Maintaining Open Landscapes
Much of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is full of vast, secluded land. The expansive public and private lands found here create some of the best wildlife habitat found in the United States, with plenty of room for grizzly bears, bison, elk, wolves, and more to roam. When we lose large tracts of open land, we lose wildlife.
Increasingly, the wild and working landscapes are being fragmented by roads, zoned for development, and lost to the sprawl. When habitat is lost, wildlife find themselves in conflict with people, which in turn decreases social and political tolerance for wild animals, leading to dangerous policies and management practices.
We want the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to remain how it is—full of wildlife and wide-open spaces.
By ensuring these open landscapes stay intact, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition is helping sustain wildlife habitat, clean water, and scenic beauty.
Our Landscape Protection News
How the Greater Yellowstone Coalition Helps Keep Landscapes Open
We’re focused on keeping public and private lands undeveloped and connected. In addition to protecting public lands, GYC is committed to working with ranchers and other private landowners to build solutions that protect livelihoods and wildlife by keeping working lands viable parts of a functioning, healthy ecosystem.
Supporting Working Lands
To help keep some of Greater Yellowstone’s remote and wild working lands open, GYC works with collaboratives like the Ruby Valley Strategic Alliance (RVSA). The RVSA, formed in 2016, consists of conservationists, ranchers and landowners, elected officials, and community members who know that keeping both ranches and public lands intact is key to preserving the ecological integrity and way of life in rural Montana.
The group focuses on issues related to land conservation and growth, water quantity and quality, wildlife conflict prevention, maintaining wild back country, and participating in policy-building. By working together and respecting different perspectives, the RVSA is developing powerful and durable solutions to protect open space, water, and wildlife that can endure change.
Protecting National Forests
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is home to five expansive national forests that occupy 44 percent of the landscape—the Shoshone, Custer Gallatin, Bridger-Teton, Beaverhead-Deerlodge, and Caribou-Targhee national forests. These national forests form the connective tissue of the ecosystem, linking wildlife habitat and giving animals space to move within and across the region to meet their needs. It’s impossible to understand the importance of our more than 10 million acres of national forest.
GYC engages in forest planning processes, advocates for modern and balanced forest management, and partners with diverse stakeholders so everyone has a seat at the table and a voice to be heard. We also activate our supporter base to write their elected representatives when our public lands, including national forests, are under attack.
Enhancing Wildlife Migration and Movement Corridors
Whether wildlife are migratory or simply need to move unencumbered throughout their range to meet their daily needs, connected landscapes are what keep Yellowstone’s wild inhabitants healthy and thriving. However, fences, roads, and trails bisect wildlife habitat and present an often-lethal barrier to movement.
GYC is committed to preserving connectivity and restoring the ability of wildlife to move within and across the landscape to meet their needs. Our team advocates and fundraises for new wildlife crossings and works on making fencing across the ecosystem more permeable to wildlife.
Our Wins and Progress for Maintaining Open Lands
GYC is supporting a Colorado State University Project to install trail cameras on Ruby Valley Strategic Alliance member grazing allotments to identify where conflict may be occurring between livestock and grizzly bears or wolves. By identifying areas of conflict, we hope to inform ranchers on safer locations to graze livestock in order to avoid conflicts and better live alongside bears and wolves.
In 2022, the Custer Gallatin National Forest released its new, modern management plan, which included many conservation and recreation recommendations from GYC and the Gallatin Forest Partnership. More than 2,200 GYC advocates sent comments to the U.S. Forest Service in support of our recommendations for new wilderness, wildlife protections, and better management of popular recreation areas.
Since completing its first project in 2021, the Absaroka Fence Initiative and GYC have modified or removed more than 228,000 linear feet of fencing. We’ve hosted several volunteer fencing days near Cody, Wyoming where locals join us to make fencing more wildlife friendly.
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