Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

We’re looking for the right person to fill a major gifts officer role. This person will connect people with our conservation work: cultivating relationships, inspiring bold giving and turning generosity into lasting change for nature. Learn more and apply at y2y.bamboohr.com/careers/41

This year’s Earthshot Prize nominees include applying the science of positive tipping points. This is the first time this criteria has been included and it's meant to identify solutions capable of unlocking wider environmental transformation:

The Yellowstone to Yukon region is home to species that have persisted since the last Ice Age, including grizzly bears, wolves, wolverines, lynx and caribou. Our goal is to give these animals the room they need to roam, feed, find mates and raise their young.

Applications are open for the 2027 Sarah Baker Memorial Fund. Grad students and postdoctoral fellows at Canadian institutions working on conservation-related research projects that advance Y2Y’s mission and vision are eligible. Up to $5k available; apply by Nov. 26, 2026. Details at y2y.net/grants/

Out today: new research shows both recreation and roads affect wolverine populations in Canada's Rocky Mountains and Columbia Mountains. Sharing the snow – outdoor recreation and roads reduce the density of a rare carnivore > doi.org/10.1016/j.bi... This research was supported by Y2Y and others.

Our next biweekly edition of Conservation News, with headlines, research and events from across the Yellowstone to Yukon region, comes out on Wednesday. There's still time to subscribe! Preview and sign up now:

What if animals and their habitat could stay connected on the mountains that span North America? We're trying to make that happen: #EarthOptimism #Earthshot

Y2Y is one of 15 finalists for the @Earthshot Prize 2026 — recognized for 30 years of reconnecting the world’s largest mountain system, from Yellowstone to Yukon. This is also recognition of our more than 800 partners. Learn about why this recognition matters: y2y.net/earthshot

You can make Dene K’éh Kusān a reality. Protect British Columbia’s largest intact wilderness. Join 30,000 others — one signature for every 100 hectares — and add your name to protect it for good.

The first article from the latest round of Biodiversity Reporting Grants from the Sitka Foundation has been published. By @tjanepalmer.bsky.social. Looking at the conservation and connectivity work of @y2y.bsky.social in the Rockies. news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-...

📢 Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society is hiring a Restoration Director to lead their multi-year caribou habitat restoration program in Klinse-Za Park, BC. Hybrid, $90-120K, closes Aug 20. Amazing opportunity!

Seaplane pilot Byran Swansberg shares his view of B.C. from the air, and his opinion on how we can do more to save this incredible province's wild places.

According to a local expert, Haines Junction is one of Yukon's most tolerant communities when it comes to coexisting with grizzly bears. Good news, since it's in one of Yukon's densest grizzly bear corridors. Indigenous Knowledge and decades of prevention are helping people and bears coexist.

Dene K’éh Kusān is the beating heart of the Yellowstone to Yukon region. This vast wilderness is in northern B.C. near Yukon: remote, wild, yet welcoming. And now, it's being considered for protection. Join others in supporting Kaska First Nations. Send your comments to the gov't by Aug 4:

If proposed coal mine exploration and development in Alberta’s #EasternSlopes proceeded, there are few water basins in our province that wouldn’t be in some way impacted ⚠️ The health of our #AlbertaWater CANNOT be the collateral damage of the coal industry’s inability to operate responsibly ⛰️

Do something small to save something big. On July 29, join a virtual action party to fill out a survey and support Dene Kʼéh Kusān, a proposed Indigenous protected area in northern B.C. Help conserve the province's largest intact wilderness! RSVP:

In Victoria, B.C., on July 23? Join us for a special screening of the film Dene K'éh Kusān: Always Will Be There. A Q&A on what’s next and how you can get involved with Y2Y's Tim Burkhart and Michelle Miller of the Dena Kayeh Institute follows. Tickets are free. RSVP now:

Wildlife crossings are gaining global momentum and rare nonpartisan support. Journalist @bengoldfarb.bsky.social joins @mikedigirolamo.bsky.social at the Mongabay Newscast to discuss how these structures are helping protect threatened wildlife, and improving genetic diversity. 🎧️ Listen now 👇️

"Keeping [migration] paths intact in general is important to give the animals options to respond. As we chip away at that behavior, we’re chipping away at the ability to have large numbers of ungulates on the landscape.” - @claytontlamb.bsky.social therevelator.org/deer-caribou...

From a wild idea to supporting wildlife movement: go inside the journey of wildlife crossings with @bengoldfarb.bsky.social #RoadEcology

The Y2Y region is an example of how nature positive action benefits people and wildlife. In this Frontiers in Science webinar, Y2Y’s cofounder Harvey Locke and coauthors explore how protecting and restoring ecosystems protects human health, food security, freshwater systems and economic stability.

A new scientific impact paper shows southern mountain caribou habitat in B.C. is still being destroyed. Without laws that require protection of critical habitat on provincial land, that habitat remains officially protected on paper, but is disappearing in reality. doi.org/10.1111/csp2...

Our president and chief scientist Dr. Jodi Hilty took the TEDx Planet Action stage at MIT asking people to rethink conservation. Watch to see what's possible when we give wildlife room to roam.

