Inheritance Pass guarantees entrance to Yellowstone in 150 years

BILLINGS – It may sound odd, but you can buy a pass to get into Yellowstone National Park that you will never be able to use.

“It is our way of celebrating 150 years of Yellowstone National Park and to help preserve the park for the next 150 years,” said Lisa Diekmann, president and CEO of Yellowstone Forever, the park’s fundraising and educational arm.

The money will go to Yellowstone Forever, which supports park projects including things like trail improvements, youth education, native fish conservation, and scientific projects involving birds, bears, cougars and wolves. Unlike the Inheritance Pass, however, the money will be spent as needed and not 150 years from now, Diekmann said.

“This is something that’s never been done before,” she said.

The idea was dreamed up by the Havas Chicago design firm, which provided the concept free of charge.

“To celebrate Yellowstone’s 150th anniversary, rather than look back, we thought it would be the perfect time to look ahead and think about how we can preserve the park for future generations,” the company’s Bailey Doyle said in an email. “The Inheritance Pass is an idea that does just that, putting the next 150 years of Yellowstone in the hands of people today.”

Rebuilding

Yellowstone Forever has been in a rebuilding mode following setbacks in 2020 that led to staff layoffs, the elimination of education programs and prompted the National Park Service to step in out of concern. Citing the pandemic as the problem, the organization announced it was about $5.1 million in debt.

“We overcommitted to park projects,” Diekmann said.

The problems led to a reshuffling of the board and some of the leadership staff, as well as selling of some property. Diekmann came on last year in the wake of the kerfuffle, although she had worked at the Yellowstone Park Foundation previously for 11 years.

Yellowstone Forever was created in 2016 when the Yellowstone Association, dating back to 1933, and Yellowstone Park Foundation, formed in 1996, merged to streamline the operation of bookstores, visitor centers and educational programs under one roof.

With the reorganization, Yellowstone Forever has 37 full-time staff hired, just two less than in 2016. Another 60 to 70 summer seasonal positions will be added for the education programs and bookstores the nonprofit operates.

Finances

Yellowstone Forever just finished its fiscal year and saw about $10 million raised from donations, Diekmann said. Last year the park projects account was $2 million; now it’s $9 million. Net income last year was $12 million compared to $3 million the year prior.

“That’s a nice jump, so we’re fully funded for our commitment to park projects, which we’re excited about,” she added.

Diekmann said the turnaround is due to a “great team,” the support of the park and a focus on the group’s mission: “To protect, preserve, and enhance Yellowstone National Park through education and philanthropy.” It also took a lot of “listening, learning, asking questions and reassuring people,” she added, while also being fiscally transparent and strategic about “what’s working and what’s not.”

“It’s been a labor of love,” she said. “Yellowstone is just a special place.”

Future

The challenge facing fundraising at park bookstores and education programs this year is whether high gas prices will result in fewer visitors or in less spending by those who do tour the park, Diekmann said.

By offering the Inheritance Pass – the purchase requires a $1,500 donation – Diekmann and her staff are able to look farther into the future, encourage stewardship of the park while also celebrating a milestone.

“The pass itself is … like part of your family estate,” she said. “It will be part of your family’s legacy.”

Diekmann said 150 years from now the pass will also connect its owner to the past, to those who made the donation with an eye to the park’s continued preservation beyond one lifetime.

“Hopefully, that resonates into the future and inspires a future generation to continue the work we’ve begun here,” Diekmann said.

She’s reminded of the importance of that work every time she drives from her home in the Gallatin Valley to the park, which is once a week in the winter and more in summer. Diekmann is enamored by the beauty of Yellowstone. Whether it’s the way the sunlight is refracted off ice crystals in the air or because of a rainbow ending at Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance.

“It’s magic,” she said. “Every time is different.”

For more information on the pass or to purchase one, log on to yellowstone.org/inheritance-pass.