Yellowstone Country Guardians Field Journal

YWLP Poltuck Dinner...

Last night we added yet another glorious chapter to the story of the Youth Wilderness Leadership Program on a windy Friday evening in Livingston, Montana.  It has been over a month since our first annual YWLP—the results of which were beyond our wildest expectations—and it was with great excitement that we reunited with all of the student participants and many of their family members for a gathering and dinner to celebrate the coming together of 19 tremendous young people who are now dedicated to the future of Yellowstone Country.

Though the temperature outside was plummeting and the winds roaring, the energy and spirit filling the banquet room in Livingston last night represented our greatest hope for YCG.  We gathered together to celebrate a place we call Yellowstone and the youth that contribute to this region’s uniqueness.  All of those in attendance last night represent the very best of YCG and though the students are the essence of the YCG family, we were touched by the interest and support of the adults and parents present as they will play an important role in the future success of Yellowstone Country Guardians.

The evening began by warming our bellies with a smorgasbord of home cooked Montana cuisine.  Nearing the end of the dinner we began a slide-show of our three-day wilderness retreat and relived the memories of a time we all cherish.  After the slide show, students displayed their leadership skills by standing up in front of the group and giving testimony to their experience with the YWLP.  It was yet another moving experience to be in a room filled with remarkable young people wearing their hearts on their sleeves and sharing their love for each other and for Yellowstone Country.   

One of the YWLP counselors Jamie Diehl said it best when summing up the weekend by telling all of those in attendance, “You couldn’t even begin to imagine the power of what we all shared on the final day of the program.  You had to be there to comprehend the magnitude of the words that were coming out of these kids’ mouths, well actually, out of their hearts.  Thank you for allowing me to participate in such an amazing program.”    

I want to thank all of the parents for the abundance great food and support of the YWLP participants.  And I want to give a special shout-out to all of our student participants who helped make last night such a special evening.  Your testimony, songs, poems and emotions are engrained in the story of YCG!

~Michael Leach, Director

 
Students and families arriving for Potluck Dinner and Gathering. Livingston, Montana.   

Thanks to the Bitterroot Audubon...

I want to thank the Bitterroot Audubon for bringing me to the beautiful Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge as their November speaker of the month tonight.  I always feel a sense of peace when I drive back to the west side of the divide.  Having lived the first 25 years of my life in the Columbia watershed, I always feel my inner-compass pulling me home as I enter the ponderosa and western larch forests en route to the banks of the Bitterroot. 

It was a tremendous pleasure to spend a few hours with such a hard core group of birders and wildlands stewards.  I was inspired by your dedication to bird habitat across the region and your commitment to conservationism. 

It was humbling to see so many people from up and down the Bitterroot Valley turn out for my presentation this evening and I want to thank all of you for your energy and support.  I also want to give a special YCG shout out to those of you who generously made financial contributions this evening.   We are excited to welcome you all into the YCG family and hop you will look us up on your next journey to Yellowstone’s Northern Range!

~Michael Leach, Director

YCG Presentation in the Bitterroot Valley Tonight!

We want to invite you all to join YCG Director Michael Leach tonight at the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge in the Bitterroot Valley as he explores the cavernous depths of Yellowstone Country as the November speaker of the month for the Bitterroot Audubon.  The presentation begins at 7 pm and is free and open to the public. 

We hope to see you there! 

Thanks to the Montana Natural History Center...

I want to thank Jessie Sherburne and the Montana Natural History Center for inviting me to speak at their lecture series in effort to deepen the awareness of the Missoula community.  I have long had a deep respect for the MNHC and their work in the Garden City and it was a tremendous pleasure to explore the depths of Yellowstone Country with their members and many impassioned Missoula area residents.

I also want to thank everyone who turned out for the presentation.  I especially want to thank everyone for your excitement and support of YCG’s work on behalf of a very wild and spirited Yellowstone Country!  We hope to see you in Gardiner this winter and look forward to further developing the relationships developed on a memorable evening.

 ~Michael Leach, Director

First Annual Youth Wilderness Leadership Program A Huge Success...

I awoke on my first morning back in Yellowstone Country to a big blue sky, standing cumulus clouds on the horizon and snow capped mountains, accompanied by a heart and spirit still soaring from the events that unfolded two weeks ago. 

