Wind River Wilderness Alliance

06/23/2022

Excited to get this weekend rolling! How many locals will we see at the Friday night slideshow? (7:00 pm in the Lovatt room….)

Just kickin’ it with the crew before we kick things off this week 🤘

Join us - Wind River Wilderness Alliance, Friends of the Bridger-Teton and Leave No Trace- for some amazing community outreach events that are FREE TO THE PUBLIC!

Tomorrow night at the Lovatt Room is where we will be having a slideshow, snack, drinks, raffles and prizes from 7pm to 9pm.

Peep our stories for the event list!

a room full of people sitting around a table and smiling at the camera

06/20/2022

Don’t miss our kick off Friday night slideshow in the Library Lovatt room THIS Friday! Good photography, food, conversation and raffle prizes! We’ve been working hard to bring you this Hot Spot weekend event, see you there?

Join Friends and partners Wind River Wilderness Alliance and the United States Forest Service as the Subaru/ Leave No Trace team lead a variety of workshops, outreach programs and community events to effort to reduce impacts in the Bridger Wilderness!

June 24th
Wind River Slideshow presentation from Wind River Wilderness Alliance and discussion about the Bridger Wilderness, 7pm at the Lovatt Room, about responsible recreation and tagging responsibly with snacks, beverages, raffle items and prizes!

June 25th
White Pine Interpretive Trail Development team ideation with the USFS and partners to discuss potential designs and signage for an interpretive trail concept, 10am at White Pine Ski & Summer Resort, free to the public!

Summer Soundcheck kick off at 5pm in American Legion park where Friends, Wind River Wilderness Alliance and the USFS will be tabling to a backdrop of live music and food vendors.

Get more info at the link in our bio!

Be there or be square 🙃

05/28/2022

And don't forget: NO CAMPFIRES at all above timberline. (Also: there are still trees above timberline!) Use dead and down fuels only, in a hardened area, with no "duff". Campfires made in or near duff can travel underground and start a forest fire.

05/23/2022

"....the best thing people can do is take a photo and document the location of an artifact and alert a local archaeologist or government entity. Additionally, it is required to inform the Tribal Historic Preservation Office in Riverton."

And DO NOT post the location on social media. We need common sense to keep the wilderness wild.

An analysis of archaeological research focusing on the mass amounts of Native American artifacts in the northern end of the Wind River Range was presented to the public for the first time Tuesday night, May 17, in Pinedale.

03/24/2022

Indeed, lots of folks are making their summer plans…make sure recreating responsibly has a place in your plans!

Spring has sprung in the and we're happy to welcome the sun back into our lives! The snow is melting, the temperatures are rising, and some of you might be starting to plan your summer trips.

Our buddies over at Recreate Responsibly have a few great tips to help you make sure that you're doing right by the forest while you're visiting our neck of the woods - and the great outdoors as a whole! Check it out:

1) Know before you go
2) Plan and prepare
3) Build an inclusive outdoors
4) Respect others
5) Leave no trace
6) Make it better

Visit their website for the complete breakdown of these valuable tips, to share your story, or to see some more resources at the link below!

https://www.recreateresponsibly.org

A shelf of ice overhangs a creek as it melts

03/15/2022

This is excellent news for the Bridger-Teton National Forest! Well done Friends of the Bridger-Teton, we are proud to be partners with you.

WE DID IT!!

Friends of the Bridger-Teton secured $1 million to for visitor education & mitigation in Teton County through our Ambassadors for Responsible Recreation.

What does this mean? We will leverage visitor education & outreach before travel, in Teton County, on Bridger-Teton National Forest, & after travel. This pitch & the financial support will have rippling benefits throughout the forest and beyond.

Thank you for your support. We are excited to continue this work!

Read the full Buckrail Article here: https://buckrail.com/friends-of-the-bridger-teton-awarded-1-million-in-funding/

ID: graphic with this quote from Buckrail Article, "I expect that as a community, we’ll look back on this moment as a true shift in the way we steward our public lands in Teton County. Friends of the Bridger-Teton is thrilled that the Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board stands in support of our efforts and those of our partners to help visitors and residents alike recreate safely and responsibly on our National Forest lands.” - Scott Kosiba, PhD Executive Director

02/18/2022

We are excited to be partners in this endeavor!

In 2019, Bridger-Teton National Forest was announced as a Leave No Trace Hot Spot with a focus on the Blackrock and Jackson Ranger Districts. This year in 2022 we are focusing efforts on the Bridger Wilderness in the Pinedale Ranger District. This area, beloved by many needs that love reciprocated.

“As we travel around the country to educate people on Leave No Trace, we see some of our favorite places deteriorate right before our eyes, year-after-year, due to overuse. Our Hot Spot program aims to target the public spaces that are most impacted. It’s important for us to evaluate the cumulative effect of recreational use and put together solutions to the problems that emerge over time. We educate visitors on Leave No Trace practices to prevent this damage from occurring,” said Haley Toy, a Subaru/Leave No Trace team member. “Most of the damage done to these lands is not done so maliciously or with an intention to harm natural habitats or wildlife. Instead, this happens simply due to lack of information and Leave No Trace education.”

Stay tuned for more on this collaboration with the .s.forestservice, and !

Read more here: https://lnt.org/2022-hot-spots-announced/

{id: a map of the United States details the hot spots for the 2022 year, available to read in the article above}

10/01/2021

"Where she was specifically? True anglers won’t tell you.

The Wind River Mountains is all the association is giving up."

That a girl!

A four-year-old just set the world record in the "Female Smallfry" category for her two-pound golden trout she caught in the Wind River Mountains.

08/04/2021

Friendly reminder! Drones (UAS) are NOT permitted in designated Wilderness areas. They fall under the same regulation that prohibits the use of motorized and mechanized equipment such as motorcycles, bicycles, chainsaws, etc. This is one of the primary components of the Wilderness Act that keeps the WILD in wilderness! (It is the reason those young, tough trail crew kids learn to use primitive tools such as crosscut saws, axes and Pulaski’s to clear, build and maintain trails.) Wilderness is the one place left in the country that was literally designated to NOT progress😊.

What YOU can do:
1) Leave your drone at home. It literally doesn’t belong in the Wilderness. Wilderness is where you go to have a primitive experience, away from the confines of modern life.
2) If you see someone using a drone in the Wilderness, and you feel comfortable approaching them, ask them to stop.
3) If you see a post on social media that was done with a drone in a Wilderness area, report it to Forest Service Law Enforcement. (FYI Forest Service does tend to be swamped with work, so alternately if it is in the Winds, you can bring the post to my attention here, and I will be sure to follow through.)

Thank you for doing YOUR part to keep the Wilderness WILD. The mountains will thank you too🏔.

07/15/2021

Hello world! We are a nascent non-profit organization run by volunteers. After the 2020 summer season, we came together as local citizens concerned about recreational impacts in the Wind River Wilderness. Please join us as we educate and celebrate all things related to the Winds! And since this is social media, I will start with one of our main messages: Tag Your Face, Not The Place! Geotagging photos in social media creates a surge in human traffic, straining habitats unable to absorb crowds and significantly reducing the sense of solitude we expect when in a Wilderness area. The Winds are known for their beauty around every corner, not just a few select places. Feel free to tag with a message of conservation and wilderness ethics, but please don’t place-name beyond that!💙 We are so happy to have you on board!