Since 1993, we’ve been committed to a big, bold idea.
It was in the early 1990s that scientific research showed wildlife needed larger areas than biologists thought. Conservationists involved in those early days knew connecting and protecting large sections of habitat along the spine of the Rocky Mountains was the best way to ensure we would have wildlife and wild spaces thriving into the future.
Read more about Pluie the wolf and the research that kickstarted Y2Y.
In the beginning the idea seemed too impossible to be true, too big a dream, but in the years since, we’ve continued to make incredible progress.
We are thrilled that Y2Y’s efforts, its widespread collaboration and the scale it works on has inspired many similar initiatives across landscapes and seascapes.
Starting in Canmore, Alberta, our work expanded to focus on several thematic areas ranging from making roads safer for both human travel and wildlife movement to habitat restoration and beyond.
Our mission only exists thanks to people and strong partnerships — something we’re grateful for. Learn more about our approach and current projects.
“In the summer of 1993 a 14–day walking traverse of the Willmore Wilderness Park north of Jasper National Park, followed immediately by a horse trip in the wild Northern Rockies of British Columbia made it clear to me that there is one gigantic linear ecosystem that extends from Yellowstone to the Yukon.
“By a campfire above Keily Creek in the heart of what is now called the Muskwa–Kechika, I pulled out a pen and began writing on a topographic map. I wrote the words ‘Yellowstone to Yukon’ for the first time with the conviction that this was the right scale at which to think and act.”
— Harvey Locke, one of Y2Y’s founders
Science guides enduring conservation
Over our history we have compiled, conducted and commissioned dozens of scientific reports that provide the scientific rationale to guide conservation work in the region.
One way we engage with partners is with science. Learn how we work with partners to use scientific evidence, collect and analyze data to inform pressing challenges to conservation.
People make the Y2Y vision happen
The power of the Yellowstone to Yukon vision does not simply lie in its ability to inspire but, more importantly, in its power to connect and empower a network of people dedicated to creating conservation outcomes that stitch it together.
This big, bold vision has attracted hundreds of partners, including but not limited to conservation groups, local landowners, businesses, government agencies, Native Americans and First Nations, scientists, or others, partners are the force behind the Yellowstone to Yukon vision.
We are also proud to have found thousands of donors, funders and supporters along the way. Together, we knit the landscape from one jurisdiction to the next.
Header photo: Delegates from Y2Y’s International Mountain Corridors Conference: Protecting the World’s Mountain Corridors and Peace Parks, Waterton National Park in 2004