JACKSON, Wyo. — Last week, the 2023 Jackson Hole Wildlife Symposium explored the nature and future of coexistence with experts who collectively agree that the heart of the issue is learning to look at the forest instead of just the trees.
Initially presented by Susan Clark, co-founder and emeritus board member of the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative (NRCC), this notion of seeing the whole forest highlights the need to deepen the local understanding of what coexistence is up against to address those challenges in their full complexity.
Clark points to practical problems, like ecological and physical factors, and governance problems as primary concerns. She also stresses that cultural problems like basic human conduct and human to human relationships are considerations that warrant the development of a five to 10 year Grand Strategy, which Clark hopes can allow the community to collectively navigate these layers and make headway on coexisting more effectively with wildlife, the landscape and each other.
According Ben Williamson, NRCC’s executive director, one of the biggest challenges the community is currently up against is boundaries, both physical and mental. He notes that most of the local boundaries were initially created as ways for individuals and groups to coexist with the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), but when looking at the whole forest he suggests it’s easy to see the fragmentation these boundaries actually cause.
“Since Yellowstone was created, we’ve had many boundaries across the GYE, all with the goal of ordering policy and management,” Williamson said at the Symposium. “Meanwhile, our wildlife, water, climate and natural processes don’t adhere to these boundaries, nor do our human systems” of culture, community, transportation and more.
Michael Whitfield, Teton County (ID) Commissioner, GYE field researcher for over 40 years and founding president of Teton Regional Land Trust, agrees that boundaries can foster a habit of compartmentalizing areas in the region, sometimes even resulting in sacrificing one special place to protect another.
“Single purpose thinking is a barrier to big picture conservation.”
Michael Whitfield
“Single purpose thinking is a barrier to big picture conservation,” Whitfield said in his panel discussion at the Symposium.
Douglas Smith, renowned former senior wildlife biologist at Yellowstone National Park (YNP), also believes that siloed thinking is responsible for letting the connection to nature slip away. He suggests that the polarization of narratives, with some people and entities claiming that the GYE is totally fine and others claiming that the GYE is doomed, is impairing the ability to actually solve any of the problems.
Smith advocates for big-picture thinking by suggesting the current GYE situation is both; it’s true that most of the GYE is still protected and wolf, grizzly and bison recovery efforts have resulted in increased populations across the board, but it’s also true that human population growth and development that are unstoppable for economic reasons are putting huge pressures on the ecological systems.
Smith suggests a way forward is to identify themes across both narratives that all sides can agree on, like how migration is an issue for species like mule deer, pronghorn and trumpeter swans, how climate change is directly affecting white bark pines and invasive species, how development is impacting the GYE and how coexistence with large carnivores in particular is causing concerns.
Smith also underlines the importance of people talking to people with whom they don’t agree, and finding those common themes as a way to work together going forward, an idea that Whitfield strongly echoes.
“Open your ears and listen deliberately to those who are not your usual partners,” Whitfield encourages community members across the GYE. “Intentionally give them time to tell you what they’re about. You’ll find you have partners that can make your efforts gain greater traction and have a lasting effect.”
When asked about whether or not he’s optimistic for the future of the GYE and coexistence within it, Whitfield says he thinks the glass is still half full.
“Wildlife still has an opportunity,” Whitfield says. “We’re at a tipping point, but attitudes are changing. We can get there.”
Stay tuned for follow-ups exploring conversations around wildlife policy and large carnivore coexistence.
