Chris Linder Photography

A mule deer struggles in the rapids of the Green River near Pinedale, Wyoming.

Photo Essay » Wyoming RAVE

The photos featured in this essay are on display at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, Wyoming, through summer 2008. For more information about the Wyoming RAVE, visit the ILCP website.

As a visual storyteller, I strive to create photographs that educate and inspire. Too often, wild lands and species are lost before their intrinsic value can be realized. Photographers have an opportunity (I might even say a duty) to show the public what's at stake. Many photographers, like Robert Glenn Ketchum and Nick Nichols, have been actively engaged in conservation photography for years.

Cristina Mittermeier has a greater vision. What if, instead of working independently, the top talent in conservation photography could be banded together into a single organization? In 2005 Cristina and 39 other photographers formed the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP). Since then, the organization has grown into 76 Fellows, Associates, and Emerging Members. I was accepted into the ILCP as an Emerging Member in 2007.

One of the primary tools ILCP photographers have developed is the RAVE, which stands for Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition. The concept is to bring together a strike team of photographers to document an area or topic of critical concern in order to sway public opinion or policy makers. Previous RAVEs have resulted in a halt on development in Balandra, Mexico and suppression of a thriving bushmeat market in Bioko, West Africa. The Wyoming RAVE, focused on the Pinedale area south of Jackson Hole, is the fourth RAVE and the first on US soil.

Bald eagle, Pinedale, Wyoming.

From the ILCP May 1, 2008 Press Release:

Some of the most preeminent nature photographers from all corners of the globe will converge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, May 17th through May 23rd to bring needed attention to a critical environmental crossroad in Wyoming's Upper Green River Valley. "The strength and prestige of the peer group that has been born through the ILCP is nothing short of amazing. I am both humbled and inspired every day. Our combined achievements and the tireless efforts of my colleagues give me reason to hope that things will get better for our beautiful planet...one image at a time." – Cristina Mittermeier, Executive Director of ILCP

Following its annual meeting from May 17-18, the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) will take their cameras and packs on a 3-day expedition called a RAVE. RAVE is a trademarked initiative of the ILCP that stands for Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition. RAVEs address the challenge of modern conservation, which often needs an immediate supply of images, words and research to answer threats of imminent disruption.

This year's RAVE will focus on Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin which has seen some of the most intensively developed gas plays in the United States. Although this expanding development has now diminished air and water resources, wildlife, and the very health of local citizens, the landscape still contains areas of high scenic and ecological value such as the Wyoming Range which the public is trying to safeguard from future development. "We've seen hints that citizens throughout Wyoming are beginning to question the no holds barred rush to industrialize everything in sight," said Peter Aengst of The Wilderness Society. "This RAVE can help fuel that opinion shift by showcasing the impacts of this rush and highlighting those signature areas which can still be spared."

For 72 hours from May 19-21, ILCP photographers will scour the focus area by air and by ground, capturing images that tell the story of the good, the bad, and the ugly of a landscape on the brink of further industrialization. The RAVE culminates Friday in a public exhibit of high quality photographic prints to be introduced at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole. The exhibit, sponsored by Earthjustice, takes place from 4-6pm and ILCP photographers will be present.


Mule deer roadkill. Housing subdivisions, fences, roads, and natural barriers combine to funnel migrating wildlife through a chokepoint known as Trapper's Point. The result is migrating animals crossing a very busy stretch of highway, which yields fatal results.

I focused my efforts on an area north of Pinedale known as Trapper's Point. This is where migrating pronghorn antelope and mule deer are funneled across a busy highway by housing developments, fences, and natural barriers. I joined Joe Riis, a recent graduate of the University of Wyoming who was just beginning a long-term project to document the pronghorn migration. Our predawn stakeout on the north bank of the Green River yielded the shot of a mule deer crossing the Green River (top). My favorite image was one I had been thinking about all day--a roadkill casualty in the dangerous (for wildlife) Trapper's Point area. Having found the right animal (a mule deer close to the edge of the road) it was just a matter of waiting until the light had faded--not quite darkness, with a hint of blue in the sky. Then I set up my D300 on a tripod, locked the shutter open, and waited for some cars to go by to generate the light streaks. To finish the shot I splashed a little light on the carcass with an SB-800 strobe.

The result is a picture that tells a story about man's fatal interaction with wildlife at Trapper's Point. Other ILCP photographers photographed the Wyoming Range, natural gas fields, and private ranch lands. At the end of the week, an exhibit sponsored by EarthJustice and Rich Clarkson's Photography at the Summit Workshops was opened at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson. The three images in this photo essay are all part of the exhibit. The show will remain on the walls through summer 2008. Read more about the RAVE, the issues, and outcomes on the ILCP Wyoming RAVE web page.