Yellowstone Forever (YF) is the official nonprofit partner of Yellowstone National Park. It invests in Yellowstone National Park projects like maintaining trails and visitor centers, wildlife conservation and research in the park, cultural/historic preservation, and environmental sustainability. ¹ Yellowstone Forever seeks to reduce Yellowstone National Park’s carbon footprint by “prioritizing renewable energy opportunities” ² such as smart technology in new and renovated buildings and switching to electric vehicles. ²

History

Yellowstone Forever was founded in 2016. It was created from a merger of the Yellowstone Association (YA), founded in 1933, and the Yellowstone Park Foundation (YPF), founded in 1996. The Yellowstone Association was the park’s “official nonprofit educational partner providing education programs, exhibits, and publication for park visitors.” ³ It had over 35,000 members and 12 stores, and an educational program called the YA Institute which have all been absorbed by YF. The Yellowstone Park Foundation was the park’s original nonprofit partner, and from 1996 through 2016 it “raised over $100 million and funded 325 wildlife projects including wildlife research…trail maintenance, and youth education.” ³

In 2019, the group was close to failing and losing almost $2 million in a single year. In 2020, it hired CEO Lisa Diekmann who helped make the organization fiscally sustainable again.  ⁴

Projects

Ecosystem and Wildlife Protection

Between 2024 and 2025, Yellowstone Forever aims to invest about $3 million into bison, wolf, fish, bear, bird, cougar, and elk protection. Its bison protection program, into which YF is investing about $300,000, works to reintroduce wild bison back into Yellowstone. The wolf research program, into which YF is investing about $900,000, focuses on doing detailed research on wolves that were reintroduced into Yellowstone thirty years ago such as social behavior, genetics, and disease. The native fish restoration project, into which YF is investing about $1.3 million, aims to remove all non-native fish from Yellowstone’s rivers and help regrow the population of native fish. The bear program, into which YF is investing about $300,000, aims to detail the habits of black bears and grizzly bears within Yellowstone. The bird program, into which YF is investing about $100,000, aims to detail the lives of songbirds living in Yellowstone. The cougar project, into which YF is investing about $135,000, aims to help determine how cougars interact with wolves and bears within the park. The elk program, into which YF is investing about $170,000, aims to study survival rates and causes of deaths of elk calves in Yellowstone. ⁵

Heritage, History, and Trail Preservation

In 2024 and 2025 Yellowstone Forever aimed to invest about $1.5 million dollars into park trails, horses, heritage centers, tribal engagement, and its Native American student internship program. YF aimed to spend about $350,000 on maintaining and repairing its 1,000 miles of trails and 15 miles of boardwalks. YF aimed to spend around $200,000 on its horses, mules, and the pens they live in, as they are how park rangers move equipment, people and supplies. YF aimed to spend about $300,000 on renovating its heritage center which holds archives and museums, and needs expansion. YF aimed to spend about $240,000 on its tribal engagement program which helps to educate people on the Indigenous tribes which lived in Yellowstone and their cultures through art, demonstrations, and seminars. YF aimed to spend about $112,500 on its Native American student internship program. The program teaches Native American students how scientific research is done in the park through hands-on field work and youth education programs. ⁵

Sustainability

Between 2024 and 2025 Yellowstone  Forever aimed to spend about $700,000 dollars on sustainability goals. ⁵ It focuses on sustainability while claiming “the climate change crisis [is] a key issue for Yellowstone’s future.” ² It wants to reduce the park’s carbon footprint by renovating buildings, creating microgrids run by solar and wind sources, “implementing EPA recommended water saving measures,” ² and creating EV transit options for visitors and purchasing electric vehicles for Yellowstone. ²

Funding

Donors to Yellowstone Forever include American Endowment Foundation, American Online Giving Foundation, Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, Charities Aid Foundation of America, Chicago Community Trust, Christian Community Foundation of Memphis and the Mid-South, Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, DonorsTrust, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, ImpactAssets, Inland Empire Community Foundation, Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Marin Community Foundation, Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, National Park Foundation, National Philanthropic Trust, National Christian Charitable Foundation, Network for Good, PayPal Charitable Giving Fund, and Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. ⁶

1. “Projects We Fund.” Yellowstone Forever. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.yellowstone.org/experience/projects-we-fund/.
2. “Sustainability.” Yellowstone Forever. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.yellowstone.org/sustainable-yellowstone/.
3. “Yellowstone Forever’s History.” Yellowstone Forever. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.yellowstone.org/yf-history/.
4. Repanshek, Kurt. “Yellowstone Forever Crippled by Overambition, Lack of Financial Transparency.” National Parks Traveler, June 8, 2020. https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/06/yellowstone-forever-crippled-overambition-lack-financial-transparency
5. “Yellowstone Forever: Park Projects Support 2024-2025.” issuu. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://issuu.com/ynpforever/docs/yf_park_project_support_2024-2025?fr=sM2YxNTYzNTEyMjg.
6. “Yellowstone Forever.” ProPublica. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&q=%22yellowstone%2Bforever%22&sort=name&submit=Apply.