With pledges already totaling $6.25 million, the nonprofit Yellowstone Association has officially kicked off its first capital campaign. This aggressive fundraising program is more than halfway toward its goal of raising $11.2 million to expand future support for Yellowstone.
Superintendent Suzanne Lewis expressed her gratitude to the Association for its long history of support and for its commitment to park preservation at a special Legacy for Learning campaign celebration held September 23 in the historic Map Room at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.
Proceeds from the campaign will allow the organization to develop facilities to increase its sales of educational materials in park visitor center bookstores and to allow the organization's Yellowstone Association Institute program to involve more than 7,000 visitors a year in multi-day educational programs in the park. Plans are also underway for the organization to convert the historic Hall's Mercantile building in Gardiner, Montana, to an educational headquarters for the Association.
"Visitors who understand why Yellowstone is such a precious place become lifelong stewards for its preservation, which is why our mission is focused almost entirely on visitor education," said Pat Cole, Association executive director.
For more information related to the capital campaign, please call Interim Director of Development Crystal Leach at 307-344-2296.

Imagine hearing wolves howl at sunrise, learning to ski or snowshoe on backcountry trails, or viewing Thomas Moran’s field sketches at the new Heritage and Research Center. After daily field trips like these, you’ll return to the historic Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel for delicious buffet-style meals, private accommodations, evening programs in the famous Map Room, and plenty of time to share stories with kindred spirits. The hotel closes to the general public on March 4th and then we move in. We’ll offer four-day programs on March 6-10 and 10-14. Rates (private bath): $699 Double Occupancy, $849 Single Occupancy Rates (shared bath): $659 Double Occupancy, $769 Single Occupancy

Explore the origins of intriguing place names and learn the truth behind long-held assumptions. Find out who gave their name to Isa Lake and why the Bechler River might have been more properly named the Russell River. Soft cover. 290 pages.

Spend some time this winter with the experts who know Yellowstone best! We still have room in these field seminars: Wilderness First Responder, Wolves in Your Classroom, Wilderness First Aid, Level I Avalanche Safety, Yellowstone's Wolves, Basic Snow Tracking, The Buffalo Story, Wolves In & Around Yellowstone, Cougars: Ghosts of the Rockies, The Yellowstone Volcano, Old Faithful Winter Photography, Digging Deep Into Winter, Wolves of the Past, Present, & Future, Yellowstone's Winter Serengeti, The Birds of Winter, Writing the Wild, Fang & Flesh: Hunter & Hunted in Yellowstone, & Lesser- Known Carnivores