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 and individually, the Meriglianos have spent their careers deepening the local community’s relationship with the lands and waters of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
The award recognizes those whose work advances Teton Conservation District’s vision of a forward-looking community practicing natural resource stewardship. TCD says few have embodied that vision more fully, and irrespective of recognition, than Mike and Linda. “Despite Mike and Linda’s aversion to the spotlight, our Board of Supervisors wanted to express our appreciation for their tireless commitment,” says Carlin Girard, executive director at Teton Conservation District. “As a symbol of their combined efforts, we are presenting them with a Giant Red Paintbrush and Fringed Sage companion kit that they can plant on their property in Teton Valley, Idaho.” Linda, who joined FBT’s Board earlier this year after working 34 years as a recreation and wilderness manager with the Bridger-Teton National Forest, says, “Mike and I were incredibly honored by the recognition from the Teton Conservation District and very grateful to be recognized together for it has truly being a collaboration over the decades. We are committed to continue the work of science-and relationship-based work to care for our wonderful public lands. A special shout out to Robb Sgroi whom we have both worked closely with and wrote such a special tribute. We also thank Morgan for the gift of native plants—a welcome addition to our backyard sagebrush patch.”
TCD land resources specialist (and former BTNF staffer) Robb Sgroi says, “Sharing an office with Linda for four years, I witnessed her skill-sets firsthand. Linda is highly organized with a strong work ethic that permeates everything she does. Accompanying her on site visits, you quickly see that ‘she hikes like she has somewhere to be!’ Linda also invested heavily into her employees, to empower them to become effective stewards of natural resources.”
Dr. Merigliano is a lifelong conservationist in the Tetons who has made a lasting impact on people, resources, and the institutions that care for them. In its announcement of the award, Teton Conservation District said, “Mike draws from many fields—ecology, botany, geology, hydrology, soils, and photography—with a fluency that is hard to overstate. He might call himself a plant ecologist; his resume might lead you to think he is a forester; a conversation will quickly demonstrate the detailed catalogue of the natural world contained within his head. His personal observations from decades traversing the region’s wild places, combined with his educational background, have contributed to his remarkable wealth of knowledge.”
Photo courtesy of Teton Conservation District
