Lynx or Drilling Outside Yellowstone?

A proposal to allow oil and gas drilling on 300 acres of wilderness in Bridger-Teton National Forest outside Yellowstone National Park has Wyoming residents and our lynx expert Dave Gaillard on high alert.

As first reported by federal lands specialist Addie Haughey on Defenders’ dotWild blog, the drilling project would cut right through the Hoback basin–a critical corridor for lynx migration between parts of Wyoming and the rest of the Northern Rockies. Gaillard says, “We are aware of no better documented travel corridor for lynx in the contiguous U.S. than the Hoback Rim, or ‘Bondurant Corridor’ that passes directly through the project area.”

But it’s not just lynx that are in trouble. Local residents are concerned that drilling in the Hoback basin will cause extensive environmental damage, harm other wildlife, destroy the natural beauty of the area and disturb their way of life. The Citizens for the Wyoming Range put together the video below to share the concerns of these residents and explain why protecting the Hoback basin is so important.

Read more about what Defenders is doing to protect lynx and their critical habitat.