Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance receives funding to develop protection policy for Badger-Two Medicine - Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

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Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance receives funding to develop protection policy for Badger-Two Medicine

Hikers cross the South Fork of the Two Medicine River, one of the two namesake streams in the Badger-Two Medicine area of Montana. (Photo: Tony Bynum, Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance)

MEDIA RELEASE | Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative is excited to be working with Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance to support important work to achieve permanent protection of the Badger-Two Medicine area (the Badger) of Montana, a vibrant ecological and cultural landscape in the Crown of the Continent.

The Badger has more than 130,000 acres of roadless wildlands, providing core habitat for grizzly bears and important cultural refuge to the Blackfeet First Nation. Through this partnership, key collaborative work will proceed to appeal further oil and gas development in the area and craft a permanent protection policy so that the public can be inspired to share in the same vision. Amongst an encouraging list of core partners, Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance represents the local community voice for science-driven landscape protection. 

“The Badger is key to the ecological integrity of the whole eastern side of the Crown. Y2Y’s financial and institutional support provides essential resources and capacity that a small organization like ours needs in order to effectively collaborate in building long-term, durable solutions that protect the ecological integrity of this landscape,” says Peter Metcalf, executive director at Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance.   

In 2019, Y2Y distributed a total of $60,000 to support on-the-ground work, building on their 25-year history of large landscape conservation. This funding is made available through Y2Y’s partner grant program and supports work in various communities from Yellowstone to Yukon. Applications for funding must be for a project that supports Y2Y’s vision and mission to protect and connect habitat so that people and wildlife can thrive.  

“We are thrilled to be able to power important conservation work for the 20th year,” says Y2Y’s U.S. program director Kim Trotter. “These dollars will get projects going in the communities they are required in most and help wildlife and people thrive. The Yellowstone to Yukon mission only progresses through collaboration with partners working together in these ways.”   

Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance is a grassroots organization based in East Glacier Park dedicated to the protection, stewardship, and shared enjoyment of the culturally- and ecologically-irreplaceable wild lands of the Badger-Two Medicine and its interconnected ecosystems.