Forum in Bozeman, Montana, April 9, 7 PM MST highlighting findings of an analysis on the impacts of sprawl on America’s famous wildlands and lessons for every community struggling to protect natural areas — livestreamed free

BOZEMAN, Mont., March 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and its rarefied assemblage of large free-ranging public wildlife has been likened to “a mini-American Serengeti.” It is a national natural treasure that belongs to all citizens. It is home to grizzly bears, wolves, bison, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, imperiled birds and famous trout populations. But this iconic ecosystem, anchored by the world’s first national park, Yellowstone, is confronting an unprecedented deluge of people, in the form of sprawl on private lands and industrial levels of outdoor recreation rapidly squeezing animals out of habitat.

As veteran American journalist Todd Wilkinson, who has written for National Geographic and The Guardian, says, “the number one immediate threat to the biological future of Greater Yellowstone’s beloved public lands is development pressure expanding unchecked on private lands in the three-state area of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.”

Eric Ruark, director of research and sustainability at NumbersUSA, notes that the issue identified by Wilkinson is the subject of a report from the nonpartisan nonprofit that examines the environmental costs of sprawl on Greater Yellowstone. The report will be featured at a live public gathering on Wednesday, April 9 in Bozeman, Montana that will also be livestreamed and is accessible free to anyone who wishes to watch remotely.

“The discussion we’ll be having should be of profound interest not only to the millions of people who love Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks and their wildlife, but communities across the country located astride of natural areas dealing with the consequences of population growth and development manifesting itself as sprawl,” Ruark says. “Our scientific analysis on Greater Yellowstone is unprecedented and it illuminates how human activities can permanently transform places that have been part of our shared natural heritage for generations.”

One of the topics Ruark will discuss—and one featured in the critically-acclaimed book, Billionaire Wilderness by scholar Justin Farrell—is how Greater Yellowstone and its challenges of exurban sprawl is being imperiled by what demographers call “lifestyle pilgrims” re-locating in mass into the region as part of a tidal wave of intra-migration.

The 90-minute forum, scheduled to begin at 7 pm (Mountain Standard Time) at Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, is being hosted by Gallatin Valley Earth Day, NumbersUSA, and a number of other organizations, including the conservation journalism site Yellowstonian (yellowstonian.org). No matter where one lives in the world, people who are interested in the future of Yellowstone Park or who are concerned about growth issues in their own communities will learn a lot by tuning in remotely. They can do so by pre-registering for free at the link below.

Journalist Todd Wilkinson will serve as moderator of a panel discussion with NumbersUSA’s Ruark and four other thought leaders confronting the difficult question of how do we as humans not love our most sensitive and fragile wildlife-rich ecosystems to death? Joining Wilkinson and Ruark are Chet Work who oversees the Gallatin Valley Land Trust; Deb Davidson with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation best known for its work nationally in designing wildlife crossings across highways; Cindy Riegel, a scientist and former chair of the Teton County, Idaho Commission; and Randy Carpenter, a professional planner who oversees Friends of Park County, dealing with growth issues in famous wildlife-rich Paradise Valley located between Yellowstone National Park and Livingston, Montana.

In advance of the event, people interested in the topics can download a free executive summary of NumbersUSA’s analysis “Greater Yellowstone—An Ecosystem At Risk: Unending Population Growth and Development Threaten the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem” led by renowned ecologist Leon Kolankiewicz with Ruark and Roy Beck contributing. The foreword was written by Wilkinson, who has been reporting on environmental issues in Greater Yellowstone for nearly four decades.

“I am happy to say our report is now part of the growing public discourse and is helping the way elected officials, public land managers, communities and citizens think about growth issues affecting sensitive natural landscapes they love, especially the wildlife inhabiting them,” Ruark says. “Unless we get a better handle on how to limit the human footprint and deal with population pressures, many places and species we cherish will be lost.”

