Beaver dams slow water, create wetlands that store rain and snowmelt, recharge groundwater, filter out sediment, and provide critical habitat for Greater Yellowstone’s wildlife. In short, beaver activity makes landscapes more resilient to a changing climate—benefits Montana needs now more than ever. 

What we’ve learned over the last four decades, and even more acutely understood in just the last few years, is that conserving a place as big as Greater Yellowstone starts small. Conservation of this beloved region begins first in conversations with friends, stakeholders, and neighbors. It’s working together with all people to build home-grown solutions that protect iconic wildlife, our public lands, and the cold, clean waters that are the lifeblood of Greater Yellowstone. And it turns out that when we work together, we’re greater.

U.S. Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana on Tuesday announced the Greater Yellowstone Recreation Enhancement and Tourism Act, legislation that aims to protect nearly 100 miles of the Madison and Gallatin rivers, as well as key tributaries, with Wild and Scenic designations.

On June 28, 2025, Utah Senator Mike Lee withdrew his American public land sell-off plan, which would have sold and privatized millions of acres of public land across 11 western states.

Montanans are folks of all kinds – ranchers, farmers, business owners, outdoorspeople, conservationists, and everyone in between. The Montana Legislature is a place where we all come together to make decisions about our home, and whether we agree or not, I see Montanans as folks who can disagree and remain friends. This attitude embodies the Legislature. We wrap up a lively session with a number of critical wins for Montana's lands and wildlife. 

Idaho’s passage of Senate Bill 1170 weakens cyanide mining safeguards by transferring oversight from environmental experts to lawmakers, allowing mining companies to operate with fewer safety rules despite cyanide’s well-known risks. This shift endangers Idaho’s clean water, wildlife, and outdoor heritage—resources GYC is working to protect in Kilgore, where a foreign, financially unstable company is exploring for gold. Without action, an open-pit, heap-leach cyanide mine could transform this unspoiled corner of the Centennial Mountains. 

GYC is has been named a recipient of the Norm Winn Memorial Conservation Grant from the Keta Legacy Fund. This generous grant will help sponsor a project to identify priority areas to install low-tech process-based stream restoration (LTPBR) structures. 

We recap our 2024 favorite conservation moments and wins in Greater Yellowstone.

On November 19, 2024, the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act passed the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for the first time in its legislative history. This brings the made-in-Montana legislation one step closer to becoming law.

A growing number of Idaho hunters, anglers, farmers, ranchers, outdoor recreationists, families, and conservationists have joined the Clean Kilgore Coalition to protect the precious water, land, wildlife, and outdoor heritage that Excellon’s toxic gold mine would threaten.  

Wind River Indian Reservation entrepreneur and artist Sharolyn “Shay” Jimerson’s logo design has been selected to represent the Wind River Water & Buffalo Alliance.

Southwest Montana’s Madison and Gallatin mountain ranges are some of the wildest places left in the continental United States. These wild lands are beloved by those who live here and those who visit, and they are under threat. That’s why the Gallatin Forest Partnership has developed a realistic solution to permanently protect 250,000 acres of public land in the Madison and Gallatin ranges – the Greater Yellowstone Conservation and Recreation Act.