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Wildways©

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Creating landscapes for life

Humans need highways, wildlife needs Wildways©

Just as humans use highways that span state and national boundaries for many essential purposes, wildlife needs Wildways to travel the distances required to find a mate, breed and to keep genetic variability strong.

But animals are not the only one who need Wildways. These corridors also are home to our greatest North American treasures: our national parks, our most scenic rivers, our most majestic mountains, our crystal clear lakes, our continental trails, and our vibrant grasslands and forests.

With our vision and science, now firmly in place, Wildlands Network is turning our focus to implementing four continental Wildways, large protected landscapes for wildlife. By creating and protecting these Wildways, people are provided protection against the threats of a disappearing natural world.

The Wildlands Network Wildways represent four regions where we are reconnecting the continent’s best wild places.

  • The Pacific Wildway  running from Baja to Alaska
  • The Boreal Wildway  running west-east from Alaska to the Canadian Maritimes across the forest roof of North America
  • The Eastern Wildway  extending northward from the Everglades along the Appalachians to the Arctic
  • The Western Wildway  spanning the continent from Mexico, through the Rockies, to Alaska

Our primary objectives are to find the gaps in our Wildways, the areas where connections between protected habitat are vital, and to mobilize the conservation community around filling them. In order to do this, we are expanding and coordinating the Wildway networks of partners and individuals by providing:

  1. The most comprehensive and scientific representation of our continental vision
  2. Analysis of the gaps in the conservation landscape, where connectivity has not been the focus, and strategies to fill them
  3. Best practices forums
  4. Scientific expertise and funding for priority programs
  5. Leverage for their important work as part of a larger whole
  6. Researched messaging that inspires sharing, collaborating and connecting.

The need for continental-scale conservation initiatives is scientifically confirmed and could not be more urgent.