UW Receives Major Gift to Support Conservation Across Wyoming With Initial Focus on Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

The University of Wyoming has announced a major gift from Joe Ricketts’ Jackson Fork Ranch that will support environmental stewardship and conservation across Wyoming, with an initial focus on the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

The substantial donation will fund the Jackson Fork Ranch-University of Wyoming Research Project, which will support the university’s conservation and biodiversity research throughout Wyoming. It will help to increase public awareness of the unique value of biodiversity in the state and will promote the importance of environmental stewardship as an enduring value.

This financial commitment is timely because the wide range of biodiversity in Wyoming is not well studied, especially those lesser-known species that have a disproportionately large impact on ecosystem function and biodiversity.

Hey I know who you’re talking about and it starts with a ‘B’ right? I suppose if you’re in Wyoming you might care about biodiversity because you want there to be more big game and ducks to hunt. I wouldn’t get distracted with that argument rght now. Eyes on the prize. We all want more beavers around, Let’s start there.

— The first will focus on small- and medium-sized mesocarnivores, which form an important but poorly known component of the state’s fauna and food web.

— A second focus area will be the ecosystem impact of American beavers.

— A third study will examine the impact of red squirrels on forest biodiversity. These conspicuous animals store food for winter in large piles of conifer cones and feeding debris called middens. These are biodiversity hotspots for small mammals, birds and insects.

— Finally, the project will study golden eagles, an iconic avian predator across the western United States. The project will assess the distribution and productivity of these birds by intensive survey routes and the identification and observation of nest sites.

Okay, if I were you I would take all that money you are sliding into category 1, 3, and 4 and put it into section two. Beavers are as far as you need to look searching for species that impact biodiversity. Let the make more of everything first. And then you’ll have more to study down the line.

Beginning in 2023, this research will increase the understanding of biodiversity throughout Wyoming by engaging outstanding UW researchers; training the next generation of wildlife conservation biologists; and sharing the research results with the world. This also will grow sustainable conservation tourism in the region.

“This is such an exciting, generous and forward-thinking gift that fosters collaboration to learn more about our lesser-known but impactful wildlife species across the wild and working lands of Wyoming,” says John Koprowski, dean of the UW Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. “The stories that will be revealed promise to inform our conservation and management strategies and to capture the imagination of Wyomingites and our many visitors.”

The Jackson Fork Ranch and the Ricketts Conservation Foundation work with private and public agencies to study, protect and enhance the populations of at-risk species while working to understand how lands can be sustainably managed for the future.

Joe Ricketts is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. Don’t you wish you could be an philanthropist and donate millions to the university of your choice influencing science and ecology for years to come? You know just last year  I was approached by a woman wanting to start a beaver festival in Jackson Hole. I think she should definitely approach the Ricketts Conservation foundation to get started! This was from Montanaast year but you get the idea…