When bears wake up in Greater Yellowstone, we know spring is on its way. This month, GYC celebrated the return of bears with a project to keep bears alive and people safe in Montana and hosted a film screening about grizzly bears in Idaho. We also have an upcoming event in Bozeman on May 2 that we hope you’ll attend.

The BLM released the most significant change in the management of BLM lands in 50 years with the final Public Lands Rule, which puts conservation on equal ground with other uses like mining and energy development.

Yellowstone Safe Passages (YSP) is celebrating a milestone in their work toward making Highway 89 safer for people and wildlife. On March 11, 2024, YSP released the US 89 Wildlife and Transportation Assessment to the public. The assessment offers proven solutions for seven areas with the highest rates of wildlife-vehicle collisions and detailed explanations why those sites were identified.

On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found a petition by some conservation groups to add Northern Rockies wolves back to the Endangered Species Act was not necessary, identified Western States wolves as a distinct population, and committed to initiating a process to develop a new national recovery plan for wolves.

Buckle up! It’s going to be a big year for GYC and the lands, waters, and wildlife of Greater Yellowstone.

In the first week of the new year, 10 buffalo were welcomed home to the Eastern Shoshone Tribal Buffalo Herd on the Wind River Indian Reservation. These 10 new buffalo – descendants of Yellowstone buffalo – bring the Eastern Shoshone Tribal Herd to 99 strong.

Join us for a journey down memory lane and let’s celebrate all we did together for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

During the summer of 2023, GYC assisted with a study using trail cameras to better understand grizzly bear and livestock interactions in the Gravelly Range of southwest Montana. After snapping images for almost five months, the trail cameras were collected in October and GYC staff discovered the incredible range of wildlife that call these mountains home.

In October 2023, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) released a draft Montana Gray Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (wolf plan) and accompanying draft Environmental Impact Statement (draft EIS), which are currently open for public comment.

Tucked into the eastern edge of Grand Teton National Park is a 640-acre parcel of state-owned land renowned for its scenic beauty, high quality wildlife habitat, and legacy of public recreation access. Now, the future of the Kelly Parcel is in jeopardy.

On October 12, 2023, the Wyoming Department of Transportation hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Dry Piney Connectivity Project – a wildlife crossing project that will help address the issues of wildlife permeability and human safety along a 19-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 189.

After a 60-day public comment period, it’s time for Yellowstone National Park to review input submitted on their draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the new Yellowstone Bison Management Plan. Read more to learn about GYC’s assessment of the EIS and what happens next.