Greater Yellowstone Coalition

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition was founded in 1983. Its core premise is that “an ecosystem will remain healthy and wild only if it is kept whole.”[1] It aims to protect one of the last largely intact temperate ecosystems in the United States. Its founding president was conservationist Rick Reese.[2]

The organization seeks to protect the lands, waters and wildlife of the 20-million-acre (81,000 km2) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.[1] It advocates for “conservation, sound science, and protective management.”[3]

Some of the causes for which the GYC have advocated are river and waterway protections, defense of grizzly bear populations and institution of human-bear coexistence policies, and battles against gold mining in the Paradise Valley north of Yellowstone National Park.[4] They have also pushed for improved land use plans and protections for wild trout in the Greater Yellowstone Area.[5]

In addition, the GYC led the fight against the New World gold-silver-copper mine, which was proposed to be sited only about four miles from the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park, during the early 1990s.[6]

The current organization encompasses land around Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, including Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.[2] It covers over 20 million acres[2] (34,000 square miles) with Yellowstone National Park at its center.[7] This area is used recreationally by large numbers of people every year, which “puts strains on its environment, wildlife and infrastructure."[7]

The main office of the GYC is based in Bozeman, Montana, and the organization has other offices in Jackson, WY, Cody, WY and Idaho Falls, ID.[1] Its current director is conservationist Scott Christensen.

Currently, the Montana State University Library holds the papers of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition from 1984 to 2018, which document the organization’s efforts of the majority of its existence.[8]

• Official website