Thunder Basin Grasslands Prairie Ecosystem Association

Membership in the Association is open to private property owners located in Campbell, Converse, Crook, Niobrara, or Weston Counties in northeastern Wyoming.  Current members of the Association own over 200,000 acres of land within this mixed ownership landscape.  Other lands include Thunder Basin National Grasslands administered by the USDA Forest Service through three local grazing associations, Bureau of Land Management lands, state lands, and additional private lands not currently in the membership of the Association.

The Association was formed in 1999 to address growing concerns about land management within an original 945,000 acre planning landscape.  Of particular interest were management activities related to ranching, coal, coal-bed methane, oil, and gas production and their influences on a number of wildlife species of concern.  The Association was established with the objective of maintaining responsible economic use of the landscape while demonstrating how effective stewardship of natural resources can be provided through voluntary, privately-led, collaborative efforts.

Consequently, the Association has focused its efforts on developing an ecosystem management plan that will address the habitat needs of all species of concern within the landscape while balancing these needs with sustainable economic and social activities.

The ecosystem management plan will provide the science-based information and integration needed to meet these objectives, and will provide the basis for either individual landowners or for a group of landowners to enter into appropriate conservation agreements.  The Association believes a crucial first step is to gain a thorough knowledge and understanding of the ecological characteristics of the planning area prior to developing specific plans, conservation strategies, or agreements.