The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Georgie Morgan and her daughter Wendy on their family's Crane Creek Ranch. © Russ Schnitzer/TNC

"Migratory corridor is just a fancy way of saying western hospitality."

-Georgie Morgan, Crane Creek Ranch

Georgie Morgan calls them the “olden days.” Back when she and her late husband, John, were hanging out with their local ski club at a bar in Jackson and heard a rumor that a favorite ranch along the Snake River was going to sell and be “peppered up” with houses.

What if, instead, they all pitched in to buy the ranch so it could remain open space? The next morning, the idea still sounded pretty good.

The Conservancy stepped up to help. And today a conservation easement keeps Crane Creek Ranch unbroken.

Georgie and her family feel they did the right thing.

Almost one third of the Greater Yellowstone is in the hands of private landowners. National parks may make the Greater Yellowstone area famous, but landowners like the Morgans are what will decide its future.

For deer, elk and pronghorn in and around Yellowstone, private lands such as Crane Creek Ranch mean survival when the snow flies. When winter’s onslaught sends wildlife out of national parks in search of lower ground, this is where they go.

It’s where people go, too.The Greater Yellowstone’s scenic valleys continue to attract us, bringing traffic and subdivisions that disrupt wintering wildlife.

The human population here is growing at double the national rate, with habitat loss at six times the national average. Obstacles stand in the way of migrating wildlife. We are loving this place to death.

That’s why the Conservancy works with landowners to ensure migration corridors and winter habitat are connected and open. But moving forward means looking ahead, just like John and Georgie did so many years ago. The map we follow toward conservation success in the Greater Yellowstone needs expansion, a reevaluation of boundaries.

We are connecting the dots. Finding the links where wildlife can move through major blocks of intact habitat. We are charting new ways of funding these protection projects, and letting the public know what’s really at stake in the Greater Yellowstone.

We need you to join us as we keep these lands connected.