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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

Mady Fowler

Intern

Parker Romero

Intern

Carlie Ideker

Program Manager

Shane O’Brien

Project Manager

Scott Kosiba

Executive Director

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

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

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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The Four Ws: Ways of Life—Cultural Wisdom and Heritage

The 58-mile long Green River Drift cattle trail, which takes place in and around the Upper Green River Valley in the BTNF’s Pinedale District, has been continuously used since the...

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The Four Ws: Wildlands

The BTNF is special for as many different reasons as users who enjoy it. But there are Four Ws—Water (and snow), Wildlife, Wildlands, and Ways of Life—that make it truly...

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The Four Ws: Water

The BTNF is special for as many different reasons as users who enjoy it. But there are Four Ws—Water (and snow), Wildlife, Wildlands, and Ways of Life—that make it truly...

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The Four Ws: Wildlife

The BTNF is special for as many different reasons as users who enjoy it. But there are Four Ws—Water (and snow), Wildlife, Wildlands, and Ways of Life—that make it truly...

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Wyoming Range 100

The first time Denis Cook visited the Wyoming Range, one of the six mountain ranges within the Bridger-Teton National Forest, he was invited by friends who promised, “we won’t see...

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May is National Wildfire Awareness Month

A mild winter with little snowpack created an earlier than normal fire season this year. Fire and wildfire professionals in and around the BTNF are already preparing for the wildfire...

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@bridgertetonfriends Sharing an important message from @snakeriverfund and @wygameandfish — help protect Wyoming’s trout populations by shifting fishing to the early morning hours during the summer heat. Continually warm temperatures and low water flows across western Wyoming are causing stream temperatures to regularly exceed 65 degrees in the afternoon and evening, posing a serious threat to caught-and-released trout. Of particular concern are the Snake River and Flat Creek, which have both had afternoon temperatures exceeding 70 degrees on multiple days during the past week. Due to hot and dry conditions projected to continue for multiple weeks, local biologists have decided to formally implement a voluntary closure for both waterways. The voluntary closure asks that anglers limit their catch-and-release angling to the morning hours when stream temperatures are lower and stop fishing by noon when stream temperatures begin to heat up. Game and Fish staff will continue to monitor water temperatures on the Snake River and Flat Creek to determine if further action is needed to protect local fisheries. Signs detailing the voluntary afternoon closure will be posted at major public access points. #snakeriverfund #stewardship #education #outreach Head’s UP! Contracted crews will be doing hazardous fuels reduction in Phillips Canyon, near the BPA powerline corridor and west of Fish Creek Road on the BTNF’s Jackson Ranger District Aug. 3 through Sept. 12, 2026, weather permitting. For public safety, a trail closure will be in place Monday through Saturday of each week, starting Aug. 3. The closure includes portions of the Phillips Canyon Trail and Phillips Ridge Trail. Arrow and Phillips Pass trails will remain open throughout operations. There will be a phased reopening of trails as soon as practical and safe to do so. Forest thinning improves forest health and reduces wildfire risk by using crews to remove small trees and other vegetation to reduce accumulated fuel load. These treatments can benefit ecosystems and people by reducing the probability of catastrophic fires, restoring healthy and resilient ecosystems, and protecting communities. Read the closure order and see a map of the affected trails at the link in our bio. 10,000! Not to be outdone by BTNF Jackson District ranger Todd Stiles (who filled the bed of truck with the invasive species he pulled along the road and in campsites in Curtis Canyon), that’s how many invasive musk thistles volunteers pulled on Shadow Mountain last week. A huge thanks to Teton County Weed and Pest District for coordinating this Habitat Heroes event, Hole Hiking Experience for helping, and the FBT volunteers who showed up. Musk thistle is native to Eurasia, and can take over entire fields and meadows of native plants. Although popular with local pollinators, it is is not palatable to Jackson Hole’s native foraging wildlife. It had become a common site in campsites and along the roads at Shadow Mountain, on the Jackson District of the BTNF. 8 spotted knapweed were also pulled. Hole Hiking Experience is planning to pull together a group to hit this trail one more time in a few weeks. Follow @holehikingexperience or keep checking in on our posts to know when this will happen. @tetonweedpest #habitatheroes #holehikingexperience #bridgertetonnationalforest #bridgertetonfriends Have you driven Curtis Canyon road this summer? Did you, like us, think, “Whoa—it seems like there is a lot of musk thistle?” Well, there was! Jackson District ranger Todd Stiles spent an entire day pulling every single musk thistle along the road and they filled the entire bed of his truck! Casey Merritt started her professional life in nursing, and then switched career paths—to outdoor and environmental education. She believes that clean air, clean water, clean food, and places to exercise and de-stress are necessary to support human health, and that our public lands, parks, and forests provide many of those benefits. To support those important places, she became a ranger. Over more than two decades, she worked in five national parks (Grand Canyon, Big Bend, Denali, Olympic, and Rocky Mountain and two national forests (the Green Mountain National Forest and the White Mountain National Forest) in roles including backcountry and recreation management and education/interpretation. She retired from 22 years working for federal land management agencies in the spring of 2025, and continues to dedicate her time to caring for and enjoying our public lands in a volunteer capacity. 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. Summer Ambassador jobs range from educating visitors and locals about the importance of recreating responsibly to manning desks at area visitor centers, doing outreach on behalf of the forest, cleaning toilets, monitoring campgrounds, patrolling popular trails and trailheads, and helping recycle bear spray, among other duties. 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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