Human and Development Statistics

HUMAN SETTLEMENT

• In Montana, Wyoming and Idaho sections of Y2Y, human population has grown from 1.6 to 1.9 million from 1980-95 - a 7% growth rate in the 80's and a 14% growth rate in the 90's.

• In Alberta and BC, population growth in the 1980's was considerably lower - 1.7% and 2.1% respectively.

NATIVE NORTH AMERICANS

• The Y2Y study area straddles the traditional territories of some 31 different Native American tribes.

FORESTRY

• Approximately 590km² of forests are harvested in the Y2Y region each year concentrated onto land base of approximately 400,000km² because only half of the region contains productive forests).

OIL AND GAS WELLS

• An estimated 51,000 oil and natural gas wells have been drilled in the Y2Y study area, 80% along Alberta's eastern slopes.

• Each well requires an average construction of 6.7km of seismic line and 3.2km of road. Therefore, a minimum of 341,700km of seismic line and 163,200km of roads have been constructed in the Y2Y region as a result of oil and gas activities, virtually none have been restored.

• Industry and government studies predict 2.7 times more wells need to be drilled before the year 2015 to maintain current rates of natural gas consumption in North America. That means an additional 137,000 wells drilled, 918,000km of seismic line cut and 438,000km of roads built in the Y2Y region - mostly on the eastern slopes of Wyoming, Montana, Alberta and BC.

ROADS, TRAILS AND LINES

• More than 676,950km of linear disturbance have been built in the Y2Y region (enough to go around the world 16.8 times).

• Of 320 watersheds, only 28 remain entirely roadless.

• Overall road density in the region is 0.54km/km². The US Forestry Service believes grizzly bear habitat effectiveness is reduced to 50% at road densities of 0.8km/km². To reach a goal of 80% grizzly bear potential, the US Forestry Service advocates maintaining road density at less than 0.3km/km².

LIVESTOCK GRAZING

• In 1996, a minimum of 1.5 million animals grazed in the Y2Y region - including 1.2 million cattle, 41,000 horses and 174,000 sheep. Approximately 77% of the grazing occurred in Alberta, 8% in BC and 15% in Montana.

RECREATION AND TOURISM

• In 1996, a total of 77.5 million visitor days were recorded in national and provincial forests in the Y2Y area (41.5 in US, 15 in Alberta and 21 in BC).

• 6.8% of the above use was for hunting, 22.3% for fishing, 18.8% using motorized vehicles, and 6.3% wilderness dependent.

• 10 national parks are included in the Y2Y region. Total number of visitor days in 1996 was 36.9 million - 20.4 million in the seven Canadian parks.

• With the exception of Glacier National Park in Montana, all parks increased visitation between 1988 and 1996. In Canadian parks use increased a staggering 98% over the past decade (skewed by Banff National Park which increased from 0.7 million visitor days in 1988 to 11.3 million in 1996).