What We Do

What is the TBGPEA?

We are a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

Our membership includes property owners (regular membership) and other interested individuals (associate membership) within a five county area in northeastern Wyoming.

We value the unique landscape of which we are privileged to be a part.

We have chosen to take proactive leadership in the conservation of the lands we own or manage.

The conservation strategies we investigate, implement, and promote are responsible, science-based, long-term, and landscape in their scale.

What does the TBGPEA do?

• We work in collaboration and cooperation with a variety of government and non-government entities, as well as with experts in academia and members of the private sector.
  • We partner with others to fund and implement a variety of conservation efforts within our landscape. Since 2003, we have invested over $4.7 million in voluntary, on-the-ground conservation measures.
  • We focus our conservation efforts on two ecotypes that dominate our landscape: the sagebrush steppe and the short-grass prairie. We seek to protect and enhance existing habitat for species of concern within these ecotypes.
• We work to develop and implement a strategy of adaptive management – one that is informed by and responsive to current conditions and the results of previously implemented conservation efforts.
• We conduct extensive vegetation monitoring and targeted wildlife monitoring to support and enable adaptive management.
• We are currently working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement an incentives based conservation strategy to protect eight species of concern that inhabit the sagebrush steppe and short-grass prairie of northeastern Wyoming. Our three-pronged strategy consists of a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for private property; a Candidate Conservation Agreement for property with a federal nexus; and a Conservation Agreement that addresses conservation efforts associated with foreseeable development of energy resources. Final Strategy documents were signed on March 18, 2017.

Awards

• 2019: University of Wyoming College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Outreach Partner of the Year
• 2017: The Wildlife Society Group Achievement Award
• 2017: The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming Deborah MacKenzie Award for Innovation
• 2017: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement Excellence in Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Award
• 2017: State of Wyoming Good Neighbor Reclamation Award for Coal
• 2016: Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Research Partner
• 2012: The Wildlife Society, Central Mtns and Plains Section Citizens Conservation Achievement Award
• 2010: National Grasslands Council: National Grasslands Prairie Partner Award
• 2010: Wyoming Section of the Society for Range Management Excellence in Rangeland Stewardship Award
• June 2004: National Grasslands Council: Grasslands Conservation Award
• May 2004: National Grasslands Council: Grasslands Technology Award

Stakeholders

• Wyoming Conservationists
• Ranchers
• NGO's
• Energy Industry

Partners

Since inception, the Association has acted on the belief that effective conservation is built on a foundation of collaborative effort. Over the years, the Association has worked in cooperation with a wide range of partners, including:

Federal Partners

• Bureau of Land Management
• Natural Resource Conservation Service
• US Fish & Wildlife Service
• US Forest Service

State/Local Partners

• Conservation Districts
• County Commissioners
• Weed & Pest Districts
• WY Game & Fish Department
• WY Gov’s Natural Resource Sub-cabinet
• WY Wildlife & Natural Resource Trust

Academia/Research Partners

• Boise State University
• Colorado State University
• University of Wyoming
• University of Wyoming Extension
• USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources Research Unit

NGO Partners

• Audubon Rockies
• Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
• Defenders of Wildlife
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Humane Society of the United States
• Mule Deer Foundation
• National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
• National Wild Turkey Federation
• The Nature Conservancy
• Private Grazing Lands Council
• Sand County Foundation
• Sonoran Institute
• World Wildlife Fund
• WY Wildlife Federation

Private Partners

• Arch Coal
• Buckskin Mining Company
• EMRI
• Fritz Knopf
• Great Plains Wildlife Consulting
• Navajo Transitional Energy Company
• Numerous agricultural producer members
• Peabody Energy
• Wyoming Wildlife Consultants