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Our Mission & Vision

Mission: We inspire connection, stewardship, and responsible use of the vast and diverse public lands of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Vision: A future where all people feel a deep connection to the Bridger-Teton National Forest through education, partnerships and action, ensuring sustainable human uses exist in balance with land, water, and wildlife.

Our Mission & Vision

Our Story

The idea began in the early 1980s: Teton County locals wanted to donate money to make improvements to trailheads and other projects to support and enhance their favorite national forest. However, it’s not possible to donate money to the U.S. federal government. We needed a nonprofit to support the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Friends of the Bridger-Teton was officially founded in 2019. Since then, we’ve used grants and donations—both monetary and in-kind items (like bear-proof trash cans and fire rings) to support the BTNF and help promote responsible recreation so that we can all enjoy the forest’s diversity and wealth of resources now and into the future.

In March of 2022, the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board (JHTTB) awarded FBT $1 million of grant funding to support marketing and communications efforts focused on responsible recreation and on-the-ground ambassadors on the BTNF. This injection of grant funds into our organization represented a turning point and significant expansion of the impact FBT could have on the forest. The JHTTB continues to be a partner and funder of FBT’s work as an important pillar in visitor management and education in Teton County, Wyoming

Our master agreement with the USFS puts us in a unique position to help fill gaps in funding and capacity so we can do projects similar to the very projects our friends in the 1980s envisioned for the Bridger-Teton National Forest and more. We partner with businesses and NGOs to make stuff happen. Our forest ambassadors work diligently to educate visitors and prevent things from happening (like wildfires and human/wildlife conflicts), and our educational videos and materials help people prepare before they enter the forest.

 

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Infinite Opportunities for Exploration

The 3.4 million acres of the BTNF cross five counties and are managed by six ranger districts. The BTNF is the single largest mass of public land within the 15-million acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, itself the largest intact ecosystem in the Lower 48.

Videos de habilidades del senderismo

Estos videos explicá ¿cómo prevenir accidentes? ¿Cómo dejar un lugar mejor de como lo encontraste? ¿Qué encargar para una caminata? ¿Y cómo protegerse de y cohabitar con osos?

Videos de habilidades del senderismo

About the BTNF

The Bridger-Teton National Forest is bigger than Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks combined, and home to some of the wildest landscapes in the Lower 48. It has 3 Wilderness areas and more than 2,500 miles of trails, and contains the headwaters of the Green and Snake Rivers. People recreate, recharge, and find refuge on the BTNF. If you haven’t, please explore the forest, whether by skiing, hiking, hunting, fishing, or collecting firewood. Humans aren’t the only users of the BTNF, though: 74 species of mammals, 355 species of birds, six species of reptiles, and 25 species of fish live within its borders.

Our Staff

Cheyenne Sterck

Development Coordinator

Samantha

River Steward

Jack Lahey

Carlie Ideker

Interim Executive Director & Program Manager

Shane O’Brien

Project Manager

Monica Elliott

Forest Corps program Manager

Jennifer Ricupero

Partnership Manager

Dina Mishev

Communications Manager

Our Board

Linda Merigliano

Karla Bird

Lisa Franzen, Co-Secretary

Kathy Gross

Marshall Durston

Chuck Butterfield

Tim Gardiner, Vice President

Marc Domsky

Ian MacLeod, Treasurer

Sharon Smitherman

Steve Markason, President

Karen Daubert, Co-Secretary

Ellen Fales, Board Member Emeritus

Forest Corps

We’re excited to introduce the Forest Corps, a new seasonal initiative designed to help fill critical gaps.

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Era Coriz

Ellie Zaher

Mickey Atkins

Abby Franklin

Ash Gunter

LeeAnn Shelton

Elly McFarland

Forest Corps Crew Lead

Monica Elliott

Forest Corps program Manager

Partners

It takes a community to protect an ecosystem.

No one organization can steward a landscape as marvelously expansive, diverse, and complex as the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Always with the best interests of the BTNF in mind, we work with more than 100 partner organizations, including nonprofits like Friends of Pathways, Teton Adaptive Sports, and Tip Top Search and Rescue; government offices like Sublette County Weed & Pest, the Town of Jackson, and the USDA Forest Service; and also private companies like Kate’s Real Food, Roadhouse Brewing Co., and Dometic.

Our ability to be good stewards across a forest the size of Connecticut depends heavily on our ability to work with partners with shared values and priorities.

A huge thank you to all of our partners.

Interested in being a partner of Friends?

Become a Partner

FBT News

BTNF-FBT Ambassador Randy Roberts Hikes with VP Vance

Public lands are for everyone, including the Vice President. Ambassadors like Randy Roberts help take care of them.

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Thank You to Executive Director Scott Kosiba

On behalf of the Friends of Bridger-Teton board, we want to announce that our Executive Director, Scott Kosiba, has resigned to focus on his family and his newborn son.   ...

