User talk:Mike Cline/Articles Under Contemplation/Yellowstone Park Foundation

The Yellowstone Park Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization headquartered in Bozeman, Montana and is the official fund raising partner for the National Park Service at Yellowstone National Park

Purpose
The Yellowstone Park Foundation is partnered with the National Park Service to raise funds for a variety of projects that enhance the Yellowstone National Park visitor experiences, including recreation, safety, accessibility, and educational opportunities; projects related to wildlife, geology, science, ecosystem, and education to preserve Yellowstone natural resources; projects that protect, preserve, research, or share information about Yellowstone's human history and cultural resources; projects promoting the effectiveness, safety, and efficiency of park rangers, while preserving the rich tradition of rangers in Yellowstone; youth education programs to promote the understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of Yellowstone among the next generation; and projects that reduce Yellowstone's ecological footprint, increase operational efficiency, and better preserve environmental resources. Since its creation in 1996, the foundation has raised over $____ million in donations to support projects in Yellowstone.

History
Mike Finley, former Yellowstone Superintendent (1994-2001) led the creation of the foundation. In 1996 a group of volunteers formed a board and elected John Good its first chairman. Good was a former naturalist in Yellowstone. Prominent members included _________________. Although the original name was the Yellowstone Foundation, Inc. it officially changed to the Yellowstone Park Foundation, Inc. on October 21, 1996. On November 29, 1996 the foundation was officially incorporated in the state of Montana as the Yellowstone Park Foundation Inc. and entered into a formal agreement with the National Park Service to become the official fundraising partner of Yellowstone National Park. The current Friends Group Agreement with the National Park Service was signed on March 25, 2011.

In 1996, ConocoPhillips, then Conoco, provided the first of two $100,000 donations of seed funding for YPF. The foundation hired its first staff member, Executive Director Lisa Diekmann, and opened headquarters in a small office in Bozeman, Montana.

Operations
The foundation raises and disperses funds to support projects within Yellowstone National Park at the request of the Park superintendant. Under its current set of By-Laws, the foundation has a uncompensated Board of Directors, Advisory Council and an Emeritus Board. The foundation operates with five officers-Board Chairman, Vice Chairman, President/Executive Director, Secretary and Treasurer. Only the President/Executive Director is compensated.

Major accomplishments

 * 1996 - the foundation makes its first grants to the park for wolf research.


 * 1996 - the foundation assumes funding for the Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps ,
 * 1997 - the foundation raises its first million dollars in donations
 * 1999 - the foundation begins a $15 million capital campaign to build a new Vistor Center at Old Faithful in Yellowstone's Upper Geyser Basin.
 * 2001 - the foundation acquires a private treasure of 1000s of Yellowstone memorabilia, maps, and photographs from a private collection for the Yellowstone Heritage & Research Center. ,
 * 2002 - the foundation begins the Windows into Wonderland program of electronic field trips as outreach for teachers and students in all 50 U.S. states and 140 countries.
 * 2003 - the foundation initiates long-term Dark Skies projects to reduce light pollution within the park in support of the International Dark-Sky Association. ,
 * 2004 - the foundation supports a vanity license plate with the State of Montana which has raised $500,000 since its debut.
 * 2004 - the foundation begins funding the Fly Fishing Volunteers Program that allows private citizens to participate in various fisheries research projects.
 * 2006 - the foundation initiates three long-term funding projects to support the Yellowstone Archives, improvement in Yellowstone fisheries and an extensive trail improvement program.
 * 2007 - the foundation partners with Montana State University-Bozeman and the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine to study wildlife diseases in the park.
 * 2007 - the foundation initiates the Yellowstone Ranger Fund (now called the Ranger Hertiage Initiative) to address the workplace needs of the park's ranger corps. ,
 * 2008 - Artist's Point reopens to the public after a $1 million restoration project funded by the foundation. Artist's point is a promontory on the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone below the lower Yellowstone Falls named by photographer Frank Jay Haynes in 1883.
 * 2008 - the foundation helps inagurates the first live-streaming webcam in Yellowstone at Old Faithful. The Old Faithful webcam helped identify and capture six individuals who vandalized the Old Faithful geyser in May 2009.
 * 2008 - the foundation initiates the Yellowstone Environmental Stewardship project to deal with greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste reductions., ,
 * 2009 - foundation fundraising reaches $50 million.
 * 2009 - the foundation obtains ~ $1 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to conduct the Yellowstone Lake Molecular All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. ,
 * 2010 - the new Old Faithful Visitor Education Center opens at Old Faithful. The environmentally friendly, $27 million, 26,000-square-foot visitor's center resulted from a $15 million contribution from the foundation from more than 400 individuals, foundations, and corporations. It replaced an undersized and outdated facility built in the 1960s.
 * 2011 - the foundation launches a $4 million campaign to restore the old Haynes Photo Shop at Old Faithful as a second home within the park for the foundation.

Temporary links

 * http://www.nature.org/media/wyoming/53173_wy.pdf
 * http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/arts/design/31yellowstone.html?_r=1
 * http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/business/edson-w-spencer-longtime-chief-of-honeywell-dies-at-85.html
 * http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=edson-w-spencer&pid=156725537
 * http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/sports/othersports/06outdoor.html
 * http://books.google.com/books?id=lgll2iHgMMEC&pg=PA78&lpg=PA78&dq=%22Yellowstone+Park+Foundation%22&source=bl&ots=cSRyLZ6f1X&sig=Dy6vA4xo67KVveXpKX3Ei_ElBw4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YZMGUK7sLoys8QSx3o3gBw&ved=0CG8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22Yellowstone%20Park%20Foundation%22&f=false
 * http://books.google.com/books?id=f6k9ycrf6b8C&pg=PT111&lpg=PT111&dq=yellowstone+park+foundation+jobs&source=bl&ots=rYpDdcIZ4h&sig=8meXDAodvI7Ie-_XmwtctydEKLg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FZQGUOf8E4im8QTYjNXgBw&ved=0CHAQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=yellowstone%20park%20foundation%20jobs&f=false
 * http://www.questia.com/library/1P3-535368851/creating-partnerships-for-our-public-lands