From The New West Blog

From Yukon to Yellowstone, Cyclists “Ride for the Wild”

By Alaina Abbott, 8-18-08

	A photo posted on the Ride for the Wild Website, where you can keep track of the riders' progress.

A group of seven cyclists pushed off on a 2,000-mile trip from the Yukon Territory to Yellowstone National Park Saturday to raise awareness about the importance of wildlife corridors and in particular the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative.

The trip, called Ride for the Wild, began in Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory, just north of the British Columbia border. The riders will average 50 miles per day until October 6, when they will end the ride at the Boiling River in Yellowstone Park.

“The trip was started with the merger of a desire to do a long distance bike trip and the current movement of the company I work for, Patagonia, to raise awareness about the need for wildlife corridors and protection of key linkage areas for animal and plant migrations,” said trip organizer Ryan Applegate in an e-mail interview.

Patagonia’s initiative is called Freedom to Roam, and it’s using the bike trip to kick off its Bearing Witness initiative, intended to involve citizens in maintaining wildlife corridors. FTR is joining with Google Earth to launch Bearing Witness in 2009.

“This program will engage citizens in the U.S. and Canada to go into wildlife corridors and upon return upload pictures and stories to Google Earth,” Applegate said.

As the public becomes more engaged, FTR hopes more legislation will be passed to keep wild areas of land connected. Connectivity of land, the major priority of the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative, is a conservation strategy that provides room for plants and animals to adjust to changes in the environment, which fragmentation can hinder.

The bicyclists will blog about their experience during the trip to share what they learn about intercontinental wildlife management and community involvement with the land. Their route covers most of the Yellowstone to Yukon study area and can be tracked at www.rideforthewild.com.

Here’s a short video clip of the riders’ preparations:

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