The Sublette antelope herd is a national treasure, so its “Path of the Pronghorn” migration route should be officially designated and protected, a wildlife biologist said.
But that shouldn’t be done at the cost of shutting down oil and gas leases in the area, an energy landman countered, adding that horizontal drilling technology could keep energy infrastructure out of the herd’s way.
The Path of a Pronghorn is a migration route running between summer range in the Grand Teton area to winter range in the Red Desert.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission will soon decide whether to start the process of designating the Path of the Pronghorn as an officially-recognized wildlife migration route.
Prized Herd
The Path of the Pronghorn is a vital route for thousands of antelope, and leaving it unprotected could have huge consequences, wildlife biologist Rich Guenzel told Cowboy State Daily.
“The Sublette pronghorn herd is a national, if not international, wildlife resource of significance,” said Guenzel.
He worked for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department from 1986 to 2011 and retired as the agency’s Laramie District wildlife biologist.
He’s since become a strong advocate for Wyoming’s antelope. He prefers to call them by their formal name, pronghorn, because they aren’t actually an antelope species.
“Pronghorn populations are less resilient today, given declines in habitat quality, substantial development with barriers to movement, climatic volatility, and other factors,” Guenzel said.
“I am concerned that this amazing migration from Grand Teton National Park down to Interstate 80 could be lost, as well as maintaining the Sublette Pronghorn Herd at publicly desired levels. We need to maintain the full pathway, not just noncontiguous segments,” he added.
Horizontal Drilling Comes Into Play
Studies indicate that antelope will go out of their way to avoid energy sites and other development.
Steven Degenfelder, the land manager for Kirkwood Oil and Gas, told Cowboy State Daily that he questions that assertion.
Superimposing the migration route over a map of energy development in the Jonah Field and Pinedale Anticline shows that the antelope have shared space with energy infrastructure for decades, he said.
“It’s amazing how the main route of migration continues to go through an area that has probably some of the densest drilling Wyoming has ever seen,” he said.
However, horizontal drilling technology allows energy extraction while keeping the antelope’s path clear, he said.
Current technology allows drilling infrastructure to be roughly two miles away from the extraction site. And some energy companies are experimenting with methods that could stretch that distance to four miles, Degenfelder said.
Leases Are Vital
Degenfelder said he recognizes the value of protecting the Path of the Pronghorn, as well as core sage grouse habitat and mule deer migration routes in the Jonah Field/Pinedale Anticline area.
But he’s worried that designating the Path of the Pronghorn as an official migration route would prompt federal agencies to shut down energy development leases on the land they control along the route.
He expressed that concern in a letter sent to the Game and Fish Commission in March.
“In the even the Commission designates the Sublette Antelope Migration Corridor, Kirkwood strongly encourages the Commission to be vocal about the area still being available for oil and gas leasing,” the letter states.
Degenfelder told Cowboy State Daily that everything energy companies do hinges upon access to leases. If leases aren’t available, energy companies won’t be willing to invest time and money into horizontal drilling.
Moreover, if leases are restricted in the Jonah Field/Pinedale Anticline area, companies might go seek leases in other states, he said.
That’s significant, because oil and gas revenues are big part of the Wyoming’s state budget, including funds for wildlife research studies, he said.
The Time Is Now
Guenzel said there is an urgency to getting the Path of the Pronghorn designated, given that President Trump on April 9 issued an executive order sunsetting federal agencies’ regulations governing energy production.
“I also encourage the public to let Gov. Mark Gordon know that they want him to designate the Sublette antelope migration corridor. I think that designation is needed as soon as possible given the recent presidential order of April 9, 2025 sunsetting the vast majority of Federal land management and environmental acts,” he said.
There are a few steps ahead in the process of possibly designating the Path of the Pronghorn.
The matter will go before the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission for consideration during its July meeting.
The commission will then make a recommendation to Gov. Mark Gordon.
If the recommendation is to proceed, Gordon will appoint a working group to delve into the details, although no exact timeframe has been set for that.
That group would then make a final recommendation to Gordon, whether to designate the Path of the Pronghorn.
Even if the designation goes through, it would apply only to the parts of the Path of the Pronghorn that go through public land. It would not affect policy on private property.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
