Wyoming Annual Report 2022

Case Study: Sierra Madre Snowpack Monitoring Project

We know that forest restoration techniques often help reduce the risk of severe wildfires and improve forests’ health and resilience to climate change. Can they also help reduce the stress of drought and improve water supplies as the climate changes?

We are trying to answer this question with our Sierra Madre Snowpack Monitoring Project. We know that Wyoming’s water supply is heavily dependent on winter snowpack: it’s vitally important for the land to hold onto snow as long as possible, so that it slowly melts into the ground and streams.

Trees provide shade to slow melting, but a very dense canopy can reduce the amount of snow that reaches the ground. What we want to know is: which forest restoration techniques could help retain more water in soil and streams and offer more resilience to future drought?

The Nature Conservancy’s Wyoming and Colorado River Programs have chosen a forest demonstration site in Wyoming’s Sierra Madre Mountains to explore this question more deeply. Our project is monitoring impacts of different types of forest restoration treatments on the duration of snowpack and soil moisture. Over time, we will incorporate the results into a model that will help guide decision making throughout the Colorado River system.

Hope in Action

With people who think like you, talking about climate change may seem like no big deal. But when a friend or colleague has a different opinion about what’s driving the change, the conversation can get tricky. Like religion and politics, it becomes a topic to avoid.

The Nature Conservancy’s chief scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe believes that we can talk with each other in respectful and effective ways about climate change no matter what our beliefs, and that we must do it if we care about the future of our planet. We just need to do it in a way that is constructive and respectful, not challenging those who don’t see things the way we do.

That is the message she brought to Wyoming during our Hope in Action: Wyoming’s Response to Climate Change event in Jackson this past summer. Despite her impressive scientific credentials, Dr. Hayhoe doesn’t rattle off scary statistics and numbers. She believes that the path to action is through the heart, not the head. People act when they care and feel personally invested in making a difference.

So find common ground: things you both care about. We all have mutual interests—our children, our faith, water or the economy, the places where we live. Those are the intersections where we can find common ground, and that’s where the conversations must begin.

She advocates focusing on positive changes that are taking place and on small personal actions—like reducing our food waste and energy consumption, conserving water or switching to clean energy. Talking about our larger goals can inspire others to start making changes too. Our power multiplies exponentially when we advocate for climate solutions in our place of work, our school, or our city or state.

How You Can Fight Climate Change

A Blooming Dilemma

Spring and summer wouldn’t be the same in Wyoming without spectacular wildflowers. These plants aren’t just a feast for the eyes. In the Sagebrush Sea, they provide a literal feast for birds such as greater sage-grouse hens and chicks that feed on the insects drawn to the plants. They support pollinators and contribute to the diversity and stability of the plant community required by wildlife.

Wildflowers are essential to the mix of plants used to restore land that was previously disturbed by mining and other development. The problem is that their seeds are hard to come by. Wildflowers have been stubbornly hard to grow in agricultural environments. In nature, their seeds fall to the ground at different times of year and lie exposed to the elements, and the seeds sprout when the growing conditions are best. When this process is left to nature, it takes a lot of time.

The Nature Conservancy is trying to solve this problem by investigating the best ways to germinate seeds in the lab. If we can figure out what seeds need in order to sprout successfully, we can apply that treatment before sowing them in the field. It could be something as simple as scratching their surfaces with sandpaper. But that’s a tedious process. We are testing ways to crack this problem at a scale big enough to match the demand for large-scale restoration.

A Long Overdue Homecoming

In October 2021, the Intertribal Buffalo Council led the release of 50 buffalo from a Nature Conservancy preserve in Missouri to Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation. The move was part of a nationwide effort to restore these animals back to Indigenous tribes. The animals were divided between the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho.

“This brings hope to the people for future generations to reconnect to an animal that was purposely removed to subjugate our ancestors.”

—Jason Baldes
Member of the Eastern Shoshone and Tribal Buffalo Manager for the National Wildlife Federation

Since the transfer, the Tribes have added 900 acres toward a goal of 17,000 acres of new buffalo habitat for the reservation. But Baldes points out that before that vision can be realized, buffalo must be protected as wildlife under Tribal law, which would support the restoration of larger landscapes.

The movement to restore buffalo to the Wind River Reservation began with the arrival of 10 animals in 2016. Today, the Shoshone herd totals 77 and the Arapaho herd has 56 animals. In addition to expanding the herds to a larger area, Baldes says they hope to eventually acquire the facilities needed to process and store harvested buffalos to establish food sovereignty and improve the health of Tribal members.

TNC continues to work with the Tribes of the Wind River Reservation to realize those goals.

Keep Wyoming Wild & Working

Thanks to supporters like you, the work we completed during our last five-year strategic plan has set us up for even greater success in the years to come. The generosity of two conservation champions, Nancy-Carroll Draper and Diane Mott, is getting us off to an excellent start—one in which you can also play a role!

A Matching Opportunity

A lifelong conservationist, Nancy-Carroll Draper was committed to preserving Wyoming’s land, waters and wildlife. From now through June 30, 2024, the Nancy-Carroll Draper Charitable Foundation will match up to $500,000 in eligible gifts to inspire support from those who share Nancy’s love of Wyoming. Contact us to learn more about how your gift can qualify and unlock these matching funds to advance conservation.

A Gift for Wyoming Wildlife

The late Diane Mott's fond memories of her Wyoming childhood instilled in her a love of open spaces and wildlife. Her $250,000 estate gift creating the Harold and Jean Mott Corridor Conservation Fund honors the legacy of her parents and Diane's commitment to protecting Wyoming's world-renowned big game migrations. This fund allows TNC to address complex migration challenges through partnerships, conservation, science and policy. We are honored by her confidence and trust in TNC to preserve these ancient pathways and the wildlife that depend on them. Contact us to learn more about how you can support this important work.

Financial Results

June 30, 2021 - June 30, 2022

The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming Statement of Financial Position

Board of Trustees