Meet Matt Sweitzer and Julia Blanco, Jackson District, Shadow Mountain
“We were Shadow Mountain Ambassadors in 2023, and then we took a year off to get married, and we’re excited to be back in 2025,” say Matt and Julia, who first visited the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks on a post-college cross-country RV trip 10 years ago. “We fell in love with the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem on that trip and couldn’t get wait to go back. We have returned as visitors over the years, but when we found the job for Shadow Mountain Camp Ambassador on volunteer.gov in 2023, we were like, ‘let’s go for this!’ It was the best thing we ever did.”
Because Matt is working (remotely) full-time while here this summer, Julia will be the full-time Ambassador while he handles evenings and weekends. But the couple hopes to find an occasional night off together so that they can go on a short backpacking trip. “We hike every single day, whether on the BTNF or in [Grand Teton National Park], and we love to backpack,” they say.
Whatever they are doing and whether it is on national forest or national park, the couple, who lives in New Hampshire when not volunteering on the BTNF, say, “we’re big Leave No Trace people. We always bring out our own trash, and always pick up other trash that we see, and make sure to stay on trails.”
During their first summer as Ambassadors, the couple say they really enjoyed helping others learn about Leave No Trace and how to recreate in a way that helps ensure the BTNF will be around for future generations to enjoy. “We were surprised by how many people weren’t familiar with the idea of responsible recreation, but, as Camp Ambassadors we are passionate about educating people, and they seem excited to learn,” they say. “Most ‘bad behavior’ isn’t malicious, but a lack of knowing different.”
Fun Fact: Although all of their BTNF friends encouraged Matt and Julia to get married at The Wedding Tree, an intimate spot with spectacular views of the Tetons, “we have too big of a family for that to have worked,” they say. Instead, they got married—barefoot in the grass under the trees—on 300 acres of conservation land close to their New Hampshire home.