THE REAL YELLOWSTONE™

WHY THIS PROJECT MATTERS NOW

There was a time in Yellowstone when the work was learned in the moment. Passed from person to person.Rangers of that era were generalists—carrying the skills, traditions, and pride of the work.Through long patrols, daily work, and backcountry travel, a way of knowing the park took shape.Not just among rangers, but across the wider Yellowstone community.An ecosystem of people who understood Yellowstone not just as a place. It was a responsibility.I think about the old amphitheater talks at Madison, Fishing Bridge, and Bridge Bay. Evenings where people gathered, listened, and learned the park through those who knew it.Over time, that system has changed.Some of that change is natural.
Some of it is bureaucratic.But something quieter has also been happening.The knowledge.
The stories.
The relationships that defined that era are not being carried forward in the same way.Many of the people who held that culture are now gone or in their later years. And much of what they carried was never recorded.I grew up inside that world.My dad spent his career as a ranger in Yellowstone.
My granddad owned and operated a backcountry youth camp in the park for decades.What I remember most—Rangers, park staff, community, wildlife, flat hats and pressed uniforms.
Wilcoxson’s ice cream at Hamilton Stores.
Park radio voices sharing who was where—and who was in trouble.
Boat trips on the lake.
Evening campfires talks.
Stories that somehow got bigger each time they were told.Those stories weren’t history.
They were how the park was understood.
They were the culture itself.THE REAL YELLOWSTONE™ is a live storytelling and film series built around the firsthand stories of Yellowstone and its people.A way to carry that forward—while the voices are still here.Before it’s gone.—Lori Nuss
Founder, THE REAL YELLOWSTONE™

THE REAL YELLOWSTONE™
An original storytelling project created by Lori Nuss. Established 2022.

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