There have been a number of recent articles and commentary about the Hyalite Porcupine & Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area (WSA). This guest column aims to advocate for preserving the WSA and all other Montana Wilderness Study Areas as crucial environmental policy achievements that our community, which highly values environmental integrity, should strive for.
The WSA was established in 1977 and has remained relatively untouched since then. Its legislation aimed to preserve the critical wilderness and wildlife area as it existed at that time for a potential transition to a permanently protected wilderness status. The current legal status of the WSA must remain unchanged, as it faces a threat from a group known as the Gallatin Forest Partnership (GFP).
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The WSA is a critical component of the entire Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, serving as a crucial wildlife corridor between Yellowstone National Park and the northern edge of the Gallatin mountain range. The GFP plan seeks to divide the WSA into separate areas catering to specific recreational and commercial interests, such as mountain biking, logging, and mining, potentially disrupting the ecosystem.
Out of the current 155,000 acres in the WSA, only 97,000 acres would be preserved as a permanently protected wilderness area with the highest degree of protection. Preserving the WSA is essential for economic development in Montana, as it attracts millions of visitors yearly and contributes to the state’s unique ecological and wildlife benefits.
Several factors were considered when evaluating the GFP plan:
- 1. Preserving lower elevation mountain areas with diverse plant life is more ecologically crucial than higher elevation “rocks and ice” areas.
- 2. The sense of urgency created by the GFP members is deemed false, as the WSA has functioned effectively since 1977 without significant interference.
- 3. The preservation of the WSA aligns with the heritage of longtime Montanans like the author, whose family has roots in the state dating back to the 1880s.
- 4. There is a moral obligation to maintain the WSA and its protected status for future generations.
- 5. The author’s business background and experience with the Big Sky Town Center underscore the importance of the WSA for ecological health and community value.
Join the author and others in opposing the implementation of the GFP plan to protect the WSA.
Bill Simkins resides in Bozeman.
