Preserving Wildlife and Wild Places

The Yellowstone to Yukon region is one of the last remaining areas in the Lower 48 that still holds species that lived on the land before widespread settlement. This includes large predators like grizzly bears and wolves, sensitive wilderness species like wolverines, and last remaining holdouts like mountain caribou.

It would be impractical to develop individual conservation strategies for all species that inhabit the Y2Y mountain region. This is why Y2Y has developed its unique umbrella approach, focusing on  three, all-encompassing, large-landscape-scale strategies. Each strategy is designed around the premise that by understanding and acting on the needs of keystone species, other species will also be positively impacted. 

Here is a brief summary of Y2Y’s large-landscape-scale strategies:

• The Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy uses grizzly bears – large mammals with  specific and extensive needs – to develop and implement a wide-ranging set of conservation activities that will at the same time serve other terrestrial animals, including wolverine, lynx, caribou, and moose.
  
  
• Twenty focal bird species, representing both resident and migrant species, form the center of our Avian Conservation Strategy.  These focal species include the long-billed curlew, ruffed grouse, and golden eagle.
  
  
• The Aquatic Conservation Strategy focuses on fish and watershed health.  We use native cutthroat and bull trout as indicator species to measure the status of rivers in the Y2Y region. 

The goal of each strategy is to help maintain and restore key areas of habitat as well as corridors for connectivity. Within this goal, Y2Y seeks to ensure that wildlife populations remain genetically viable throughout the landscape, as well as harmoniously coexisting with human communities.