Yellowstone Migrations Sampler by Mountaineers Books

—Gretel Ehrlich, travel writer, poet, and essayist

JOE RIIS is a wildlife biologist turned photojournalist and cinematographer known for his pioneering documentation of animal migrations in the West. He is a National Geographic contributing photographer and photography fellow at the Wyoming Migration Initiative. Widely exhibited, his photographs are included in private and public collections around the world. He has won a Stanford Knight-Riser Prize for journalism, an Emmy Award for cinematography, and the title Adventurer of the Year, among many other honors and fellowships. His natural history photography assignments for National Geographic have taken him to five continents, thus far. When he is not on an expedition, he lives in a cabin he built in rural South Dakota, on his great-grandparent’s prairie homestead. Cover design by Heidi Smets Photos by Joe Riis Front cover: Pronghorn crossing the Green River Back cover: Elk on the Thorofare Plateau Printed in China on FSC-certified materials ISBN 978-1-68051-089-8

yellowstone migrations

are almost shockingly fresh and carry a kind of innocence.”

jo e ri i s

“Joe’s images of these animals

Natural History/Wildlife/Photography

$29.95 U.S.

t h e p u l s e o f ye l l ows to n e Imagine you’re standing completely still in the heart of the American West. Listen closely. Do you hear that faint pounding of hooves? It’s the sound of timeless movement—herds of elk, mule deer, and pronghorn migrating across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Evidence has been found of their annual crossings dating as far back as 7000 years. But scientists have only recently discovered the true extent of their passage. In Yellowstone Migrations, these three epic journeys come to life through Joe Riis’s stunning photographs and the elegant prose of his colleagues and friends, Arthur Middleton, Emilene Ostlind, Gretel Ehrlich, and Thomas Lovejoy.

yellowstone migrations j oe r i i s

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem expands far beyond the national park that bears its name: it includes millions of acres of public mountains and forests, as well as private ranches, compounds, and even towns, spanning about 300 miles from central Wyoming into eastern Idaho and southwest Montana. And it is across this vast and challenging territory that migrating animals must move, negotiating not only rivers, mountains, and other natural barriers, but also highways, fences, and human settlements. Young and weak elk and mule deer may become a meal for hungry bears and wolves, while the agile pronghorn is at risk of getting entangled in fences or encountering aggressive dogs. Yellowstone Migrations is not only the story of three animal migrations; it’s also about the people who rely on these lands for their livelihood and the encounters, research, and creative solutions defining the points at which animals and people collide. Illustrating the delicacy, vigor, and grace of the animals that call the Yellowstone region home, as well as the landscape through which they travel, Riis’s images illuminate extraordinary migrations—and the importance of preserving these corridors that form the beating heart of the American West.

www.braidedriver.org

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c o n te n ts 23

Migration Routes Map

Capturing Migrations

by Joe Riis

The Images of Joe Riis by Gretel Ehrlich

PHOTO GALLERY Redefining Home in the American West

A New Vision for Yellowstone: An Ecosystem Defined by Migration

by Emilene Ostlind

PHOTO GALLERY Primordial Paths, Epic Journeys

119

Sustaining Migrations in the Modern West

127

PHOTO GALLERY Barriers & Solutions

by Arthur Middleton

147 Epilogue

by Thomas Lovejoy

151

PHOTO GALLERY The Photographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Story: Quiet Persistence

162

Bibliography

164 Contributors 169 Photographer 171

In Appreciation

173 Acknowledgments

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Above: Elk congregating in a crucial winter range location, the Spence & Moriarity Wildlife Habitat Management Area, near Dubois, Wyoming Opposite: Elk, mule deer, and pronghorn all migrate well outside national park borders and even beyond what is known as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. (Source: Atlas of Wildlife Migration: Wyomingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ungulates, Oregon State University Press ÂŠ2018 University of Wyoming and University of Oregon)

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Bozeman

Billings

Migration Routes

Elk Mule deer

MONTANA RO

Dillon !

Pronghorn N

MT Area shown

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Cody

Dubois !

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

Hailey !

Idaho Falls

Thermopolis

WYOMING

Jackson

IDAHO

IN D

IV ER

Pocatello

Pinedale

Lander

N GE

WYOMING

Shoshone

RANGE !

UTAH

Rawlins

Kemmerer !

Green River 0

N 0

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50 mi. 50 km

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Pronghorn do not typically jump, but they can. Here a small buck pronghorn leaps across a creek swollen from snowmelt.

CAPTURING MIGRATIONS j o e r iis

I S P E N T T H E F I R S T eighteen years of my life on the north-

were unknown, the animals’ yearly journeys a blank in the human

ern Great Plains. My upbringing was out in the wide open, dictated

web of knowledge.

by the four seasons, the ebb and flow of growth and dormancy. I

Before I was born, my parents lived in Alaska where they

watched the massive movements of birds in the fall and again in the

developed a passion for wildlife photography. They hauled their

spring. As a kid I always wondered, where did they come from, and

equipment with them when they moved to South Dakota. When

where did they go? Birds were my entry into the world of animal

I was fifteen, I found the box of old cameras in the basement. I

movements and migrations, and I later became curious about

practiced with one of them—a Canon F1—in our backyard and

land-animal migration. But I didn’t read of ungulate (hoofed

became interested in capturing the scene in front of me. Little

animal) migration until 2003, in Rick Ridgeway’s riveting

did I know that I was developing a way to express myself and

National Geographic story (accompanied by Galen Rowell’s pho-

find meaning.