Next Saturday, Jun. 27, join us for "Grassy Mountain and the Threat of Coal" with @y2y.bsky.social's Nicole Olivier + AWA conservation specialists. This steep but rewarding hike is in the vicinity of the proposed Grassy Mountain coal mine. Sign up now: www.albertawilderness.ca/product/adve...

Every December, the team at Quest Nature Tours chooses a charity to support with a holiday donation…and last year, Y2Y was selected! Learn about some of the ways that you can support this ecological gem: y2y.net/blog/nature-...

Imagine a wild area the size of Switzerland full of ancient forests, meadows, clear rivers, moose, grizzly bears, migratory songbirds, and woodland caribou that sustained Indigenous communities for millennia. This is the Dene K’éh Kusān IPCA proposal in northern B.C. Learn more:

Camping is surging in popularity in the Yellowstone to Yukon region. This means campers are often in prime grizzly bear country. That's why we're helping Hipcamp hosts to make their properties bear-smart. Learn more:

BC is home to the world's only deep-snow caribou, which are disappearing. Now Syilx Okanagan Nation is asking Canada to issue an emergency order to protect 3 herds. My story for @thetyee.ca today www.thetyee.ca/News/2026/06... #biodiversity

Somewhere in southeastern B.C.’s Elk Valley, a grizzly bear follows a creek in an old growth forest, through land that will never be subdivided, logged, or lost…because of you. Learn more: y2y.net/blog/you-mad...

We made a lot of connections in 2025! The new Osburn wildlife overpass is one of 204 crossing structures currently bridging the Yellowstone to Yukon landscape, with more on the way! Learn more about how we’re working to connect this unique region: y2y.net/2025 Photo: Idaho Fish and Game.

Did you know? Forests and wild lands in the Yellowstone to Yukon region suck up a huge amount of carbon every year — the same amount produced by about 20 million cars!

Our president and chief scientist, Dr. Jodi Hilty shares reflections from 2025 in our latest impact report. More from Jodi: y2y.net/blog/room-fo...

In 2025, we contributed $1.45M to projects advancing a connected Yellowstone to Yukon region where wildlife and communities thrive together. This shared vision is powered by hundreds of communities, diverse perspectives, and your support. Thank you!

In 1993, grizzly bear populations in the lower 48 were separated by 150 mi (240 km) — isolated, vulnerable, and in trouble. Today, that gap has shrunk to just 45 mi (72 km). What once seemed impossible is now within sight. This is what conservation can do when we work together.

As our Communities and Conservation team grows, so does our work helping people and wildlife share space more peacefully across the Yellowstone to Yukon region — through education, practical tools, and on-the-ground support. Read more about some of these solutions:

204 wildlife crossings. 45,000 hectares conserved. Grizzly bear habitat gaps shrinking. And that's just the beginning. Our 2025 Impact Report is here — see how we're reconnecting wild landscapes and helping people and wildlife thrive together across the Yellowstone to Yukon region.

Buffalo Lessons is the story of what happened when conservationist Karsten Heuer — our former president — and a dedicated team worked with Indigenous Nations to bring plains bison back to Banff National Park after 150 years away. Available now greystonebooks.com/products/buf...

The future of conservation is connected, collaborative, and ambitious. By thinking big and working together across borders, ecosystems, and communities, we can all rise to meet conservation challenges.

Join us, Forest Futures Canada and partners for an important conversation on advancing a Nature Positive future — one that halts and reverses biodiversity loss while supporting human well-being. It's June 8, online and free. Register: uottawa-ca.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Achieving our vision across the Yellowstone to Yukon region requires deep and ongoing collaboration. Our our history we've worked with Indigenous governments, NGOs, local communities, biologists, businesses, and government agencies to advance large-landscape conservation. 2025 was no different:

Our 2025 impact report is here! From major strides closing the gap for grizzly bears in the southern Canadian Rockies to the completion of wildlife crossings and new land protections to important community coexistence projects, with your support, Y2Y is building something remarkable. Dive in:

"A new study has found that when deforestation and land use change break up key habitats vital to amphibian life cycles, those disconnects can play havoc with the animals’ microbiome, leaving them more susceptible to disease." news.mongabay.com/2026/04/link...

We're hiring — yes, again 💛 Our small team is growing, and shifting to make room for new faces, as current staff take parental leave! Learn more and apply at cpaws-southernalberta.org/careers/inte... 🦉 #Calgary #CalgaryJobs #Alberta #AlbertaJobs #Science #Conservation #Education #OutdoorEd #DEI

Animal tracking and Earth observations work together wonderfully 🦅

After 150 years, wild bison are back in Banff. "Buffalo Lessons," the final book by conservationist and Y2Y president Karsten Heuer, tells the inside story of how it happened. Join us and his long time collaborator, spouse & filmmaker Leanne Alison May 14 in Corvallis, MT to hear more. RSVP:

May 1 is #NorthAmericanBadgerDay and we're celebrating these ecosystem engineers! In a Nature Alberta guest article, Y2Y's manager of communities & conservation, Nikki Heim, shares why badger conservation and coexistence are vital for ecosystem health. naturealberta.ca/Badgers/ 📽️ USFWS