Through a partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Yellowstone.ai is proud to be the new trail camera supplier for Snapshot Wisconsin. Snapshot Wisconsin is among the largest ongoing trail camera deployment projects in the world. As part of this partnership, Snapshot will be upgrading to the industry-leading Y2 trail camera from Yellowstone.ai. This upgrade will provide numerous benefits:
- High-quality photos will enable accurate species identification and management.
- Remote manageability will help the Snapshot team manage camera health, battery life, settings, and firmware updates remotely. This allows program volunteers to save time and fuel while minimizing disturbances.
- Accurate and verifiable date, time, and location stamps which greatly enriches the quality and usefulness of the data.
- A lifetime warranty, which will significantly reduce Snapshot's overall costs over the next decade.
Entering its 11th year, Snapshot Wisconsin is a community-based science program that utilizes a statewide network of volunteer-managed trail cameras to monitor Wisconsin wildlife. Snapshot Wisconsin was born from a DNR initiative to involve community members in wildlife monitoring throughout the state, and Yellowstone.ai is proud to be the camera of choice for one of the world's largest trail camera research projects. Snapshot has produced more than 100 million photos and its data has been used extensively across major peer-reviewed scientific publications. Results of the project help the DNR track wildlife populations and assist in making wildlife management population decisions.
After a rigorous months-long process of testing and evaluating organizational capabilities, technical capabilities, and cost, the Wisconsin DNR selected Yellowstone.ai over bids from other names in the industry.
Ben Vander Velden, founder of Yellowstone.ai, is enthusiastic about the partnership; "We're thrilled to partner with Snapshot Wisconsin. I grew up in Wisconsin hunting and fishing with my dad, brothers, and grandpa. It's surreal to realize our family business and our technology will play a critical role in shaping our state for future generations."
Snapshot operates cameras in every Wisconsin county and relies on nearly 2,000 volunteers to keep moving the project forward. These volunteers will deploy 1,000 Yellowstone cameras throughout the state over the next 12 months, with more to follow over the next decade.
"Reliable and user-friendly trail camera technology is critical to the success of Snapshot Wisconsin; these were important elements considered in selecting a new camera for the project," said Snapshot Wisconsin project lead Christine Anhalt-Depies, Ph.D., a research scientist for the DNR's Office of Applied Science. "We look forward to this new chapter for one of the world's largest trail camera-based wildlife monitoring research projects."
About: Founded in 2020, Yellowstone.ai is a family-owned trail camera company based in Wisconsin. Its Y2 cellular trail camera won the Archery Trade Association's "Best New Technology" award for 2026, and every Yellowstone camera is backed by a lifetime warranty — no asterisks, no exceptions. The company takes pride in transparency, U.S.-based customer support, and cutting-edge technology that's simple to use. For more information, visit yellowstone.ai, call 970-821-8525, or email: sales@yellowstone.ai.
