The first National Park Service rangers were Yellowstone rangers. For the better part of a century, they have served the public as field guides, informal educators, medics, rescuers, and law enforcement officers, and today rangers continue to serve in myriad roles.
Approximately 98% of Yellowstone National Park is backcountry managed as wilderness, and this immense area must still be patrolled by rangers on horseback, on skis, or on foot. Boundary encroachment, poaching, resource destruction, and theft in the backcountry are chronic problems. During the peak summer season, just 22 backcountry rangers are available to cover more than two million acres of the most remote terrain in the lower 48 states.
Yellowstone's front country, its developed areas, also requires constant ranger patrols. Each ranger must be prepared to face a wide range of possible situations, from structural fires and emergency medical response, to law enforcement and disaster management. This preparation requires having updated, reliable equipment immediately available such as stretchers, bullet-proof vests, rescue boats, communications equipment, and a fleet of emergency vehicles.
Rangers also work to prevent the 600 motor vehicle accidents in Yellowstone each year that result in significant physical trauma, occasionally death, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of property damage. In addition, they strive to reduce the more than 100 mammals killed annually on Park roads.
The Yellowstone Park Foundation’s Ranger Fund Initiative was established to raise $2 million to address priorities of the Park's rangers. The funds will:
- Support backcountry and boundary operations by enhancing boundary patrols, rehabilitating and outfitting historic patrol cabins, and providing Yellowstone rangers with safety equipment, basic patrol supplies, and support they need to efficiently protect people and resources in the Park's vast backcountry.
- Augment front country operations by improving traffic safety systems on Park roads, providing new boats for patrolling lakes, and purchasing critical equipment for emergency response, law enforcement, and search and rescue operations.
- Enhance stock use management by providing a much-needed barn for storage and rider and stock training, and much-needed supplies and equipment for the 100 head of horses required by Yellowstone's rangers .
- Enable proper restoration and curation of exhibits at the Museum of the National Park Ranger in order to educate visitors about the evolution of the ranger’s role in Yellowstone and its rich cultural history throughout the National Park Service.
Today, the primary responsibility of the Yellowstone ranger is to protect the Park’s natural and cultural resources as well as visitors to the Park. To continue the tradition of fulfilling this mission, rangers need trustworthy equipment, state-of-the-art technology, reliable transportation, and suitable facilities.
With generous support from Friends of Yellowstone, the Ranger Fund will enhance the effectiveness of the committed and hardworking rangers by addressing both urgent and long-term funding needs; in doing so, the Fund will broaden public understanding of the importance of the national park ranger.
Total Initiative Goal: $2,000,000
Funds Still Needed: $1,149,621
Make a donation to the Yellowstone Ranger Fund
Learn about the Adopt a Cabin program
Learn about the Adopt a Horse program
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