Parks - IUCN

in the Yukon to the rapidly growing towns surrounding the national parks around
Banff, Glacier, and Yellowstone. In addition, the international border can act as a kind
of psychological, legal, and management block to coordination between the northern
and southern parts of the Rockies.
Yellowstone to Yukon: big peaks, big wilderness,
and big rivers
As portrayed in the accompanying map, the Yellowstone to Yukon ecoregion can be
defined generally as lands in the Rockies above about 1,050 m (3,500 feet) in
elevation, characterised by extensive coniferous forests, and encircled at lower
elevations by prairie grasslands. This is the headwaters for ten major river systems
draining into the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans, supplying water for wildlife and
human communities in the prairies, cities, and farms thousands of miles from the
rivers’ mountain sources. When people think of Yellowstone to Yukon, though, they
think first of mountains, and the drama of the region’s geology. In fact, Y2Y boasts
the oldest rocks found in North America, as well as the largest geological displays
of former volcanic activity in the world.
Today, as they have for millennia, fire and ice shape the land. Given such rugged
topography and punishing natural processes, it is surprising that so many plants and
animal have claimed the Rockies as their home. Some bird species achieve their
highest breeding densities in the Rockies, and some of the rarest species found in
North America – the grizzly bear, wolf, black-footed ferret, and whooping crane –
reside here.
And, for at least the last 10,000 years, human beings have also called the region
home. Y2Y comprises the traditional territory of 31 First Nations/Native American
groups, each with a distinct culture, language, and history reflecting a way of life
adapted to the plains, mountain recesses, forests, and grasslands. To native peoples,
this was a sacred geography, shared by successive generations that renewed their
relationships with the land through story and religious practices. To increasing
numbers of people today, Y2Y provides a place for spiritual renewal and reflection
in the beauty and solitude of wilderness.
An ecoregional context
Ecoregions have been defined as ‘large
areas of the landscape determined by
shared climate and geology, which, in
turn, affect the kinds of ecosystems and
animals and plants found there.’
Ecoregions can frame our thinking about
the land, and about strategies to protect
our natural heritage.
Y2Y fits the broad definition of an
ecoregion. The landscape shares common
geologic, hydrologic, and climatic
features, which in turn explain the
similarities of plants and animals adapted
to live here, ranging from caribou and
bull trout to boreal and ponderosa pine
LOUISA WILLCOX AND PETER AENGST
19
Pack trip above the
Gataga River in the
Muskwa-Kechika
area of northern
British Columbia.
Photo:
Wayne Sawchuk.