tographs) about chiru antelope migration in central Asia. The

When I turned seventeen, my father took me to Denali National

described Chang Tang Plateau was remote and unfathomable to

Park in Alaska to visit his longtime friend and moose researcher

me. I marveled that the summering grounds of these antelope

Victor Van Ballenberghe. This was my first opportunity on such

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a trip to focus on wildlife photography. My goal was simply to

I envisioned it. This was my chance to become a wildlife photo-

achieve a sharp and correctly exposed photograph. I saw wolves,

journalist and show a new story.

moose, bears, Dall sheep, and caribou. After returning home and

Like many before me, I dreamed of becoming a National

reviewing my slides, I realized I had great interest in both the

Geographic photographer, so I applied for a National Geographic

photography process and the moose, Dall sheep, and caribou

Society Young Explorers Grant to help cover my field expenses—

that Victor spoke about. I found them more interesting than the

and I got lucky. National Geographic and others took a chance and

predators that relied on them for food, and I wanted to learn

gave me the opportunity to do the unthinkable—photograph the

more about their rhythms and way of life.

pronghorn migration in Wyoming for the first time. I loaded up

That curiosity led me to read about the great caribou migra-

my small pickup and drove to western Wyoming, where I would

tions in the far North and the wildebeest migrations in East

spend the following two years with one mission—figuring out and

Africa. These animals’ annual journeys fascinated me, and I

showing through photographs what pronghorn migration looks like.

started to learn about the idea of wildlife corridors and con-

Migration is fundamental to many wild animals. It is the process of

nectivity. Ecologists like Michael Soulé, Thomas Lovejoy, and

moving with the seasons to eat and reproduce. Without migration,

George Schaller made this idea mainstream, and photographers

abundance declines and wildness disappears. In the past hundred

like Florian Schulz and Michio Hoshino brought wild animals

years, our human population has gone from less than two billion to

to life for everyone to see. I was a wildlife biology student at the

more than seven billion people. We dominate the landscape and do

University of Wyoming and I wanted to get involved in the wild-

whatever we please. The human species is an incredible success story.

life corridor movement. Photography seemed like a good way to

But other life on the planet suffers the consequences. The American

bring other people in, an avenue for everyone to experience the

bison has been reduced from thirty million individuals to fewer than

migrations.

twenty thousand free-ranging animals over only a few centuries.

When my friend Emilene Ostlind, who wrote the primary

The loss of this migration has massively transformed the landscape.

essay in this book, told me about a recently discovered prong-

However, we have a stronghold of wildness in the Rocky Mountains

horn antelope migration in western Wyoming, I was very inter-

of the United States—the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

ested. I could not believe there were ungulate migrations like

At the heart of this wildness, there is a Greater Yellowstone human

those of the wildebeest and caribou right where I lived. I wanted

community that cares deeply about the wildlife they share the

to see the pronghorn migration for myself, so I searched for

landscape with. The Cody elk herd winters on more than a million

photographs. But I found only a few images of antelope behind

acres of private ranchland, managed for both cattle and wildlife. It

fences, nothing that captured the essence of migration the way

is absolutely crucial that we view our ranching community as land

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Y E L L OW S TO N E M I G R AT I O N S

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stewards, because without them, large tracts of open space will

Through my decade-long journey of photographing these ungu-

become developed and critical wildlife habitat will be lost forever.

lates, I have gained a new understanding and appreciation of the

I have come to care deeply about these people who make a living

Yellowstone migrations. I believe these animals’ annual journeys

off the land—their lifestyle, their traditions, and their knowledge

are what maintain the true wildness of this place.

of wildlife movements. The outfitter and hunting communities in

Capturing the essence of the migrations, however, is challeng-

Cody have also welcomed me, sharing their deep understanding of

ing. When I began my pronghorn fieldwork, I quickly learned that

the migrations. And one family in particular is part of my fondest

the animals were reacting to me. My presence on the landscape

memories: logger Mark Domek, his wife, Pat Poletti, and their

made it difficult to see and photograph the migration. I realized

daughters, Callie and Sara, are some of the few year-round resi-

I had to use new camera technology to document the animals

dents in the upper Green River Basin. People often refer to them as

without disturbing or influencing them and their need to move.

the Domek herd because they are quick to share stories about their

Motion-activated cameras became my portal to experiencing and

wildlife sightings, promoting the ways of local land stewardship.

discovering what migration looks like in the Greater Yellowstone

More often that not, conservation happens because local people

Ecosystem. Since my first outings, I have spent several years

see the need to protect their heritage and livelihood. This is why

looking for migration pinch points and specific game trails

I love the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. I feel like I do a small

that would be good locations for cameras. Often, I have found

part in helping local people see the beauty and magnificence of the

hoofprints on trails, evidence of passing, and so the next year I

migrations that share this landscape.

returned earlier in the season to attempt to capture the migration

In this region, we have a complete assemblage of wildlife cen-

itself. Through this process, I have “seen” the arduous and awe-in-

tered around Yellowstone, the world’s first national park. We still

spiring journeys that the pronghorn, mule deer, and elk make

have the abundance and magnificence of animals moving with

every year. My hope is that you see these migrations on the pages

the seasons. Three of the most incredible and recently discovered

that follow and are inspired to keep our landscape connected and

overland migrations happen in this ecosystem—the Grand Teton

human communities strong, so that future generations will live in

pronghorn, the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer, and the Cody elk.

a world as rich as ours is today.

capturing migrations

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—Gretel Ehrlich, travel writer, poet, and essayist

yellowstone migrations

are almost shockingly fresh and carry a kind of innocence.”

jo e ri i s

“Joe’s images of these animals

Natural History/Wildlife/Photography

$29.95 U.S.

yellowstone migrations j oe r i i s

www.braidedriver.org

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