The Gallatin Range is home to a greater complement of large mammals than every national park in the Lower 48 states, except for Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier. While scientists and conservationists have called for their protection for a century, they have remained vulnerable, especially during the era when they were checkerboarded with private tracts owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad and timber baron Tim Blixseth. Miraculously, because the land remains intact, so does the wildlife. Many say how much land gets protected is the most important question facing the core of Greater Yellowstone in decades.