As a keystone species — organisms who play an outsized part in shaping their ecosystem — beavers and the wetlands they maintain serve a unique and irreplaceable role in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Beavers are also ecosystem engineers, second only to humans in their ability to alter a landscape. By cutting wood and building dams, beavers do more than just build dams.

In the depths of winter, we offer recommendations to try while the snow is flying and others that we hope will inspire your summer schemes! Plan your own geocaching adventure anywhere in the ecosystem or a backcountry expedition in Grand Teton National Park, read a hopeful story about climate change, and let us introduce you to a couple of four-legged adventure buddies in this GYC Staff Picks Blog.

Water is a defining, dynamic, and driving force in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The ecosystem’s wild rivers are so significant to its identity that Greater Yellowstone is often called “the headwaters of the West.” But what does it really mean to be “the headwaters of the West?”

GYC’s staff, dispersed across the region, know this firsthand and are excited to share some of their favorite things in this new blog series, GYC Staff Picks.