•	Education Programs
•	Outreach Programs

Yellowstone Country River Guardian Fly Fishing School:
The River Guardian School is an in-depth program designed for youth with the mission of fostering a deep understanding and burning passion for the rivers coursing throughout Yellowstone Country. The first year’s program will be held in Park County with the goal of expanding the program throughout other regions of Yellowstone Country. Over the course of the week-long course, students between ages 13-17 will discover the basics of fly tying, fly casting and the art of fly fishing. The program includes both classroom work and field presentations. Guest speakers will include respected fly fishing guides, fishery biologists, and other curriculum-based specialists. Course work includes viewing film and documentaries, required reading, writing assignments, and class discussions that relate to field trips where students gain a better understanding of watershed health, stream ecology, hydrology, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout recovery efforts. The course culminates with a fishing adventure to one of the distinguished rivers in Yellowstone Country. As with all of our programs and projects, the River Guardian School will focus on the human element and our connection to wild rivers and their wild inhabitants.

Youth Wilderness Leadership Program:
The Youth Wilderness Leadership Program provides a platform for high school students throughout Yellowstone Country to uncover their potential as conservation leaders within their respective communities. Program participants will gather in the Gardiner area for a multi-day wilderness retreat. The retreat will bring together students from a diverse spectrum of Yellowstone Country communities and will facilitate discussion to bridge the gaps between the rural and urban areas of this unique landscape. With Yellowstone National Park as the backdrop, the workshop will nurture students’ understanding of regional conservation issues and provide leadership skills that will further their ability to create lasting change throughout Yellowstone Country. The workshop will include presentations from leaders in the conservation field; classroom discussions focusing on wilderness, conservation and environmental issues; group work related to leadership development skills and team building; and other outdoor activities throughout Yellowstone National Park and the Gallatin National Forest. Over time we hope to bring this program to a number of different communities throughout the Yellowstone region.
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Bear Education Program:
The goal of the Bear Education Program is to facilitate bear awareness and conservation. Though the grizzly bear population continues to expand in size and range, each year the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grows smaller and more tattered, thus shrinking grizzly habitat. This, along with a steady decline in whitebark pine forests—a key fall food source for grizzlies—has led to a growing number of human/bear conflicts, making bear education more important than ever before. Each bear education presentation is tailored to fit the need of the audience, which varies from students and community members to hunting groups. Topics range from bear ecology and physiology (or what we like to call the “Bear Essentials”) to traveling safely in bear country (including bear spray lessons and demos) and learning to live with bears in our “backyards.”