MYTH: The Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act (GYCRA) removes protections for the Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area (WSA) and eliminates 40 percent of the WSA from protections.
FACTS:
94 percent of the Wilderness Study Area will be placed under permanent protection by the Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act.
GYCRA will also provide permanent protections for more than 57,000 acres beyond the boundaries of the WSA that currently lack permanent protections.
The act is proposing more Wilderness than what the Forest Service is currently recommending with the 2022 Custer Gallatin National Forest Management Plan.
In total, the Act will permanently protect 250,000 acres of public lands, including designating nearly 124,000 acres of new Wilderness.
MYTH: The Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act opens the Madison and Gallatin ranges to recreation.
FACTS:
The proposed legislation does not expand recreation. Under the terms of the act, motorized and mechanized uses (snowmobiles, mountain bikes, etc.) will only be permitted in places where they are already legally allowed.
The Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act does not allow new motorized uses in 100 percent of the 250,000 acres of protective designations created by the Act.
The Act maintains current recreation access, while freezing the trail footprint to what has been previously approved by the Forest Service. Approved within the plan are two connector trails in the West Pine Wildlife and Recreation Management Area. The trails are designed to create safer opportunities for hikers, bikers, and horsemen on the east side of the range while reducing trailhead congestion by eliminating the need for car shuttles.
In the front country of Hyalite Canyon, the Act will allow for new trails so this area can continue to provide enjoyable access to the outdoors, close to home, while protecting sensitive wildlife habitat in the backcountry.
MYTH: The Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act will take away protections for the Madison and Gallatin ranges.
FACTS:
The proposed legislation protects areas that do not currently have protection.
The act’s watershed protection and recreation area and wildlife management and recreation area designations extend beyond the borders of the current WSA to areas that currently have no protections. Currently unprotected parts of Hyalite Canyon, the Porcupine and Buffalo Horn drainages, West Pine, Cowboy Heaven, and the southern Madison Range will all receive permanent protective designations to preserve wilderness character, protect water quality, and preserve wildlife habitat and migration corridors.
The act creates new protections for 70,000 acres around Hyalite Canyon, Sourdough Canyon, and South Cottonwood Creek in the northern Gallatin Range. The Hyalite Watershed Protection and Recreation Area designation prohibits timber harvest and trail building within the current Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn WSA boundary. It also permanently prevents the expansion of motorized use across the entire 70,000-acre watershed protection and recreation area.
