The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, or Y2Y, is a nonprofit organization that works across the borders of Canada and the United States. Its goal is to connect and protect a 2,100-mile (3,400-kilometer) area stretching from Yellowstone National Park to the Yukon Territory in Canada. This region includes parts of the Rocky Mountains in North America. Y2Y’s mission is to keep and fix habitats and help animals move safely between areas. It is the only group focused on protecting the long-term health of this region.

Since 1993, more than 700 groups have worked together to support Y2Y’s mission. These groups include conservation organizations, government agencies, Indigenous leaders, landowners, scientists, planners, businesses, and others who care about protecting wildlife, natural processes, and wild areas in the Rocky Mountains.

Current national, state, and provincial parks and wilderness areas form the base of this protection network. New protected areas and special management zones are added to create complete connections between these spaces. This system is built using ideas from conservation science, studies on key animal species, knowledge from local and traditional communities, and the need for economies that can last over time.

Primary role

Y2Y works across 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) to protect important wildlife habitats, make sure these habitats are connected, and encourage others to do similar work.

The organization looks at local problems that affect the whole region. It uses a method called landscape-scale conservation, which means working across large areas, such as entire watersheds, to manage and take action.

Y2Y works with hundreds of groups in the Rocky Mountains, including conservation organizations, landowners, businesses, government agencies, Indigenous governments, scientists, and local communities. Their goal is to bring people together to support large-scale land conservation that protects wildlife habitats, meets human needs, creates paths for animals to move freely, and helps nature and people live together.

History

Between 1991 and 1993, Pluie, a wolf wearing a radio collar in southern Alberta, moved more than 40,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) and covered an area 10 times the size of Yellowstone National Park and 15 times the size of Banff National Park. Pluie crossed more than 30 different areas controlled by governments, including three states, two provinces, private lands, and First Nations territories. Pluie was legally hunted and killed south of Kootenay National Park in December 1995.

Research on Pluie’s movements showed that wildlife needs larger areas than scientists had previously thought. This research highlighted the importance of connecting large sections of habitat along the Rocky Mountains to help wildlife and wild spaces remain healthy in the future. Other animals, such as lynx, cougars, golden eagles, and bull trout, have also been recorded traveling more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers). These discoveries helped people understand the size of areas needed for nature to thrive and led to the idea behind Y2Y.

The Yellowstone-to-Yukon region is one of the largest wildlife corridor projects in North America. Since 1993, Yellowstone to Yukon conservationists have worked to create safe paths for animals across highways, tracked wolverines, and purchased over 500,000 acres of land to protect wildlife movement routes.

The mission and model of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative have inspired other similar projects, including:

• The Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative, which connects lands and people from Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, to the Adirondacks in New York State
• The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative in Australia, which connects reserves along 2,235 miles (3,597 kilometers) of the Great Eastern Ranges
• Two Countries-One Forest, which connects the Northern Appalachian-Acadian ecoregions of Canada and the United States
• The Baja to Bering Marine Initiative, which connects areas from Baja, California, to the Bering Sea off the Pacific Coast of North America.

Priorities

To work effectively across a large area that spans many regions and includes many challenges and opportunities, Y2Y explains that its mission requires using several different methods.

The organization focuses on projects in three main areas: protecting natural landscapes, connecting landscapes to support wildlife movement, and helping communities and conservation efforts. These areas are supported by science, Indigenous knowledge, and work with government and policy. Y2Y’s goals for 2030 include:

• Landscape protection: Protect 30% of the Yellowstone to Yukon region.
• Landscape connection: Protect four important paths for wildlife by helping animals move safely across busy roads and encouraging landowners to protect their land.
• Communities and conservation: Help communities use tools and methods that meet the needs of both nature and people across the Yellowstone to Yukon region.
• Policy and government relations: Work with communities and leaders to create positive change in the Yellowstone to Yukon region. Support Y2Y’s vision and shared goals by promoting strong laws and practices that protect nature at all levels of government, including Indigenous, federal, state, provincial, territorial, and global.
• Science and Indigenous knowledge: Use the most reliable information, including science and knowledge from Indigenous and local communities, to guide conservation efforts in the Yellowstone to Yukon region.

Conservation achievements

From 1993 to 2018, the efforts of Y2Y and its partners led to an 80.5% increase in the growth of important protected areas. During the same time, protected areas in the Yellowstone to Yukon region increased by 7.8% and covered an additional 41,424 miles (107,290 kilometers).

Studies show the Yellowstone to Yukon region contains the world’s most complete and least developed mountain system, with 15.6% of the land protected. These protected areas are based on the IUCN protected area categories.

In popular culture

The story of Pluie the wolf inspired a story on the TV show The West Wing. In season 1, episode "The Crackpots and These Women," a character played by Nick Offerman suggests building an "1,800-mile wolves-only roadway" to White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg.

Photography and media

In 2005, Karsten Heuer wrote a book titled Walking the Big Wild: From Yellowstone to the Yukon on the Grizzly Bears' Trail. The book described the wildlife biologist and park warden’s 18-month journey with his dog from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to the Canadian Yukon. He traveled by hiking, skiing, and paddling across mountains, forests, and rivers.

In 2011, an exhibition called Yellowstone to Yukon: the Journey of Wildlife and Art was created by the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, artist Dwayne Harty, cofounder Harvey Locke, and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. The exhibition included images, art, and stories from the Yellowstone-to-Yukon region. It was later published as a book.

A 2016 episode of Nova titled Wild Ways highlighted the work of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. The episode explained how newly created wildlife corridors provide hope for endangered species around the world.