Yellowstone, the Western TV drama that for five seasons has been one of Paramount Network’s most popular shows, aired its finale in December. But while the fictional show drew on the natural beauty of a Montana ranch at the border of a national landmark, the real Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is under siege from developers and a surging human population that’s putting America’s natural splendour at risk.

Yellowstone National Park covers 2.2 million acres, stretching across Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. And whilst the park itself is off-limits to developers, in the 20 counties that surround Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park – known together as Greater Yellowstone – construction projects are feverishly underway to erect new houses, commercial facilities and other infrastructure to keep up with the region’s surging population growth.

Over the last four decades, the combined population of these 20 counties has jumped by 75%, from 307,000 people in 1982 to well over half a million in 2022.

This surging growth and development is threatening Greater Yellowstone’s stunning but vulnerable ecosystem. Many species of large mammals, including bison, elk and bighorn sheep, migrate in and out of the national parks and forests. These animals depend on habitats on private lands that were once wild, or at least open spaces, including farms and ranches, which are increasingly being turned into housing estates and shopping venues. These lower-elevation habitats are crucial for wildlife during the punishing winter months.

As a result of rapid development, Greater Yellowstone’s migration corridors are already partially obstructed, leaving wildlife increasingly vulnerable to disease, traffic accidents, water pollution and other threats.

Unless policymakers can find ways to control ‘runaway developments’ in a smarter and more sustainable way, the future of Yellowstone may be bleak. Based on U.S. Census Bureau data and demographic projections from the analytics platform ProximityOne, the population of the counties surrounding Yellowstone is projected to increase by another 225,000 people by 2060. Based on recent development patterns, that would mean an additional 200,000 acres or more would need to be developed to accommodate these new residents.

The findings are sad, but predictable. Population growth in the 20 surrounding counties accounts for two-thirds of land lost to development. The other third was lost to changing land consumption patterns such as extending existing houses, paving longer driveway across bigger lots, and spreading low-density development across more of the landscape.

There is also a roll-on effect from national population growth, once driven by high fertility rates, now driven by high immigration rates.

The combination of population growth and sprawl poses a dire threat to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, increasing the human footprint on the region’s remaining farmland and wild lands.

If future generations are to see bison and bighorn sheep instead of shopping malls when they visit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, urgent steps need to be taken to preserve not just the famous parks, but their surrounding counties too.

At the time of writing, the population of the United States sits at approximately 346.390 million, a 23 per cent increase since 2000. The fertility rate (average number of births per mother) is currently at 1.62.

Submitted by Friends of Retha


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