—WHAT THIS IS—

THE REAL YELLOWSTONE™ is a live storytelling series rooted in lived experience — stories carried by people who lived and worked in Yellowstone, told in their own voices.Season One, A RETURN TO THE CAMPFIRE, brings those stories into shared space again — live voices accompanied by film, archival imagery, sound, and atmosphere.

—A LINEAGE OF STEWARDSHIP—

The stories shared here come from a long lineage of care — shaped by people whose lives were intertwined with Yellowstone over years and generations.Rangers, park staff, families, concessionaires, outfitters, guides, and gateway communities all carried responsibility for how this place functioned and endured. Their work formed an ethic of judgment, restraint, and care that was learned on the ground and passed person to person.

—WHY IT MATTERS—

Every generation inherits Yellowstone differently. How its histories are told, remembered, and carried forward is never static. Stewardship depends not only on policy and conservation, but on stories — shared person to person.These stories were never meant for archives alone. They were meant to be shared, together, in real time.

BEGINNING SUMMER
—2026—

A RETURN TO THE CAMPFIRE marks the inaugural season of THE REAL YELLOWSTONE™ Live Storytelling Series — presented across five curated nights.Details about locations, dates, and participation TBA.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE WORK

Lori Nuss, FounderI grew up with the quiet hum of ranger life in my bones. My dad wore the flat hat for 35 years in Yellowstone. My grandfather owned and operated Camp Trails, a backcountry youth camp in the park, from 1928 to 1958.This place shaped my family. This project is my way of giving something back.Twenty years ago, I brought the Yellowstone community together around a fire. Rangers stood in uniform. Stories were carried by those who had lived them. That gathering planted something in me.This time, we gather not in remembrance, but in continuation — to carry the stories forward.At its core, THE REAL YELLOWSTONE™ is about storytelling — the kind that carries knowledge from one generation to the next. Stories told by the people who lived them.I’m just one storyteller.
But I carry the echoes of many.

Braeden Meyer is a filmmaker and artist whose work explores the relationship between people, science, and the natural world. Grounded in experience across biological sciences, research, conservation, and documentary filmmaking, his approach bridges scientific inquiry and lived human experience.Working in an observational, vérité style, Braeden brings a patient and thoughtful lens to stories shaped by place, memory, and meaning. His work is guided by a belief that complex ideas — whether ecological, cultural, or historical — can be made accessible without losing their depth or integrity.

Linda Howard is a lifelong steward of public lands whose work centers on human stories and place-based memory. Her journey began in Yellowstone, where arriving for her first season “felt like going home.”As Program Production & Storyteller Coordination, Linda brings decades of interpretive experience, warmth, and care to shaping the storytelling at the heart of this project.

—LEGACY PARTNERS—

A Return to the Campfire is being carried forward with the support of legacy families and early partners whose histories and values are deeply connected to Yellowstone.Pat and Ginger Povah — stewards of the Hamilton Stores legacy — have come on as founding legacy partners. Alongside them, a small circle of early supporters has stepped forward to help bring Season One into being. Their support reflects a shared belief that Yellowstone’s living human history matters, and that its stories deserve to be carried forward with intention.Additional legacy partners, early supporters and aligned sponsors will be acknowledged as the circle continues to take shape.