Viewers have two options for tuning in. They can resister via Zoom or watch the event via Facebook. Here are those links. Again, the live event begins at 7 pm MST on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

Pre-register via Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_EHs21xl9RR6YeS0FH0aZOg

On Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/events/1687670202168715

The Panelists

About Todd Wilkinson

Todd Wilkinson is the co-founder of Yellowstonian (yellowstonian.org), a non-profit, public interest journalism site devoted to exploring issues shaping America’s most iconic wildlife ecosystem and wildlands across the West. He is the author of several critically-acclaimed books on topics ranging from Ted Turner and scientific whistleblowers to famous Jackson Hole Grizzly Mother 399 and numerous others, including fine art. He has been a contributor to National Geographic, The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor and numerous other publications as well as giving hundreds of talks and lectures on environmental issues in the US. He is currently working on a book about wild cat conservation featuring the work of Panthera, the global leader in preserving 40 different species of felids, founded by Dr. Thomas Kaplan and the late legendary conservation biologist Dr. Alan Rabinowitz.

About Eric Ruark 

Eric Ruark is a national expert on how lifestyle migration from one part of the country to another, (i.e. wealthy folk choosing a place for lifestyle decisions), results in bigger sprawl impacts. Eric Ruark is the Director of Research and Sustainability, and Director of Public Relations for NumbersUSA. He has worked on immigration policy since 2008. He has a B.A. and an M.A. in History from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed his comprehensive Ph.D. exams in 20th Century European History, with a concentration in the history of science, technology, and the environment at the University of Maryland. Eric has researched and published extensively on U.S. immigration policy, and his work has been cited in national and international media reports. He testified before the Senate on agricultural guest worker programs in 2011.

About Chet Work

Chet Work is the Executive Director for Gallatin Valley Land Trust, he has spent the last 25 years working in conservation, a majority of that time within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Chet has served in leadership roles for the Nature Conservancy and the Teton Regional Land Trust in Driggs prior to joining GVLT. Chet has been with GVLT for the last 5 years and has grown the organization’s ability to help local landowners conserve their land and to help our community acquire parks and trails. Critical growth for GVLT has been the opening of an office in Livingston and increasing GVLT’s ability to leverage federal funding for local conservation. 

About Cindy Riegel

Cindy Riegel has dedicated her career to integrating science, policy, and political action to achieve conservation results. From reintroducing peregrine falcons on a remote mountain near Lander, WY in the early 1990s to a 10-year stint as an elected official for Teton County, ID, Cindy has weathered many storms while working to preserve the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Cindy’s knowledge and experience with local land use planning has inspired her to start a collaborative movement that highlights the critical role local communities, organizations, and elected officials play in safeguarding the natural and cultural heritage of the GYE.

About Deb Davidson

As Chief Strategy Officer at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Deb Davidson directs program development, fundraising, external relationships, and partnerships to advance the organization’s connectivity conservation programs. Her work in conservation for more than 20 years has largely focused on the protection of wildlife corridors and large landscapes, with a specialty in network development, connectivity policy, and science in western North America.

About Randy Carpenter 

Randy Carpenter has had a career working with community leaders in the Northern Rockies, helping them understand the challenges that come with growth and change, and tailoring locally based solutions to address those challenges. Randy was a community planner in Iowa, followed by 13 years with the Sonoran Institute’s Northern Rockies Program. Randy served as a Project Director for Future West from 2014 to 2022, providing information and assistance to fast-growing counties and cities in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and beyond. After serving as the Executive Director of Headwaters Community Housing Trust, he is now the Executive Director of Friends of Park County, a non-profit organization in Livingston dedicated to helping Park County and Livingston develop smart, informed land use policies that protect the integrity of the wildlife habitat and water resources of Park County.

About NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation

A nonpartisan 501(c)3 organization, NumbersUSA has educated voters since 1996 about immigration policies to lower numerical levels and protect America’s wage-earners, natural habitats, and local communities.

Media Contact:

Eric Ruark
eruark@numbersusa.org

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SOURCE NumbersUSA.com