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Rain = Relief, but Fire Restrictions Stay

Northwest Wyoming is finally getting some cooler temps and rain, which is great news. But the rain does not mean that the stage 1 fire restrictions are being lifted. An...

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Bear Spray: This small can can have a big impact

“She was coming at me, and her mouth was open, and I was able to get my bear spray out of the holster. And I shot it from the ground,...

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FBT Forest Corps Is Back—and Clearing the Way

Now in its second season, the nonprofit-funded crew is adding trail-work capacity across the Bridger-Teton—and making room for everyone to get outside. FBT Forest Corps is back for a second...

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Toads that smell like peanuts studied on the BTNF

It’s the BTNF’s mammals—moose, grizzly and black bears, pronghorn, elk—that get most of the attention, but a University of Wyoming doctoral student in ecology has spent part of this summer...

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Stage One Fire Restrictions

Stage 1 Fire Restrictions for Teton Interagency Dispatch Area in Effect Starting July 22, 2026 The Teton Interagency Dispatch Area includes Grand Teton National Park, the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and...

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Ambassadors at work on Shadow Mountain

Sitting just outside the boundary of Grand Teton National Park and with stunning views of the Tetons, Shadow Mountain is the busiest designated dispersed camping area on the Bridger-Teton National...

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Shadow Mountain Camping

Is this the most gorgeous free camping area in the country? If it’s not, sitting on the BTNF’s Jackson District directly across from the main peaks of the Teton Range...

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Meriglianos Receive Teton Conservation Vision Award from Teton Conservation District

In early July, Teton Conservation District announced that FBT Board member Linda Merigliano and her husband, Dr. Mike Merigliano, were the recipients of its 2026 Teton Conservation Vision Award. Together...

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@bridgertetonfriends One of 700+ trees FBT Forest Corps has removed from trails this summer. #fbtforestcorps #bridgertetonnationalforest #bridgertetonfriends Public lands are for everyone, including the Vice President. And BTNF/FBT Ambassadors like Randy Roberts help take care of them, when they’re not chatting with the Vice President’s nine-year-old son about fish and beavers. Read more about the Vice President’s hike on Old Pass Road, on the BTNF’s Jackson District, in a @wyofile story linked in our bio. #publiclands #publicland #bridgertetonnationalforest Dolly came from the mountain of Tennessee, but we think she’d have appreciated Wyoming’s, too. Now in its second season, the FBT Forest Corps is adding trail-work capacity across the Bridger-Teton—and making room for everyone to get outside. FBT Forest Corps was never intended to replace federal funding or staffing. Friends of the Bridger-Teton initially launched FBT Forest Corps as a one-year response to the BTNF’s 2025 budget and staffing cuts. But with more than 1,000 miles of trails spanning 3.4 million acres—and districts grateful for the extra boots on the ground—FBT is happy to keep the corps going in 2026 and, hopefully, beyond. Help FBT with its mission to inspire connection, stewardship, and responsible use of the vast and diverse public lands of the Bridger-Teton National Forest with a donation via Foundation 23’s Race to Raise. Every donation we get through it is partially matched, allowing us to do even more work on our favorite national forest. The Race to Raise Giving Season runs—no pun intended—through 5 p.m. September 26. Donate to FBT through Foundation 23’s link in our bio. #fbtforestcorps #bridgertetonfriends #trailwork #trailcrew “Yes, we’ve always been adventurous,” says first-time FBT/BTNF Ambassador Marthanna. “We’re the parents of eight children!” The couple has also spent a year sailing America’s Great Loop, a continuous 6,000-mile nautical route that circumnavigates the eastern United States and parts of Canada, and explored the Great Lakes, Boundary Waters, and mountains of Colorado. Since Les retired in the spring of 2024, the couple, who live in Michigan, has adopted the mantra, “you’ve got to do it while you can,” concerning adventures they still want to have, of which there are many, including volunteering for public lands. They started their search for a volunteer position looking for something in winter. “But we saw the Goosewing Guard Station and it sounded so interesting and unique,” Les says. Marthanna adds, “It seems so remote and wild.” Our Ambassadors for Responsible Recreation program includes full- and part-time summer and winter positions as volunteers for the USDA Forest Service on the BTNF. This summer there are 40 volunteer Ambassadors for Responsible Recreation across all six districts of the BTNF. They are supported by local lodging tax dollars, Friends of the Bridger-Teton, and private donations. #bridgertetonnationalforest #bridgertetonfriends #nationalforests #nationalforest #publiclands

We acknowledge with respect that our facilities are situated on the aboriginal land of the Shoshone Bannock. Eastern Shoshone. Northern Arapaho. Crow. Assiniboine. Sioux. Gros Ventre. Nez Perce.

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