In November, 2020 Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) posted an article on its 2019-2020 partner grant program. Starting off, the article claims for people who live in and around the Island Park area, wild landscapes are the "cornerstone of their lifestyle", then identifying those people with a direct link to the Henry's Fork Wildlife Alliance (HFWA), one of its own inventions.
While Island Park may have seen some changes in tourism over the last year there has been no significant population growth as this Y2Y article claims. However, in red bold lettering, Y2Y makes this claim: "As the only citizens organization devoted solely to protecting healthy wildlife populations in the Upper Henry’s Fork Watershed in Island Park, Idaho, the people of Henry’s Fork Wildlife Alliance are champions for wildlife." How insulting is that? Island Park has been around for generations, long before Y2Y or HFWA came along with their high and mighty notion of being the only ones devoted to the area. It is those who have lived at, and maintained regular summer residencies in Island Park, who have been the ones that have protected the area, not just wildlife, but every aspect of it. In the article, it is identified that HFWA partners with international organizations, in this case the Idaho Chapter of Safari Club International, and with other organizations that don't live in the area, in this case Friends of Camas, for funding that includes Idaho Fish & Game in tracking Pronghorn. Certainly, this will only be used to justify the creation of corridors that will interfere with land use and recreation in Island Park, just as the failed overpass agenda would have. The article finishes up with "the only citizens organization devoted solely to protecting healthy wildlife populations in the Upper Henry’s Fork Watershed in Island Park". Given Y2Y and HFWA are one in the same, it is like watching the Oscars, slapping themselves on the back for a job well done. Y2Y, don't insult Island Park residents who don't belong to your club. They have been around way longer, and know more about the area than either of your groups.
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Making Sense of It All
This blog will help you make sense out of all the information on the website, how it affects IP, our history, and how efforts continue to put IP into various forms of conservation status. Archives
May 2023
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