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What We Do

What is the TBGPEA?

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We are a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

Our membership includes property owners (regular membership) and other interested individuals (associate membership) within a five county area in northeastern Wyoming.

We value the unique landscape of which we are privileged to be a part.

We have chosen to take proactive leadership in the conservation of the lands we own or manage.

The conservation strategies we investigate, implement, and promote are responsible, science-based, long-term, and landscape in their scale.

What does the TBGPEA do?

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  • We work in collaboration and cooperation with a variety of government and non-government entities, as well as with experts in academia and members of the private sector.
    • We partner with others to fund and implement a variety of conservation efforts within our landscape. Since 2003, we have invested over $4.7 million in voluntary, on-the-ground conservation measures.
    • We focus our conservation efforts on two ecotypes that dominate our landscape: the sagebrush steppe and the short-grass prairie. We seek to protect and enhance existing habitat for species of concern within these ecotypes.
  • We work to develop and implement a strategy of adaptive management – one that is informed by and responsive to current conditions and the results of previously implemented conservation efforts.
  • We conduct extensive vegetation monitoring and targeted wildlife monitoring to support and enable adaptive management.
  • We are currently working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement an incentives based conservation strategy to protect eight species of concern that inhabit the sagebrush steppe and short-grass prairie of northeastern Wyoming. Our three-pronged strategy consists of a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for private property; a Candidate Conservation Agreement for property with a federal nexus; and a Conservation Agreement that addresses conservation efforts associated with foreseeable development of energy resources. Final Strategy documents were signed on March 18, 2017.

 

Awards

  • 2019: University of Wyoming College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Outreach Partner of the Year
  • 2017: The Wildlife Society Group Achievement Award
  • 2017: The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming Deborah MacKenzie Award for Innovation
  • 2017: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement Excellence in Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Award
  • 2017: State of Wyoming Good Neighbor Reclamation Award for Coal
  • 2016: Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Research Partner
  • 2012: The Wildlife Society, Central Mtns and Plains Section Citizens Conservation Achievement Award
  • 2010: National Grasslands Council: National Grasslands Prairie Partner Award
  • 2010: Wyoming Section of the Society for Range Management Excellence in Rangeland Stewardship Award
  • June 2004: National Grasslands Council: Grasslands Conservation Award
  • May 2004: National Grasslands Council: Grasslands Technology Award

 

Stakeholders

  • Wyoming Conservationists
  • Ranchers
  • NGO's
  • Energy Industry

 

Partners

Since inception, the Association has acted on the belief that effective conservation is built on a foundation of collaborative effort. Over the years, the Association has worked in cooperation with a wide range of partners, including:

Thunderbasin GrasslandsFederal Partners

  • Bureau of Land Management
  • Natural Resource Conservation Service
  • US Fish & Wildlife Service
  • US Forest Service


State/Local Partners

  • Conservation Districts
  • County Commissioners
  • Weed & Pest Districts
  • WY Game & Fish Department
  • WY Gov’s Natural Resource Sub-cabinet
  • WY Wildlife & Natural Resource Trust


Academia/Research Partners

  • Boise State University
  • Colorado State University
  • University of Wyoming
  • University of Wyoming Extension
  • USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources Research Unit


NGO Partners

  • Audubon Rockies
  • Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
  • Defenders of Wildlife
  • Environmental Defense Fund
  • Humane Society of the United States
  • Mule Deer Foundation
  • National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
  • National Wild Turkey Federation
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • Private Grazing Lands Council
  • Sand County Foundation
  • Sonoran Institute
  • World Wildlife Fund
  • WY Wildlife Federation


Private Partners

  • Arch Coal
  • Buckskin Mining Company
  • EMRI
  • Fritz Knopf
  • Great Plains Wildlife Consulting
  • Navajo Transitional Energy Company
  • Numerous agricultural producer members
  • Peabody Energy
  • Wyoming Wildlife Consultants