Other Public Lands in Greater Yellowstone

Bureau of Land Management Lands comprise an important portion of the GYE, and are known for their multiple use mandate. There are millions of acres of BLM lands that surround the ecosystem core of six National Forests and the Parks, but the BLM lands are no less important to protecting the recreational, wildlife, and scenic values of the GYE.

From BLM offices in Billings, Butte, and Dillon, Montana, Idaho Falls and Pocatello, Idaho, and Pinedale, Kemmerer, Rock Springs, and Worland, Wyoming, the typically drier, lower elevation lands provide important wildlife habitat. Sage grouse are dependent on the sagebrush biome, prairie dogs need vast tracts of grasslands, and pronghorn antelope require untrammeled landscapes to survive. The BLM lands also support fisheries, scores of bird species including songbirds, raptors, and sandhill cranes, and small mammals, reptiles, and big game. These were the lands of the black-footed ferret, grizzly, and bison, but those species have long been missing from the arid periphery of the GYE.

Hunting, hiking, mountain biking, camping and motorized recreation can be enjoyed on BLM lands. These same areas can be grazed by domestic livestock, mined for minerals, and drilled for energy resources, often at the expense of the habitat and other values. The public is engaging in the planning processes which provides some opportunity to control and manage seemingly disparate uses, and GYC will continue to educate and mobilize the public to interact with the federal managers of these important portions of the GYE.

Three National Wildlife Refuges - Red Rock Lakes, Grays Lake and the National Elk Refuge - protect important habitat for a number of plant and animal species, including several considered rare, threatened or endangered.