Oral Presentations and Performances: Session III
Project Type
Presentation
Project Funding and Affiliations
Wilderness Institute
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Andrea Stephens
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Wilderness Institute
Additional Mentor
Miranda Foster
Abstract / Artist's Statement
The US Forest Service’s Buffalo Creek Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project is a current case study in the challenges of managing Wilderness according to the 1964 Wilderness Act. This proposed management action involves removing introduced rainbow trout (RBT) from tributaries of the Yellowstone River within the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The project also aims to introduce Yellowstone cutthroat trout (YCT) to Buffalo Fork Creek, to bolster the YCT population and reduce the effects of hybridization with RBT. Before the project's initiation, a non-profit advocacy organization, Wilderness Watch, sued the US Forest Service over the project’s violations of the Wilderness Act, including the use of mechanized equipment and human impacts on the land. On October 24th, 2025, Judge Molloy of the Missoula District Court ruled in favor of Wilderness Watch. The Forest Service filed for an appeal in December 2025, but no further information has been released to the public. Following a strict interpretation of the Wilderness Act, Judge Molloy determined that elements of the Buffalo Creek project are prohibited because they take place in Wilderness. Yet the Wilderness Act fails to describe how wilderness managers could work to conserve species threatened by human impacts. The current decision prompts the question of how wilderness management can adapt in a changing world. We see a place for non-governmental Wilderness advocacy organizations, and we believe the Wilderness Act still stands as a valuable tool for land protection. However, wilderness managers need more flexibility to better conserve wildlife that happen to live within the boundaries of Wilderness.
Category
Social Sciences
Implications of Wilderness Management: Buffalo Creek Case Study
329
The US Forest Service’s Buffalo Creek Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project is a current case study in the challenges of managing Wilderness according to the 1964 Wilderness Act. This proposed management action involves removing introduced rainbow trout (RBT) from tributaries of the Yellowstone River within the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The project also aims to introduce Yellowstone cutthroat trout (YCT) to Buffalo Fork Creek, to bolster the YCT population and reduce the effects of hybridization with RBT. Before the project's initiation, a non-profit advocacy organization, Wilderness Watch, sued the US Forest Service over the project’s violations of the Wilderness Act, including the use of mechanized equipment and human impacts on the land. On October 24th, 2025, Judge Molloy of the Missoula District Court ruled in favor of Wilderness Watch. The Forest Service filed for an appeal in December 2025, but no further information has been released to the public. Following a strict interpretation of the Wilderness Act, Judge Molloy determined that elements of the Buffalo Creek project are prohibited because they take place in Wilderness. Yet the Wilderness Act fails to describe how wilderness managers could work to conserve species threatened by human impacts. The current decision prompts the question of how wilderness management can adapt in a changing world. We see a place for non-governmental Wilderness advocacy organizations, and we believe the Wilderness Act still stands as a valuable tool for land protection. However, wilderness managers need more flexibility to better conserve wildlife that happen to live within the boundaries of Wilderness.