“We’re such a human-centric species,” says Erica Lighthiser, who also serves as PCEC managing director. “We talk a lot about conservation, even in terms of beautiful and open landscapes. I think a lot of our conservation organizations really need to—and they do—center around wildlife and center around the importance of species that are non-human. Unfortunately, nothing can speak for those species other than us.”

Protecting the GYE’s wildlife is a lift that requires many hands. Not far from Livingston in Bozeman, Montana, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation studies ecological connectivity in landscapes. Landscape fragmentation is a global issue, and through science, policy, practice and collaboration, the organization tackles what CLLC chief strategy officer Deb Kmon Davidson refers to as the “messy middles,” the land in between protected areas.

“It’s everywhere,” Kmon Davidson said. “Every single corner of the globe is dealing with fragmentation. Fragmentation from roads, fragmentation from human development in terms of housing and industrial agriculture.” The GYE is no exception.

Kmon Davidson spoke to Mountain Outlaw from Cali, Columbia, where she represented CLLC in CoP-16 (16th Conference of the Parties) to the Convention on Biological Diversity. CoP-16 convened 15,000 people from 96 countries to discuss the importance of connectivity and landscape/seascape conservation, and demonstrate successful implementation.

he day prior, CLLC gave a presentation to an international audience about work the group’s been doing along two major GYE corridors in Montana: U.S. Highway 191 in Gallatin Canyon between Bozeman and Big Sky, and Montana Highway 89 in Paradise Valley—two sites where vehicle- wildlife collisions have greatly increased. CLLC is working on solutions; a “top priority” is a wildlife crossing at the mouth of Gallatin Canyon where 24 percent of all crashes are collisions with wildlife—more than double the statewide average of 10 percent. This wildlife crossing could become a reality by 2026. It was the global debut, she said, of a project that is very close to home.

CLLC’s GYE studies can be applied globally, but local celebrations are certainly in order. Custer Gallatin National Forest utilized a connectivity analysis produced by CLLC in its revised forest plan released in July 2020. The connectivity analysis identified important wildlife corridors that will now remain undisturbed by human activity such as heavy equipment, vegetation management, low flying helicopters, increased recreation use and structure development. Additionally, in October of this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a “department-wide effort to support connectivity of wildlife habitat on working landscapes through the management of National Forests and voluntary conservation assistance on private agricultural lands,” according to a USDA Oct. 21 press release.

“There’s an acceptance and an awareness of yes, we are going to have more infrastructure, we are going to have more traffic. We’re probably going to have to build roads into some wild land areas,” Kmon Davidson said. “If we’re going to do that, let’s do it in the best way possible … that all comes down to knowing where the highest priority habitat is, trying to avoid that if you can, and if you can’t, then mitigating appropriately.”

On the southern end of the GYE, another organization is harnessing such increasing human traffic into support for nonhuman species. Each September, Jackson Hole One Fly Foundation hosts a fly-fishing tournament along the Jackson Hole stretch of the Snake River, gathering 40 teams of four fly fisherfolk each to raise money to support local efforts to restore, steward and conserve this critical watershed.

“If there are rivers prettier than the Snake as it flows through Jackson, particularly up in the park, I’d be hard pressed to tell you,” says Greg Case, board chairman of One Fly. “I’ve fished in a lot of places, but that remains one of the most breathtaking views.”

Case says that sense of wonder is key to the success of the nonprofit’s 38-year run and the hundreds of thousands of dollars they raise each year—this year’s event brought in nearly $500,000 through tournament entry fees, sponsors and the preceding auction event. Case estimates One Fly has raised more than $25 million since the organization’s inception. A large portion of the money is awarded to One Fly’s regional focused conservation partners, including Trout Unlimited, Henry’s Fork Foundation and Friends of the Teton River. Other dollars fund scholarships, such as University of Wyoming’s Aquatic Ecology Scholarship, and the Jackson Hole Fly Fishing School, inspiring the love of fly fishing and river stewardship among the next generation.

“People tend to protect what they love and what they know,” Case says. “So the more we can do to introduce young girls and boys to the sport of fly fishing, hopefully the more participation we get from that next generation, and therefore they represent the next group to stand up and fight for the resource.”

Case, who lives in Philadelphia, participated in his 17th One Fly tournament this year. He said it’s an event that people from all over the world mark on their calendars annually, with participants and supporters from all corners of the U.S., as well as New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

From its headwaters in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks to its confluence with the Columbia River in Washington, the entirety of the Snake River will represent more than 65 percent of the nation’s remaining cold-water fish habitat by 2080, according to research projections by American Rivers. Conserving this life-giving waterway is critical to the livelihood of Yellowstone and fine-spotted cutthroat, whose habitats are threatened by warming waters due to climate change.

“To have the opportunity to catch native fish that have been there for millions of years since the last glacial episode, that Lewis and Clark encountered when they came across the country when it was all unknown territory to the Europeans … and see those views and be part of that environment for a couple of days is just incredible,” Case says. “I don’t know many people who aren’t moved by that experience.”

As the GYE faces a future of increased growth, PCEC, CLLC and One Fly are examples of the many organizations that have made the flanks of Yellowstone National Park their battleground, and believe in taking an active role in that inevitability in the little ways that they can—whether that’s supporting policy to keep development away from critical habitat and guiding responsible land use, funding stewardship to protect a critical species, or simply spreading a love of the landscape on a national level.

Planning Wildlife Crossings Along U.S. Highway 191

In November 2024, CLLC announced that they had submitted an application with the Federal Highway Administration by the Montana Department of Transportation that will, once approved, allow for the construction of a wildlife overpass at the mouth of Gallatin Canyon across U.S. Highway 191. With 10,000-16,000 vehicles passing through Gallatin Gateway—the only route available to Bozeman-to-Big Sky commuters— per day, the road is a growing hazard to animals attempting to access key habitats, specifically deer and elk.

“The assessment showed where actions are most needed to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and maintain or improve wildlife’s ability to move across the road to access important resources and habitat,” said CLLC road ecologist Liz Fairbank, lead author of the 191/MT 64 Wildlife and Transportation Assessment.

Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program awards are expected to be announced in early 2025. If the 191 application is successful, a planning process for construction should commence in 2026. You can read more about this project online.

Learn more about the nonprofits in this story at largelandscapes.org, pcecmt.org and jacksonholeonefly.org.

MIRA BRODY is the VP of Media at Outlaw Partners.