Each spring and fall, hundreds of pronghorn antelope migrate between their summer habitat in Grand Teton National Park to their winter range in the Green River Valley of southwestern Wyoming. The pronghorn is an icon of the American West, first celebrated by explorers Lewis and Clark. It’s the fastest land mammal in North America, with a top running speed of about 55 miles per hour.

The pronghorns’ 200-mile migration route is the longest land migration in the Lower 48 states — and one of the most difficult. Not only must the animals traverse rough terrain, scaling heights and crossing water along their way, but they also must cross subdivisions, highways and private ranchland. Bottlenecks — areas where human development and natural changes in the terrain  squeeze the pronghorns’ route — make the journey even harder.

We’ve helped ease the path for the pronghorn by permanently protecting one of three major bottlenecks, a 3,409-acre swath of private land on the Carney Ranch, from future development

Our Role

Working with a dedicated group of partners, we helped the Carney family establish a conservation easement on a very significant portion of their property. The easement not only will ensure that the pronghorns’ migration path is protected, but also that the property will continue to be available for ranching and wildlife use.

The Conservation Fund purchased the easement using funding from the Acres for America program, a partnership established between Walmart and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Jonah Interagency Office, Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative, the Wyoming Wildlife & Natural Resources Trust and the Nature Conservancy, through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, provided additional funding for the easement. The Carneys also made a significant donation to the project.

Why This Project Matters

Located amid some of the most ecologically important lands in the southern part of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, the easement links significant wildlife habitat between the Bridger-Teton National Forest and other privately protected areas while safeguarding the Carneys ranching livelihood. The land we helped protect features a variety of habitat including 25 glacial-pothole wetland ponds and more than 2 miles of frontage on the Green River. It provides ideal seasonal habitat for elk, moose, mule deer, greater sage grouse and trumpeter swan.