Grizzly bear recovery in the Lower 48 states began in the 1970s but now the bears will have some help on their path to a more resilient future from a whiskey brand that dates back a century longer, as Yellowstone Bourbon announced a new partnership with The Vital Ground Foundation to support habitat protection for grizzlies and other wildlife in the Northern Rockies.

Established in 1872, Yellowstone Bourbon was created to honor the sprawling wonder of America’s first national park. As a supporter of the National Parks Conservation Association, the
company has shown a strong commitment to giving back by conserving the natural marvels of the parks and the animals found within.

But those animals, from bears to wolves to elk, don’t know when they cross a park boundary. Yellowstone Bourbon is now extending their reach beyond the national park to support Vital
Ground’s work of habitat protection and conflict prevention across the Northern Rockies region. As a result, they will help one of the most iconic features of Yellowstone National
Park—its grizzlies—stay safe as they continue to gradually expand their range.

By supporting Vital Ground’s One Landscape Initiative, which uses to protect the most crucial pieces of private land that connect the region’s wild
strongholds, Yellowstone Bourbon will be making a tangible impact for the species that has long adorned its bottles.

As a species with large home ranges and slow reproductive rates, grizzly bears must be able to move between different habitat areas to meet seasonal needs and avoid genetic isolation in
fragmented sub-populations. While the grizzly population of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has grown from a low point of barely 200 in the 1970s to around 1,000 today, it remains isolated from bear populations farther north in and around Glacier National Park and smaller wild areas of far northwestern Montana, northern Idaho and northeastern Washington.

By conserving crucial habitat linkage areas between these ecosystems with conservation easements and land purchases and supporting local conflict prevention efforts like electric fencing and bear-resistant garbage programs, Vital
Ground and Yellowstone Bourbon are helping close the gaps for grizzlies and other wide-ranging species, even as development pressures continue across the rural West.

“Yellowstone Bourbon is honored to continue our longstanding commitment to help conserve and protect the outdoors, and the wildlife that call it home,” said Stephen Beam, Founder and
Master Distiller of Limestone Branch Distillery. “Bears are close to our heart, as the Yellowstone brand has been associated with bears since our first major ad campaign featuring the
Yellowstone National Park Bears premiered in 1948. We are thrilled to support Vital Ground in their mission, and are humbled to have the opportunity.”

Under the new partnership, Yellowstone Bourbon will make a significant financial contribution to Vital Ground’s One Landscape Initiative and help spread the word on the grizzly’s recovery needs and Vital Ground’s mission to a consumer base that extends far beyond Yellowstone.