Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

06/04/2026

For thousands of years, bison shaped the land and the cultures of the people who lived alongside them. Then settlers hunted them nearly to extinction.

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.

It's a story full of wonder, unexpected lessons, and hard truths about what it really means to give nature space to heal.

Find your copy, published by , at your favorite bookseller or library.

06/03/2026

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.

Y2Y works to advance conservation by partnering with diverse communities to connect and protect this vast, ever-changing mountain region. To guide our conservation efforts, we draw from the best available information, including from natural and social sciences as well as local and Indigenous knowled...

05/28/2026

Achieving our vision across the Yellowstone to Yukon region requires deep and ongoing collaboration.

Since 1993, Y2Y has partnered with more than 800 groups, including Indigenous governments, NGOs, local communities, biologists, businesses, and government agencies, to advance large-landscape conservation.

In 2025, here are just some of the impactful partnerships we were proud to be part of:

Achieving our vision across the Yellowstone to Yukon region — spanning the Yukon in Canada to Wyoming in the U.S. and at least 75 Indigenous territories — requires deep and ongoing collaboration. Here are just some of the impactful partnerships we are proud to be a part of in 2025.

05/20/2026

Hear from award-winning science journalist Hillary Rosner in Bozeman on May 28 as she discusses her book ROAM: Wild Animals and the Race to Repair Our Fractured World. ROAM is the inspiring story of reconnecting ecosystems, restoring wildlife corridors, and reimagining a future where humans and animals can thrive together.

Y2Y is co-sponsoring the event with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation at Country Bookshelf on Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 pm. The evening will wrap up with a book signing and an audience Q&A featuring a panel of local conservation experts, including Daniel Anderson, Y2Y's Senior Outreach Specialist for Wildlife Passage.

More details: https://largelandscapes.org/roam-book-tour/

05/14/2026

Wildlife crossings in action!

A curious herd of bighorn sheep were spotted using the Radium Wildlife Overpass near Radium, B.C.

Alongside the overpass, 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) of wildlife fencing helps direct bighorn sheep and other wildlife such as cougars, deer, and bears safely over the highway. Crossings like this reduce collisions between wildlife and vehicles, making busy roads safer for animals and people.

Photo credit: Johanne Audet

05/13/2026

We made a lot of connections in 2025!

Like other crossings, the new Osburn wildlife overpass in north Idaho connects key habitats, helps wildlife access food and mates, and reduces collisions between wildlife and vehicles on this busy stretch of highway. Y2Y is proud to have partnered with the community, Idaho Transportation Department, and other partners to bring this project to life.

This crossing 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.

05/06/2026

Our 2025 Impact Report is here!

2025 was another big year in the Y2Y region—we saw major strides in closing the gap for grizzlies in the southern Rockies, the completion of several vital wildlife crossings, new protections for land throughout the region, and important community coexistence projects.

With your support, Y2Y is building something remarkable. Learn more about the wild and wonderful stories you helped bring to life at y2y.net/2025

05/06/2026

After 150 years of absence, wild bison are back in the Rockies — and the inside story of how that happened is extraordinary.

"Buffalo Lessons," the final book by conservationist, biologist and former Y2Y president Karsten Heuer, chronicles one of the most ambitious wildlife conservation projects in North American history: the 2017 reintroduction of plains bison to Banff National Park.

Once pushed to the brink of extinction, these iconic animals were returned to their ancestral home and Heuer was there for all of it, capturing the delicate tension between human intervention and untamed wilderness.

Completed just before Heuer's death in 2024, the book stands as a remarkable final testament from someone who spent his life fighting for wild places and the creatures that inhabit them.

If you're near Montana's Bitterroot Valley on May 14, hear from his long time collaborator and surviving spouse, filmmaker Leanne Alison, at a book tour and film event hosted by Y2Y and Chapter One Book Store at the Teller Wildlife Barn in Corvallis.

RSVP:
https://chapter1bookstore.com/event/2026-05-14/buffalo-lessons-and-iniskim-return-buffalo-film-screening-and-book-discussion

05/04/2026

How do animals navigate our changing world? A new animation reveals the epic movements of wildlife across the Yellowstone-to-Yukon region — from caribou migrations to continental bird flights.

Understanding the movements of species is crucial for advancing large-scale conservation by creating interconnected landscapes and wildlife corridors at the scale nature needs.

Watch the short film:

1 like. "Room to Roam: How Tracking Data Guides Conservation Action"

05/01/2026

May 1 is National Badger Day and we're here to share a few reasons why you might want to celebrate.

Don't let their shy, wary nature fool you...badgers are one of the most unsuspected keystone predators of the native prairie. Badgers are expert excavators, churning soils and nutrients that support healthy grassland ecosystems and create systems that house many at-risk species. They also are part of a predator complex native to our grassland ecosystems such as snakes, coyotes, and raptors.

These expert excavators dig sprawling burrow webs that aerate soils, cycle nutrients, and shelter at-risk species across our grasslands. But their impact doesn't stop underground. Badgers are voracious hunters and can take down up to three ground squirrels a day and slashing local rodent populations by 50%. And when they team up with a coyote? Even more.

Like wolves balancing elk, badgers naturally help to keep native prairie ecosystems in check. Supporting these unsuspected predators and allies means healthier grasslands and a powerful alternative to using poisons in their habitat like strychnine.

Learn more and take action for badgers:

More than Big Holes! Take Action:Sign a Petition to Protect Badgers from Secondary Poisoning Learn how badgers play a vital role in grassland health. Photo credit: Dragomir Vujnovic Badgers are indicators of grassland and range health, improving species biodiversity and ecosystem services. Badger bu...