2025 Annual Report
Dear Supporter,
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s record of conservation success is only possible when we work together. Often, that means starting small, in conversations with a neighbor. Making new connections. And eventually, those conversations and connections build into something greater. That collective power was on full display over the last year when so many of you stepped up to support our work. You were there to advocate for and support the things you care about and confirm that we truly are greater when we all work together.
In fact, over the last year, we heard from GYC supporters in all 50 states. When the foundation of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – public lands – were under repeated threats, you spoke in a single unified voice and told our elected officials that our public lands are far too precious to be sold off to the highest bidder or used as a bargaining chip. When we asked for your support in advocating for science-based plans to manage and conserve the iconic wildlife in our region, you were there. Time and time again, we have counted on you to be our most valuable partner in protecting Greater Yellowstone.
Your commitment doesn’t just show up in moments of urgency—it sustains the day-to-day work that makes lasting conservation possible. Because of you, we’re able to bring people together, advocate for effective solutions, and secure tangible wins for the lands, waters, and wildlife that define this region. From safeguarding key migration corridors and organizing broad support for public lands in Wyoming to restoring bison herds with tribal partners, your support turns shared values into real outcomes on the ground.
As we look ahead, we know the challenges facing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are only becoming more daunting. But our resolve remains strong. What gives me confidence is this community, people like you, who continue to show up, speak out, donate and stand firm in the belief that this place is worth protecting. You remind us that conservation is not just about landscapes or species, but about legacy. It’s about what we choose to carry forward and what we refuse to lose.
Thank you for being part of this work, for lending your voice, and for investing in a future where Greater Yellowstone remains wild, connected, and resilient. Together, we are building something enduring—something truly greater than any one of us could achieve alone
Scott Christensen, Executive Director
Financials
Our financial sustainability is due to generous gifts, bequests, sustaining donations, events, and grants from people like you. This generosity allows us to think bigger and make lasting investments in our work now and in the future. Thank you!
If you’d like additional information, please see our audited financial statements and 990s, please visit greateryellowstone.org/financials.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition has a platinum transparency rating with Candid and Guidestar, the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. The platinum transparency is the highest level a charity can achieve, showing GYC is committed to sound financial management.
Attaining a 4-star “exceptional” rating from Charity Navigator verifies the Greater Yellowstone Coalition exceeds non-profit industry standards. Only 16 percent of charities evaluated have received at least seven consecutive 4-star ratings, which means the Greater Yellowstone Coalition outperforms most other charities in America.
Public Lands: A Uniting Force for Conservation
Your voice and the voices of thousands of people who care about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem proved in 2025 just how powerful it can be when we all work together for something greater. It started with a threat that struck at the core of what makes this region so special.
An effort in Congress led by a Senator from Utah to sell off millions of acres of America’s public lands. But together, we pushed back. Advocates like you spoke up, reached out to decision-makers, and made it clear that these lands are not for sale today or ever. That pressure worked. The proposal failed, marking a major victory for our public lands and the people and wildlife who depend on them.
But as one threat moved to the background, another emerged.
In late 2025, attention turned to the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, one of the most important and proven effective safeguards for our national forests. This rule protects 45 million acres of undeveloped public lands from roadbuilding and large-scale industrial activity, which includes millions of acres across Montana and Wyoming.
These roadless areas are more than just lines on a map. They are the headwaters of our rivers and streams. The areas provide clean, reliable drinking water to communities across the country. They are also some of the last intact habitats for wildlife. When proposals surfaced to roll back these protections, you showed up again. Nearly 2,000 Greater Yellowstone Coalition supporters took action, speaking out in defense of these wild places and the rule that has proven effective in their protection.
Roadless areas form the backbone of habitat for iconic species like grizzly bears. These undeveloped landscapes provide the large, connected areas that grizzlies need to roam, find food, and safely raise their young. Without these undeveloped areas, roads fragment habitat, increase conflicts with people, and threaten the long-term survival of this critical species.
