Program areas at Yellowstone Forever
Yellowstone Forever funds priority projects that protect, preserve, and initiatives: protect Yellowstone's ecosystem and wildlife; preserve the park's heritage, history, and trails; and enhance visitor experiences and education. Wildlife grant funding supported native fish restoration, grizzly bear and cougar research, the Yellowstone wolf, and a variety of species of birds that are critical to Yellowstone's natural ecosystem. Yellowstone national park maintains a cavvy of approximately 100 stock animals at any given time. Yellowstone Forever funds the annual purchase of new stock to maintain the park's numbers. The animals purchased through this project allow backcountry rangers to fulfill their duties. These rangers patrol trails and cross-country routes in the wilderness to check on resource impacts such as illegal fire rings, visitor permits, or trail status. They respond to injured and sick hikers. Yellowstone Forever worked with the park to enhance visitor experiences and education through financial support of youth education initiatives and the visitor and wildlife safety program.
Yellowstone Forever had over 488,705 transactions at 9 stores (7 in the park, 1 in gardiner, and 1 at quake lake).visitors to Yellowstone national park and the surrounding area purchased books, maps, games, art, outdoor gear,apparel, and more. Several of the items sold are one of a kind or produced directly by yf. All items sold through yfstores are approved by the nps and help foster a deeper understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of ynp and its surrounding ecosystem. Proceeds from retail sales benefit ynp.
Yellowstone Forever, in partnership with the national park service, provides educational programming that helps people enjoy, understand, and appreciate the wildlife, geology, and cultural history of Yellowstone national park. Through indepth field seminars, lodging and learning programs (offered in partnership with xanterra), youth & college programs, and private tours, Yellowstone Forever educational programming helps people of all ages experience the wonder of Yellowstone. Due to the historic flood event in Yellowstone in june 2023, many of our programs had to be cancelled in 2022. Approximately 1,877 visitors to Yellowstone national park attended a Yellowstone Forever educational program for a total of approximately 36,300 contact hours.