Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
and Crown of the Continent Loan Fund:
Responding Quickly to Conservation Opportunities
Initially capitalized by a program-related investment from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund’s (RLF’s) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Crown of the Continent Revolving Loan Fund provides short-term bridge loans to nonprofit conservation organizations to finance priority acquisitions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Crown of the Continent (COC).
This $7 million loan fund builds on the significant conservation planning and philanthropic strategy efforts conducted for these regions by RLF and the Heart of the Rockies Initiative which identified conservation priorities, shaped strategies and goals, and developed an unprecedented collaboration among the land trusts working in these two important regions. Our interest and investments in GYE and COC reflect our recognition of the importance of protecting the unparalleled combination of resource values and biodiversity associated with these regions.
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Located at the convergence of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, GYE’s (map 1) 26.8 million acres constitute one of the last largely intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone. Located around Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, GYE is internationally recognized for its geothermal geyser basin, migratory elk herds, world-class trout fisheries, grizzly bears, and free-ranging bison. With the reintroduction of the gray wolf in 1995, representatives of all mammal species present at the time of European settlement can be found in GYE—a claim that can be made by no other region in the continental United States.
Crown of the Continent. Located within the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and the states of Idaho and Montana, COC’s (map 2) 27 million acres contain a diverse array of nationally and internationally significant ecological values. The Rocky Mountain Front on the eastern side of the COC is the only place in North America where grizzly bears still roam from the mountains to the Great Plains. The largest uninterrupted wetlands in western North America are located in COC, at the headwaters of the Columbia River in British Columbia. At a landscape scale, COC links the Canadian Rockies with GYE and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area to the south.
Private lands in GYE are under increasing threat of subdivision and development – activities that fragment wildlife habitat, disrupt ecological processes, and remove land from agricultural production. With support from RLF, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and a number of other private donors, comprehensive conservation planning efforts led by the Heart of the Rockies Initiative brought together the land trusts working in these areas to create conservation plans focused on preserving key private lands. These conservation plans identify 2.8 million acres of “high-value” private lands in GYE and 2.2 million acres of “high-value” private lands in COC as priorities for conservation, based on criteria of biological and agricultural importance, and community support for conservation. Comprising most of the low-elevation lands, valley bottoms, river corridors, and riparian areas, these private lands provide important migration corridors and critical winter range, breeding and rearing habitat, as well as other seasonally important habitat for a host of wildlife species.
GYE and COC land trusts established ambitious ten-year conservation goals for each region to be achieved by working with private landowners willing to conserve their lands, primarily through donated or bargain-purchased conservation easements. For GYE, the goal is to conserve one million high-value acres, while for COC, the goal is to conserve 516,000 high-value acres.
Since the loan fund opened in August 2004, we have distributed $5.5 million in loan funds, supporting the permanent protection of nearly 11,500 acres in GYE and COC worth over $14.2 million. To find out more about the loan fund’s criteria and procedures, please refer to For Grantees.
Photograph courtesy of The Nature Conservancy
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