Status
An important part of our work involves publicly advocating for the restoration of degraded watersheds, intact ecosystems, and wildlife habitat connectivity. We are helping empower citizens to get involved with these efforts. In 2017 we conducted our first Successful Activism Training featuring presentations from PhD Psychologist Dr. David Christian and non-profit lobbying expert Stacey Frisk. The training helped introduce forty people to methods for interacting and working with decision makers. Whether you are lobbying politicians, communicating with public lands managers, or partnering with private landowners, it is important to have the tools to foster working relationships with individuals and groups from differing backgrounds. In January of 2018, Y2U hosted the second annual Successful Activism Training at Squatters Brewery in Salt Lake City. The sold-out event was a huge success thanks to the hard work of our staff and speakers at the event. We are proud to have welcomed back Dr. David Christian who spoke for the second time with us on a communication technique known as Motivational Interviewing. We have been using this training in our work since 2016 to create working relationships with agency staff and various other stakeholders. During the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Utah State Legislative Sessions, Y2U lobbied against Bear River Development and for SB 151 which would reduce the State's property tax subsidization of water use. Utah uses more water than any other state in the nation due to the perceived low cost. Utah needs to move to a higher tier rate system that encourages conservation. In September 2019, Y2U sponsored and tabled at the Peoples Energy Summit in Salt Lake City. Also, in September of this year Y2U participated in the Patagonia Enviro Fair in Salt Lake City. In March of 2020, Dr Carter and his colleagues at Wild Utah Project published the Spatial Analysis of Livestock Grazing and Forest Service Management in the High Uintas Wilderness, Utah which can be found here: https://www.yellowstoneuintas.org/images/pdfs-doc/UintaSheep_SpatialAnalysis_JGIS_03_20_2020.pdf
Work Plan
- Y2U will continue to host the Successful Activism workshops.
- Dr. Carter is producing articles about the Corridor and, in particular, the phosphate mining industry for publication in national and regional media outlets. See the latest example here.
- Due to the Bayer Co. recent purchase of Monsanto and our involvement in their Caldwell Canyon Mine, a German business magazine also spent a day with Dr. Carter at the mine site and Kieshas Preserve to write an article which was published in Germany.
- Y2U continues to submit Op Eds and subject material to media outlets with regard to the Yellowstone to Uintas Connection corridor. See Dr. Carters recent article about the sheep industry abandoning their Pyrenees herd dogs here.
Expected Outcome
Continue our lobbying efforts, activism trainings, and awareness campaigns to raise public involvement in conservation and expand public awareness of environmental issues. Y2U will continue to archive monitoring reports, literature reviews, research papers, and presentations on our web page for other activists and conservation professionals to use: https://www.yellowstoneuintas.org/resources