Refreshed after nearly two weeks exploring the most remote island chain in the Pacific, I returned to my beloved Yellowstone Country with great excitement and anticipation for the future.  The day after YCG’s biggest weekend yet—our first Youth Wilderness Leadership Program and a keynote address at the Bioneers Conference in Bozeman, Montana—I hopped a plane with Crystal and Kamiah for desperately needed family time on the Big Island of Hawaii and the Garden Island of Kauai.

Though the wonders and magnitude of the Pacific amazed us each and every day, I continued to relive a weekend that none of us will ever forget.  It is with great excitement that I share with all of you in the YCG family the news that our first annual Youth Wilderness Leadership Program was a tremendous success.  The results of this powerful weekend filled with hope, love, passion and commitment to a place we all care deeply about were beyond my wildest dreams. 

I wish you could have all been there on the final day at the beautiful B Bar ranch in the Tom Miner Basin, just outside Yellowstone National Park.  As we ventured from one activity to the next on a day that focused on what the student participants had learned over the course of the three-day wilderness retreat, and how they would take this new knowledge and understanding of place into their communities to make a positive difference, the emotions overwhelmed those of us blessed to be in the presence of these amazing young people. 

My own tears flowed as I looked around the room and witnessed experienced conservationists and counselors with tears falling from their eyes as each and every student gave testimony to their experience, to Yellowstone Country, and to their hopes as members of the YCG Clan.  As one of our lead counselors and naturalist instructor, Ashea Mills, put it, “What unfolded over the course of the weekend was 100 times what we could have ever hoped for.” 

The students were incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn more about their home and had already begun lobbying for another retreat in the spring.  I feel very confident that each and every student walked away with a deep sense of pride in what it means to call themselves residents and ambassadors of Yellowstone Country and that to a person, each student developed a commitment to their communities and the future of a wild Yellowstone.

~Michael Leach, Director

YWLP Group Photo, B Bar Ranch, Tom Miner Basin, Montana.

Student participants scanning for wildlife with expert naturalists in the Lamar Valley, YNP, Wyoming.

Students and counselors participating in morning activity, B Bar Ranch, Tom Miner Basin, Montana.

Students in awe of the Mammoth Hot Springs, YNP, Wyoming.

Park High students Ern and Brittany sharing their hope for the future of Yellowstone Country, B Bar Ranch, Tom Miner Basin, Montana.

YWLP Thank You's...

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to all of you who have supported our first Youth Wilderness Leadership Program.  You were all instrumental in making this program such a huge success.  I want to start by thanking the Park County Community Foundation and all of you who made incredibly generous contributions which enabled us to launch this year’s program.  We were deeply touched by the influx of donations in recent weeks to support the YWLP. 

I too send a much love shout-out to all of the 19 student participants from Park, Gallatin and Sweetgrass Counties, who joined us with open hearts and open minds and left all of us with great hope for the future.  The future of Yellowstone Country rests in the hands of these tremendous young people and each and every one of us who had the opportunity to work with these impassioned new ambassadors walked away from the weekend believing that the future looks bright. 

A huge thanks to those who helped create the curriculum for this program: Ellen Petrick, Daniel Claussen, Tom Roy and Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer. 

None of this would have been possible without the support of our volunteers and sponsors so I want to say Mahalo and much love to the following supporters:

Tom Roy, Ashea Mills, Jamie Diehl, Heather Lauchach, Colton Xavier, Rob and Robin Trotter and Yellowstone Raft Company, Mark Wait and the B Bar Ranch, Dale Sexton and Timber Trails, Ms. Jane Cholcher from Park High, Nathan Varley of The Wild Side, Randy Ingersoll, Travis Wyman, Mike Tercek of Walking Shadow Ecology, and Mark Matheny from UDAP. 

Lastly, I want to thank Hopa Mountain for collaborating with us and helping make this program such a tremendous experience and success.  We look forward to working more with Hopa in the future to further our work.  Having Bonnie’s amazing facilitating skills as she led us through a number of activities on the last day of our program was a huge treat, and the presence of Hopa staff member Jamie Diehl proved invaluable! 

You are all incredible people and your generosity is an inspiration to us all! 

~Michael Leach, Director

 

 

Novemember 4th Missoula Presentation

Join YCG Director Michael Leach Wednesday November 4th at 7pm at the Montana Natural History Center located at 120 Hickory St. Missoula, MT 59801. Michael is one of the Montana Natural History Center speaker's of the month and will be sharing the story of Yellowstone Country and the efforts of YCG. Though advertised as a lecture, we hope to see you for the sermon in the Garden City.