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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

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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Spotlight On: White Pine Ski Area

White Pine is neither the oldest (Snow King) nor biggest (Jackson Hole Mountain Resort) of the three ski areas on the BTNF, but it is rich in community history. The...

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1966 Time Capsule Unearthed

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Forest Corps Update June 2025

The FBT Forest Corps crew has hit the ground running. “The early season is going great!” says Forest Corps leader Monica Elliott. “It seems that project partners from each district...

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Putting Money Where the Fun Is

A new fee system in the Snake River Canyon Area will help the BTNF enhance user experiences and safety, and also protect the river’s wild and scenic values. And users...

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@bridgertetonfriends “I am a deep believer in the power of public lands,” says Bob Weiss, who moved to Jackson Hole full-time in 2018 after he and his wife retired and has been a volunteer supporting the Bridger-Teton National Forest via Friends of the Bridger-Teton since 2021. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Bob’s first volunteering in the valley was in Grand Teton National Park. At that time, he lived in Wilson, close to the base of Teton Pass, which is part of the BTNF. “I thought that if I could volunteer for the National Park Service, I could for the BTNF. It was so close to my house, and I feel it is underappreciated, national forests don’t have the glamour of national parks, and we use our national forest pretty intensely here. I wanted to help educate people to treat it respectfully.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ He’s been a dedicated trail Ambassador ever since. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 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 publicland getoutside responsiblerecreation keepwildlifewild jacksonhole cachecreek Second-year Ambassador Mike Johnson started coming up to the Greys River in 1988. “I camped up here with a friend that year and we were so enamored with it that we said we’d come up every year,” Mike says. “I also started bringing my kids and eventually grandkids. It’s become a family tradition every year.” Retired from working for the city of Orem, Utah for 25 years in 2004 and from the private sector in 2023, Mike has volunteered for city and state lands for years. Last year was his first time volunteering on federal lands. He was happy to get posted to Moose Flats because that was an area he had often camped with his family. “It’s a place that has been a connection for me for most of my life,” he says. “It’s a beautiful valley and remote enough that you don’t have your cell phone and you can just get away.” Mike is at Moose Flats with his cat, Moji. He got her just before his first summer as an Ambassador and Moji surprised him by giving birth to a litter of five kittens in early August. “She’s a fun camping buddy, but still doesn’t like driving in the car.” 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 publicland getoutside responsiblerecreation keepwildlifewild greysriver Wonder why there are mandatory leash zones at some of the busiest BTNF trailheads? A Buckrail story from last week—link in bio—explains (and quotes new FBT Board Member Linda Merigliano). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #recreateresponsibly #cachecree #bridgertetonnationalforest @bradlyjboner captured some really cool photos of the landslide that happened up Granite Creek in the BTNF’s Jackson District last week. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As a result of the land/mudslide, which got into a clay layer, the Hoback River and part of Granite Creek are running red. Granite Falls is also running red. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The slide occurred on Open Door Mountain, northeast of Granite Hot Springs. It is believed to have happened late last Wednesday. It started at the summit and carried water, mud and boulders all the way down to Granite Creek. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Jackson District Ranger Todd Stiles visited the slide to make sure it hadn’t blocked Granite Creek in a way that could “release catastrophically,” like the 1925 Gros Ventre slide that destroyed the community of Kelly, did. He reported that there didn’t appear to be a blockage. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ BUT, about 200 feet of the Granite Creek Trail has been buried with about 8 to 10 inches of sediment. When it is possible, a trail crew will work of the buried trail. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “It’s a mess,” said Stiles to the @jhnewsandguide. “It’s well past ankle-deep mud where the trail is.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Although “a mess,” the trail is open. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #granitecreek #bridgertetonnationalforest #wyominglandslide #geologyinaction Teton Interagency Fire crews responded yesterday afternoon to suppress the Kinky Creek Fire, located approximately three miles west of Darwin Ranch, near upper Gros Ventre Falls in the Gros Ventre Wilderness on the BTNF’s Jackson Ranger District. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The public is asked to avoid Kinky Creek Road; Kinky Creek and Clear Creek trails; and Brewster, Lunch, and Chateau lakes so fire crews can work safely and efficiently. A forest closure order of the area is forthcoming. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The fire is burning in timber on a steep slope, and yesterday exhibited active fire behavior with torching, spotting, and running, quickly growing to an estimated 350-acres. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Yesterday, smokejumpers were able to create an anchor point at the heel of the fire and are working to keep the fire on the west side of the Gros Ventre River. An anchor point is a secure location that firefighters establish to begin building fireline from. Other resources began setting up structure protection around Darwin Ranch. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Firefighting resources include a type 3 helicopter, air attack, smokejumpers, fire engines, and other support staff, with over 50 firefighters working to suppress the fire. Additional resources have also been ordered and will arrive today. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Fire managers are implementing direct extinguishment and indirect confinement strategies on the Kinky Creek Fire. A direct extinguishment strategy is when firefighters engage the active flame front directly to stop fire spread. An indirect confinement strategy is when firefighters work away from the active flame front to steer or contain the fire. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A type 3 incident management team has been ordered to help with firefighting efforts and should arrive by this evening. A type 3 incident management team is a multi-agency organization of firefighting specialists that manage incidents of moderate complexity that require more resources and a longer operational duration than the local forest can handle alone. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Follow the fire in the link in our bio.

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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