Our Partners - Historical Achievements

“The public is becoming more aware of threats to the world biosphere, including over-population, global climatic change, acid precipitation, depletion of ocean fisheries, nuclear waste disposal, ozone destruction, biodiversity losses, and disappearance of irreplaceable historic and cultural artifacts. ‘Combined, these problems present the greatest challenge, and the greatest opportunity’ the human species has ever faced.”

- Tim Clark & Steven C. Minta, Greater Yellowstone’s Future

Examples of significant land and wildlife management achievements in the US, both nationally and locally:

Public Trust Doctrine – precedent established in the US court system in the mid-19th century setting forth that certain natural resources are owned by no one and are to be held in the public trust, managed for the benefit of the people by the government
1872 – Yosemite and Yellowstone are designated as the first national parks
1905 – the US Forest Service is created at the urging of President Teddy Roosevelt
1910 – Glacier National Park is designated
1940 – the Bob Marshall Wilderness is designated
1956 – the US Fish and Wildlife Service is created with the passing of the Fish and Wildlife Act
1964 Wilderness Act – established the legal definition of a wilderness and set forth the criteria for determining suitability and establishing activity restrictions. Gave statutory protection to areas that had previously received wilderness designation

1968 National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act – enacted to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition and to encourage river management that crosses political boundaries and promotes public participation

1969 National Environmental Policy Act – influential and revolutionary environmental legislation regarded internationally as a model for upholding intergenerational equity. Required federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions

1970 – the US Environmental Protection Agency is created

1973 Endangered Species Act – led to saving the bison, wolf, grizzly bear, bull trout, and Westslope cutthroat trout (all specific to this region), among hundreds of others

1976 National Forest Management Act – expanded previous Acts by requiring a national renewable resource program involving a thorough analysis of environmental and economic impacts, coordination of multiple-use and sustained-yield, and public participation

1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act – integrated the concept of multiple-use into the BLM’s administration of public lands

1995 and 1996 Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction – landmark event signifying a national interest in wildlife and the ability of many groups to achieve relative consensus on a complex ecological issue