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Conservation Planning for the Yellowstone to Yukon

The Yellowstone-to-Yukon region follows the mountainous backbone of North America from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem all the way north to where the Rocky Mountains end in the northern Yukon. The region includes some of the most spectacular wilderness in the world and hosts not only a rich diversity of wild habitats and creatures, but also a wide variety of human communities and cultures. The region still supports all of the native carnivores which were here since the last ice age. CERI has worked in this region since we were founded in 1964; studying wildlife populations and working to ensure that they can persist. Frank and John Craighead worked to protect many of the wild rivers in this region through the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. They began the first scientific study of grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park in 1958. And today CERI is still working to use the best scientific data to ensure that grizzly bears and other wildlife will remain for our grandchildren to see.

The Y2Y region is the focus of our Connectivity Projects which range from broad-scale Conservation Area Designs to highway crossing projects.

As a part of our work in this region, CERI has been involved in the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative since its inception in 1993. The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative is a joint Canadian-U.S. network of over 800 organizations, institutions, foundations, and conservation-minded individuals who have recognized the value of working together to restore and maintain the unique natural heritage of the Yellowstone to Yukon region and the quality of life it offers. Combining science and stewardship, Y2Y seeks to ensure that the world- renowned wilderness, wildlife, native plants, and natural processes of the Yellowstone to Yukon region continue to function as an interconnected web of life, capable of supporting all of the natural and human communities that reside within it, for now and for future generations.

We have participated in the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative's Conservation Science Program which has a similar mission: working to provide the large-scale, scientific foundation needed to maintain and restore biodiversity. The Y2Y Science Program believes that maintaining wild habitats that support the long-term survival of native wildlife populations throughout the Yellowstone to Yukon ecoregion, and providing for the continued course of the region's large-scale evolutionary and ecological processes, requires scientific and conservation action at the continental scale.

Although this region has large areas of intact habitat, it is greatly fragmented in some areas, and further fragmentation and habitat loss is accelerating.