Thirty-three years after scientists began an ambitious effort to reconnect wild areas across North America, a cross-border conservation project stretching from Wyoming to northern Canada has been named a finalist for Prince William's Earthshot Prize.
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project → begin → Prize
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, launched in 1993, has helped establish 204 wildlife crossings and protect about 24 million hectares (59 million acres) of land.
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Initiative → launch → land
According to The Associated Press, the initiative is one of 15 finalists for the 2026 award, which gives five winners £1 million each to help expand their environmental work.
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which → accord → work
The project brings together private landowners, Indigenous Nations, governments and scientists to protect a 3,400-kilometre corridor through the Rocky Mountains.
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project → bring → Mountains
The group builds wildlife overpasses, underpasses and fences that help large animals move safely across roads and developed areas.
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animals → build → roads
Inspired by a wandering wolf
The idea for the cross-border corridor grew from research on a wolf named Pluie in the early 1990s.
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idea → inspire → 1990s
Researchers tracked her movements by satellite after she was fitted with a tracking collar.
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she → track → collar
Pluie traveled across three U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, covering a huge area.
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Pluie → travel → area
The tracking data showed scientists that separate national parks and nature reserves were not enough to protect healthy populations of animals that travel long distances.
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that → show → distances
Species such as grizzly bears, caribou and wolves need connected areas where they can move between different ecosystems.
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they → need → ecosystems
"The solution is surprisingly simple," Jodi Hilty, president and chief scientist of the Yellowstone to Yukon initiative, told The Associated Press.
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Hilty → tell → Press
"Animals need space to move, and they don't recognize borders.
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they → need → borders
So we bring people together in this landscape to the same table.
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we → bring → table
We work with them all to come up with the solution in order for animals to be able to move freely across the landscape.
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animals → work → landscape
Engineering safer mountain corridors
Busy highways are a major danger for wildlife moving through the Rocky Mountains.
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highways → engineer → Mountains
Conservation groups have therefore worked with state and provincial transportation agencies to build special crossings for animals.
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groups → work → animals
The initiative has supported more than 200 wildlife crossings, including overpasses and underpasses.
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initiative → support → overpasses
In Banff, these measures have reduced collisions between vehicles and hoofed animals by 96%, according to the Earthshot Prize.
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measures → reduce → Prize
The crossings allow animals such as bighorn sheep, cougars and grizzly bear cubs to pass safely over or under busy roads.
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animals → allow → roads
The project also works with private landowners to protect land around the crossings.
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project → work → crossings
Conservation agreements help make sure animals leaving a crossing reach natural habitat instead of commercial or residential areas.
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animals → help → habitat
The larger goal is to reconnect habitats across the 2,100-mile Yellowstone to Yukon region.
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goal → reconnect → region
The Earthshot Prize describes it as one of the world's last large, mostly intact mountain ecosystems.
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Prize → describe → ecosystems
Indigenous communities manage or co-manage about one-quarter of the protected land within the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor.
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communities → manage → corridor
More than 75 Indigenous territories are located within the wider 1.3 million-square-kilometre region, making Indigenous participation an important part of conservation work.
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participation → locate → work
These partnerships have helped support the recovery of threatened wildlife.
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partnerships → help → wildlife
Recent work has included Indigenous-led conservation projects in British Columbia and other parts of the region, helping protect important habitats for species such as caribou and wolverines.
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work → include → caribou
The Earthshot Prize says a quarter of the region's protected land is now managed or co-managed by Indigenous Peoples.
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quarter → say → Peoples
The initiative works with Indigenous Nations, communities, governments, scientists and landowners across the corridor.
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initiative → work → corridor
The organization also plans to expand its conservation work.
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organization → plan → work
By 2030, it aims to help protect another 20 million hectares and support at least 50 more wildlife crossings.
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it → aim → crossings
Prince William launched the Earthshot Prize in 2020 to support solutions to major environmental problems.
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William → launch → problems
The 2026 finalists are competing across five categories.
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finalists → compete → categories
Five winners will each receive £1 million at the Earthshot Prize Awards in Mumbai on November 17.
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winners → receive → November
The Aporia
