Sublette Pronghorn Move to Next Step in Full Designation
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioners voted on September 10th to recommend the entire Sublette Antelope Migration Corridor to the Governor for designation. This unanimous vote came as a surprise after recommendations by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) a few weeks earlier to remove substantial sections East of Farson and in the Red Desert and is a tremendous win for pronghorn in the Cowboy State.
The North American Pronghorn Foundation Chair, Brock Wahl, their Wyoming Board Member, Steve Martin, and many other conservation voices spoke in favor of the full corridor’s recognition. Recommendations for the removal of two segments of the corridor were supported by industry.
The Sublette Migration Corridor, often called the Path of the Pronghorn, contains the longest pronghorn migration in the world and is one of the most studied and documented pronghorn migrations in the nation with more than 500 collared pronghorn’s data documenting its use. “If we cannot conserve the Sublette pronghorn and their needs here in Wyoming…then what chance do we have to advocate for pronghorn anywhere” said Wahl in his advocacy for the corridor.
The corridor designation will now move to the governor’s desk in the process laid out by Executive Order 2020-1. This is the first corridor designation to do so since the order was signed in 2020. If Governor Gordon agrees with the recommendation, the next step is the appointment of an Area Working Group which will work with the county commissioners through which the Sublette Corridor runs and stakeholders on the ground such as motorized recreation advocates, agricultural representatives, and the energy industry. This group will deliver a final analysis and determination to the Governor who will then either designate the corridor, send the proposal back to WGFD for refinement, or reject the proposal.
The Sublette herd is a critical driver of antelope populations and tag allocations in areas 85-93, 96, 101, and 107 and has a desired post-hunt population of 48000 animals. After the winter kill of 2022-2023 the population was estimated at only 20,500 animals, a 30-year low and less than half of objective. While the last few years have seen recoveries, this herd, which is larger than the combined herds of Arizona and Nevada, still has not reached objective levels. Formal recognition of this corridor will help prevent increased pressure on this vital driver of pronghorn populations and hunting in Wyoming and ensure that like many other important resources, pronghorn have their interests considered in landscape management decisions.
-Erik Dippold