The Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation-focused nonprofit that protects the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, has debuted the public portion of a $6.25 million fundraising effort. Funds raised by the campaign will purchase the mineral rights, mining leases and claims owned by Crevice Mining Group, which is seeking to start mining operations on the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park.
The mining operations would substantially alter the environment just north of the park, interfering with a region that “provides vital habitat for grizzly bears; is a critical migration corridor for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep; and is within one of the few designated places outside the park where Yellowstone bison can roam,” according to a May 10 blog post published on the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s website that coincided with the start of the public phase of the fundraising campaign.
As of May 18, the Coalition had raised slightly more than $4 million during the quiet phase of its fundraising activities, which involved solicitations to the Bozeman, Montana-based organization’s most active donors, according to Executive Director Scott Christensen. But the balance must be raised by October 1 if the deal is to go through.
“There’s a window of opportunity to foreclose the possibility of a goldmine being developed on the boundary of Yellowstone National Park, and this window won’t stay open long,” Christensen told The NonProfit Times. “We only have the next four or five months to capitalize on this opportunity. I wake up every day feeling a strong sense of urgency around this.”
That sense of urgency has translated into aggressive fundraising activities. The $6.25 million goal isn’t the largest the organization has ever set. That honor goes to a $10 million campaign for grizzly bear conservation the organization capped off in 2019. But that campaign was conducted over a five-year period. The current effort represents a two-year sprint that must end on October 1, according to the agreement between the Coalition and Crevice Mining.
“In addition to that money, we have a little over $5 million operating budget,” Christensen said. “We’re asking people to stretch themselves, to make an annual contribution and then a special gift toward this.” In short, the current effort marks an attempt to raise twice what the organization has ever raised during any 12-month period.
The $6.25 million price was the result of prolonged negotiations between the Coalition and Crevice Mining. The initial number was much higher, due to indications Crevice was worried about the offer fronting interest from another mining company. “I give them credit that they were at least open to the conversation,” Christensen said. “They could have easily just shut us down.”
The public phase of the land purchase campaign involves solicitations to 30,000 Yellowstone National Park supporters already known to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Leadership will be drawing on the Coalition’s internal fundraising team, which is conducting outreach through direct mail, social media and online efforts. Within the first week of the public campaign, the organization has received gifts from more than 200 people from all 50 U.S. states.
“Also, we had some help from consultants on messaging prior to rollout,” Christensen said. “They got the language dialed in to that [which] we want to use, and hopefully it is the most effective in soliciting support. We are also working with a company that has global reach. Our hope is to reach into that audience outside of our country that has an affinity for Yellowstone National Park.”
The Coalition will not be done with negotiations once the current campaign ends. It is already starting to talk with other landowners regarding 300 acres adjacent to the park. “The long-term goal, and this will take a few years to get to, is to transfer the private lands into public ownership,” Christensen said. The negotiations with those landowners, as well as the appraisals processes, are ongoing, and Christensen did not provide an indication as to the financial resources that might be needed to close those deals.
For now, Christensen is determined. “We can’t fail,” he said. “If for some reason we don’t get there, of course, we need to go back and talk to everyone who has been a part of this effort, but we cannot fail.”
Contribution forms for the effort are available here: https://greateryellowstone.org/yellowstone-mine
