This summer, the Burke Museum partners with The Mountaineer Books to launch the first of three wildlife photography exhibits grappling with the greatest conservation issues of our time. Opening June 16, Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam will feature 40 large format photographs by German-born Florian Schulz of the Rocky Mountains West documenting the ambitious effort to preserve wildlife corridors from Yellowstone National Park to Canada’s Yukon Territories. Such corridors would link existing parks and public lands to ensure the survival of one of the world’s last intact mountain ecosystems.

An award-winning nature photographer, Schulz has dedicated ten years of his life to documenting the drama and beauty of North America’s largest wildlife corridor: the Rocky Mountains. His photographs have captured the drama and beauty of this Western ecosystem and its diverse landscapes, wildlife, and people. Schulz has received honors from the BBC’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition and Nature’s Best International Photography Awards.

Schulz’s photography highlights the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, which protects the corridors of land that connect fragmented wild habitats. Wild populations require a range of continuous habitat in order to adapt to changes in weather, food availability, and other major influences. Wildlife corridors allow populations to move from habitat to habitat; without wildlife corridors, isolated populations are vulnerable to starvation, disease, inbreeding, and more. From Yellowstone National Park to the Yukon Territory, the Rocky Mountains constitute a major part of our continent's remaining natural heritage, representing the last best chance on Earth to maintain a fully functioning mountain ecosystem.

Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam is organized by the Burke Museum in collaboration with The Mountaineers Books and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. Over the next three years, the Burke Museum is collaborating with The Mountaineers Books and other environmental organizations to produce and present three exhibitions of nature photography, each linked to a critical environmental issue, including corridor protection, biodiversity, and climate change. The exhibits will premiere at the Burke Museum and tour museums throughout the United States and Canada.

10:15 am ~ Photographer Tour
Yellowstone to Yukon photographer Florian Schulz leads a walking tour of the exhibit, sharing the stories behind the images.

11 am ~ The Origin and Status of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Hear the story of the birth, growth and current status of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative from the people who were there at the beginning and carry the torch today. Harvey Locke, one of the founders of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, will present a richly illustrated overview of the origins of Y2Y, its scientific underpinnings, and how Y2Y fits into the global family of large landscape conservation initiatives. US Regional Director for the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, Penelope Pierce, will outline the scope and objectives of Y2Y, as well as bring us up to date on current projects and accomplishments.

Penelope Pierce studied environmental law and she received her J.D. from the University of Oregon. She was the Director of Land Conservation for The Nature Conservancy’s Wyoming Chapter, and the Major Gifts/Planned Giving Manager for the Seattle Art Museum. She was also involved in private rainforest conservation for over 10 years on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula.

Harvey Locke, is a senior advisor on conservation to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and program advisor to Tides Canada Foundation. He worked in the US as senior program officer for the environment at the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and for nine years was on the board of The Nature Conservancy of Montana. He has spoken about large landscape conservation, national parks, and wilderness across North America and in Europe and Africa. His writing and photographs have been published around the world.

12 pm ~ The Columbia Highlands - Making the Rockies to Rainforest Connection
Lying between the Rockies and the Cascades, the Columbia Highlands in northern Washington State is part of the greater “Yellowstone to Yukon” region and includes some of the best remaining wildlife habitat in the Greater Northwest. The diversity of forests in this area is unparalleled. The territory is rich in wildlife: gray wolf, wolverines, lynx, bighorn sheep, northern goshawk, moose, and redband trout, as well as the last population in the lower 48 of mountain caribou, a majestic mammal once numerous and now critically endangered. Conservation Northwest is working with a diverse coalition of land managers, recreationists, mill owners and other business leaders, to develop a comprehensive management plan for the region’s future that includes wilderness protection, sustainable forestry, and old-growth forest restoration. Conservation Northwest’s communications director, Jasmine Minbashian will give an inspiring presentation about this important conservation initiative.

12:30 pm ~ Photographer Tour
Yellowstone to Yukon photographer Florian Schulz leads a walking tour of the exhibit, sharing the stories behind the images.

1 pm ~ Across Interstate 90
Learn about efforts to maintain wildlife corridors in Washington State with Jen Watkins form the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition's, US Forest Service biologist Patty Garvey Darda, and Jason Smith from the Washington State Department of Transportation. An innovative partnership between government agencies and citizens has resulted in a remarkable highway project near Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90. This stretch of highway moves people and cargo east to west through our state, but also blocks a crucial north to south wildlife corridor through the Cascades. The WA Department of Transportation has proposed creating a series of wildlife overpasses and under-passes on Interstate 90, which will result in improved wildlife connectivity in the Cascades. This presentation will summarize the remarkable efforts that have brought this project about.

2 pm ~ ‘From the Cascades to Karakoram: A Global Exploration of Bears’
One hour east of Seattle our local population of grizzly bears number fewer than 20 individuals teetering on the knife-edge of extinction. Using stunning images and amusing anecdotes, local bear scientist, conservationist and adventurer Chris Morgan, Co-Director of the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project, will take us on an entertaining tour of bears in the Cascade Range and around the world.  Chris will reveal interesting facts about human perceptions of bears; and discuss bear biology, behavior, safety, conservation and recovery efforts.

Over the last 18 years Chris Morgan has worked as a wildlife researcher from icy polar bear country at 81° North to tropical Andean bear forests sitting on the equator. He has built his life around the bears of the world.

2:30 pm ~ Photographer Tour
Yellowstone to Yukon photographer Florian Schulz leads a walking tour of the exhibit, sharing the stories behind the images.

3 pm ~ Bringing Critical Wildlife Conservation Issues to the Public
Join Erin Younger, Associate Director of the Burke Museum, and Helen Cherullo, publisher of The Mountaineer Books as they discuss their new traveling exhibition partnership being launched with Yellowstone to Yukon. Hear about what led to the collaboration, plans for the upcoming international tour, and get a preview of what’s ahead next year when The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World and Arctic Wings: Birds of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge premier at the Burke Museum.

Support for this exhibit has been provided by The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The Boeing Company, Tom and Sonya Campion, the Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, The Norcliffe Foundation, the Peach Foundation, and the Wilburforce Foundation. Special thanks to the Burke’s community partners: King County Library System, Blue Earth Alliance, Boreal Songbird Initiative, Conservation Northwest, Earth Justice, East Lake Washington Audubon, Environmental Education Association of Washington, Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs, North Cascades Grizzly Bear Outreach Project, Northwest Trek, Olympic Forest Coalition, Program on the Environment – UW, Sierra Club, Tacoma Photographic Society, The Mountaineers, Washington Alpine Club, Washington Trails Association, Washington Wilderness Coalition, Woodland Park Zoo, and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.