Mountain Pursuit President, Vice President, Sue Wyoming Governor over Failure to Designate and Protect Western Wyoming Migration Corridors

By Mountain Pursuit 

Today, Rob Shaul and James Howell, President and Vice President of Mountain Pursuit, sued Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon in the ninth district court over his failure to designate and protect two Migration Corridors in Western Wyoming. 

Shaul and Howell are multi-generational Wyoming residents and avid hunters. Mountain Pursuit is a Wyoming-based hunting nonprofit which advocates for resident hunters, wildlife conservation and fair chase. 

The lawsuit hinges on Article 1, Section 39 of the Wyoming State Constitution which states, "the opportunity to fish, hunt and trap wildlife is a heritage that shall forever be preserved to the individual citizens of the state." 

Specifically at issue are the Wyoming Range Mule Deer Herd and the Sublette Pronghorn Herd Migration Corridors in Western Wyoming. 

In February 2019, the Wyoming Game & Fish department was in the final steps of formally designating these two migration corridors when Wyoming's oil and gas industry and the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association sent the Game & Fish Department a letter asking the department to "suspend migration corridor designation" until they could be “involved in the development of management strategies.”

In May of 2019, Governor Gordon bowed to industry and effectively took away the Game & Fish Department's authority designate migration corridors. 

In February, 2020, Gordon signed Executive Order 2020-1, Mule Deer and Antelope Migration Corridor Protection which replaced the until-then Game & Fish Department's data-driven, and biologically-determined migration corridor designation process. Gordon's executive order placed took authority for migration corridor designation away from the wildlife professionals at the Game & Fish Department and placed solely in the hands of the Governor's office. 

For the Wyoming Range Mule Deer and Sublette Antelope herds, the result of Gordon's action is that designation and protection for these crucial migration corridors completely stalled. 

Both herds are in trouble. According to the Game & Fish Department, the Wyoming Range Mule Deer Herd - the largest in the state - is currently 23% below its population objective of 40,000 animals, and the Sublette Pronghorn Herd - also the largest in the state - is 27% below its population objective of 48,000. Both herds have been below objective for multiple years - despite the Department efforts to limit hunting and improve habitat. 

What the Game & Fish Department has not been able to do to help these herds is protect their migration corridors from disturbance - because Gordon stopped the designation process for political reasons. 

The Game & Fish Department has been forced to limit hunting opportunity for both herds because they are below population objective. For the Wyoming Range Mule Deer Herd, this has meant no anterless hunting for several years, and antlered point restrictions on bucks. For the Sublette Pronghorn Herd, the Department has been forced to reduce the number of available tags by nearly 20% since 2014. 

Shaul and Howell argue that if the migration corridors were formally designated and adequately protected, it's possible herd numbers would be at objective. By stalling this process at the behest of the Oil & Gas and the Stockgrowers, they argue Governor Gordon limited their Constitutionally-guaranteed right to hunt. 

As well, by not designating and protecting these corridors, Shaul and Howell argue Gordon has imperiled the future of these herds, and thus their Constitutionally-guaranteed right to hunt, as research has proven that migratory patterns are learned, and once migration is broken, significant loss of the herd results. There is no opportunity to hunt animals if the herd is decimated.

The Plaintiffs ask the court to require Gordon to immediately designate the Sublette Pronghorn and Wyoming Range Mule Deer migration corridors and "proceed with haste" to protect the crucial range identified in the corridors in hopes of brining both herds up to population objective and guarantee their viability into the future. 

Click HERE for a copy of the Complaint.