Protecting roadless forests is also about something deeply personal: the water we drink. These intact landscapes filter and store water naturally, ensuring that rivers run clean and cold—from mountain headwaters all the way to downstream communities. Weakening these protections would put our communities at risk, opening the door to development and uses that can degrade water quality and increase wildfire impacts.
And yet, the public outcry in support of public lands over the last year once again showed what’s possible. From resoundingly stopping public land selloffs to mobilizing thousands of advocates to defend the Roadless Rule, you proved that people across the political spectrum value these lands and are willing to fight for them.
That’s the story of this year: not just challenges, but unity and a growing public lands movement.
It’s a reminder that conservation victories don’t happen by accident. They happen because people like you take action—writing a message, signing a petition, showing up when it matters most. And when those individual actions come together, they create something powerful enough to protect millions of acres of wild country.
In Greater Yellowstone, protecting roadless forests means protecting clean water. It means protecting wildlife like grizzly bears. And ultimately, it means protecting the wild heart of this ecosystem, today, and for generations to come. Our public lands across the ecosystem need your continued support.
Restoring America’s National Mammal
It’s hard to overstate the vastness of northeastern Montana. The upper right corner of the state is closer to Canada than Yellowstone. It’s this expansive landscape on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation where genetically pure bison—or buffalo—from Yellowstone National Park spend a year of their lives before finding their permanent homes with tribal nations across North America.
In February 2026, a team from the Greater Yellowstone Coalition witnessed the largest-ever rehoming of Yellowstone bison to tribes. In all, 213 healthy bison made the 470-mile journey from the park to Fort Peck.
It’s part of a coordinated effort developed in partnership with the National Park Service, the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, state of Montana, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, Yellowstone Forever, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to ensure more healthy bison are kept alive and transferred to tribes.
The Bison Conservation Transfer Program is a critical part of meaningful bison restoration.
The once vast herds that engineered the American West and supported tribes for millennia were nearly wiped out by the early 1900s. The roughly 5,000 bison roaming Yellowstone today are descendants of just two dozen individuals that found a haven in the park’s rugged interior while European settlers and the American military systematically exterminated millions of animals.
To date, the program has rehomed 625 Yellowstone bison to 29 tribes in 13 states and one first nation in Canada. Tribes’ access to Yellowstone bison is not only paramount for cultural reasons, but a protected treaty right. The successful rehoming effort would not have happened without the dedication and stewardship of Fort Peck’s tribal buffalo program led by Robbie Magnan.
For nearly three decades, Magnan has managed the tribes’ buffalo. Magnan grew up on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation but did not see a live buffalo until he visited the Denver Zoo when he was 10 years old.
“Buffalo had been absent for two generations, so I never really had stories to relate to until we brought buffalo back to the Fort Peck Reservation,” he said. “I’m fortunate now, I get to see what my parents and grandparents didn’t get to see, and that’s to live with the buffalo.”
GYC and its generous donors continue to support the transfer program. Together, we’ve been able to quadruple the capacity of the program which means even more healthy bison are being diverted from slaughter and restored to their ancestral range. From a policy lens, we continue to advocate for modern, science-based solutions that allow our national mammal to thrive. Yellowstone’s updated bison management plan has been a big step in the right direction by prioritizing the transfer program over slaughter and relying on the best available science to make decisions.
Plus, a 2025 study published in the journal Science confirms Yellowstone’s free-roaming herds of bison not only shape the landscape but make it healthier. Researchers found that in areas where bison graze heavily, plants regrow with 150 percent more nutrients, making forage across the landscape more nutritious for all plant-eating wildlife. Crucially, Yellowstone’s grasslands stayed healthy and resilient even with far more bison than traditional livestock standards would recommend.
The American bison’s story is a conservation success that continues to have positive ripple effects for tribal cultures, and the health of the ecosystem. And yet, the story isn’t over.
The story is a quiet, steady return of something that should never have been taken away. It’s a reminder that the restoration of a species is possible when people come together with a deep respect for partnership, patience, and hope.