Rick Reese collection on the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, 1981-2013

Rick Reese was born in 1942. He grew up in Salt Lake City, UT, and graduated from East High School. After service in the National Guard, he earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah in 1966. He then earned a graduate degree at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in Denver, CO. Beginning in 1970, Reese taught political science at Carroll College in Helena, MT. In 1983, he became the founding president of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC). As a founding member and president of GYC, Reese assisted in creating and building a solid foundation for the coalition. His work and contributions with the GYC lasted beyond his three years as president. In subsequent years he served as Deputy Director of the State Commission on Local Government, Executive Secretary to the Montana Board of Public Education, and was director of the Yellowstone Institute. Reese was also a noted alpinist and known for his part in a 1967 rescue effort in the Grand Teton which was highlighted in documentary The Grand Rescue. Reese died on January 9, 2022.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) was founded in 1983 with a mission to protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for current and future generations. The group's vision is a healthy and intact Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem where critical lands and waters are adequately protected; wildlife is managed in a thoughtful, sustainable manner; and a strong, diverse base of support is working to conserve this special place as part of a larger, connected Northern Rocky Mountain Region. The group supports policies which will protect the environmental integrity of Yellowstone National Park and maintain to the highest possible extent the natural condition of the lands surrounding Yellowstone which together with the park comprise the Great Yellowstone Ecosystem. They are a nationally known advocate for the idea that ecosystem level sustainability and science should guide the management of the region's public and private lands. States that are a part of this coalition include Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. Issues that the GYC takes on include environmental impacts, as well as conservations battles to preserve the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem and the areas that surround it. The GYC covers more than 20 million acres, three states, and Yellowstone National Park.