Into the Big Empty: Wyoming's Red Desert

Journey into Wyoming's Red Desert, a little known wilderness the size of Denali National Park that brings the steppes of Mongolia to America's backyard. Here, energy companies vie for the desert's riches in a world of 50,000 pronghorn, herds of wild horses and some of the most unforgiving landscapes of the West. Come learn of this place and the struggles to protect it as you travel Into the Big Empty.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Red Desert
• Wyoming's Red Desert
• Big Empty
• Great
• American Desert
• Into the Big Empty
• desert
• American
• west
• pronghorn
• antelope
• mustang
• wild
• horses
• wilderness
• wildlife
• Mongolia
• Rock Springs
• Rawlins
• Colorado
• Morgan
• Heim
• CEJ
• BLM
• land management
• energy
• development
• land use
• conservation
• ILCP
• greater sage grouse
• environment
• LightHawk

[TheNatureFiles]

And for anyone interested. This piece was almost entirely personally funded by a graduate student with degrees in zoology and journalism. I am better at identifying fish, but you can never mistake the gaze of a pronghorn. ; )

[TheNatureFiles]

I wanted to thank all of you for the comments. While some of you think this is blowing drilling impacts out of proportion, others have thought I didn't show enough of the impact. What you see here is neither hard to find nor as graphic as it could be. There is no arguing that energy exploration has been a lot more prevalent than protection in the Red Desert. My goal is that all sides be mindful. The protection proposed would be about 17% of the whole desert, still plenty of room to drill.

[imissmyjerrylicks]

However one feels about Annie Proulx, at least she has made an effort to bring the Red Desert to more people's attention. I wouldn't have known about the Red Desert until I became familiar with her book. I know she's not a conservationist, but she is passionate about it and has brought the Red Desert's plight to a wider audience, and educated us about its history.

[atkach]

I grew up in Wyoming and used to camp down in the Red Desert every now and then. I can tell you that the environmental impact of the oil and gas drilling isn't very significant. Yes, I do agree it needs to be regulated so it doesn't get too out of control, but this video is blowing it way out of proportion. The people who fund these nature videos are usually ultra left wing city dwellers who couldn't tell the difference between an pronghorn and a mule deer lol.

[0475Mike]

Wilderness is a great thing, but we can not run our country on solar and wind power and never will There is a balance and designating this area off limits is not the answer. 

[0475Mike]

Agreed, automated systems would help. I have spent sometime NNE of Rock Springs, very remote, very few people, Disagree with concept of traffic on remote roads hurting wildlife significantly, antelope, elk and deer are not effected by just the roads themselves, obvious auto impacts but are minor. The examples you've shown exhibit the most serious impact by oil and gas companies, most wells are very low impact and have been maintained very well.

[roaringwaterbay]

rawlins is in the red desert, right?

[irdomftlomk]

wow i agree great job i work in the red desert and we are trying and evolving new technology to lessen our impact

[jaddsy]

It's a shame they are letting the oil and gas companies ruin this beautiful desert

[trittles77]

Great work Morgan, beautiful photos, smooth flow, interesting sound bites and I loved the music choice. 5 stars!