planning process focused on examining the impacts of drought and low river flows, identifying watershed vulnerabilities to drought, and generating a suite of adaptation strategies to mitigate impacts from future low flow events. The Drought Focus Group (DFG) includes members from Montana DNRC, Montana Freshwater Partners, and other organizations with expertise in various aspects of drought planning. 

One specific goal of watershed planning is to build community resilience to drought, wildfire and flooding, by focusing on both response and long-term mitigation. The Drought Focus Group and partners are engaging the community in a step-by-step water supply planning process that will build community drought resilience. The process emphasizes community engagement rather than the creation of a formulaic drought plan. Components of the drought plan will include public health, floodplain connection, natural water storage, monitoring water supply, forecasting drought, and involving the community. The plan is intended to be dynamic, protect existing water rights, and continue to evolve based on knowledge and experience. Actions that build resilience to drought can also work to reduce risks from flooding and wildfire.

Surrounded by national forest and national park lands, Paradise Valley and the Gardiner Basin support a full range of wildlife including elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, gray wolves, mountain lions, and grizzly bears. American bison are permitted to roam from Yellowstone National Park to a tolerance zone that terminates at Yankee Jim Canyon. The Yellowstone River is home to a blue-ribbon fishery around native Yellowstone cutthroat trout and mountain whitefish, as well as brown and rainbow trout. The Upper Yellowstone Watershed Group focuses on education and sharing information and supports certain efforts as determined.

Park County’s tourism industry, which includes hunting and fishing, is in large part driven by its proximity to Yellowstone National Park. Over $300M dollars a year are spent by non-resident visitors to our local economy. Wildlife watching is the predominant visitor activity.

From the standpoint of wildlife, open space and ecosystem services, fragmentation of habitat is the prime concern in the Paradise Valley as traditional ranching loses ground to residential development and other conversions. Quality of habitat is also important along with forage quality and quantity, security, accessibility, and numerous other factors determining carrying capacities, migratory corridors, and distribution of fish and wildlife.

The Upper Yellowstone Watershed region offers a great diversity of recreational opportunities, from hunting and fishing to mountain biking, hiking, and rafting. The Custer Gallatin National Forest provides numerous front country and backcountry offerings, while the Yellowstone River is a favorite for water-based recreation. Quality outdoor recreation is vital to local business as well as overall community wellness. Ensuring the sustainability of high quality recreational experiences, however, requires also ensuring the wise and ongoing stewardship of the natural resources on which our recreation depends. The goal of such stewardship entails the continued use of natural resources in a manner that is socially and culturally equitable, environmentally sustainable, and economically beneficial to the community.

The health of the river is of specific interest to the surrounding community. For many people (and wildlife) who rely on the Yellowstone River for their livelihoods, recreation, and sense of place, the obvious question is “What does the Yellowstone need?” The river is undergoing increased demands for water, recreation, and environmental services, which in the face of climate change, drought impacts, and other factors, will decrease the river’s resilience and its ability to meet human demands.  Increased demands on the river’s resources result in increased conflict among different users. The river needs a broad-based and effective advocate to forge durable solutions inside the watershed.