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YellowstonePark.com is owned and operated by Yellowstone Journal Corporation, a private company based in Lander, Wyo.
We are a team of many brought together by a shared vision, and a passion for Yellowstone and all the regions, attractions and wonders that our company promotes. Most of us are locals, and the few of us who aren’t, moved here from Germany and Colorado and Iowa to become locals. We live and play here and work hard to provide inspiring and useful information to people considering or planning a Yellowstone vacation.
A Yellowstone vacation is America’s best road trip. It includes more than a visit to the world’s first national park. A Yellowstone vacation includes exploring various routes and communities and natural wonders while en route to and from the Park. This site, and our other publications and services, have one goal in mind: To inspire you to experience our regions, attractions, wonders and things to do in Yellowstone Park country, and to provide you with all the trip-planning tools you need to do so.
Some brief history: In early 1994, Shelli and Jerry Johnson, with the help of Shelli's parents, Bill and Nancy Sniffin, founded the company, which at the time published an independent newspaper, the Yellowstone Journal, a publication dedicated to providing the most up-to-date Yellowstone National Park news and Yellowstone information available. Soon the Yellowstone Journal was converted to a color magazine and is currently sold inside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, to subscribers in all 50 states, and via newsstands throughout the U.S.
YellowstonePark.com was founded in late 1995, and was soon after named a “Yahoo Site of the Week.” In 2005, YellowstonePark.com was voted the “#1 Tourism Site in the World” by the prestigious Webby Awards’ People’s Voice, and “Best Travel Site” by the Web Marketing Association. YellowstonePark.com is developed largely based on what our site’s customers have indicated they are wanting and needing in determining the destination for their vacation, as well as what they need to adequately plan a vacation of a lifetime.
In 2000, Yellowstone Journal Corporation added another magazine, 99 Things to Do in Yellowstone Country. Every year, more than 500,000 readers enjoy the print magazine, which is distributed in a 7-state region at logical points along the way to and from Yellowstone beginning 1-2 days away from the park. The entire text and advertorial from the magazine is also available in the Things to Do online content on YellowstonePark.com and as a downloadable magazine.
Yellowstone Journal Corporation also provides the free direct mail “Yellowstone Trip Planner Kit”, publishes numerous e-Newsletters, and conducts extensive customer research of Yellowstone’s prospective and actual visitors.
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Shelli Johnson
Owner, CEO, Publisher
Shelli was raised in Lander, WY, a small mountain town located about three hours from Yellowstone. As a child, she made many weekend trips to the Park with her family and began developing her Yellowstone knowledgebase as well as her love for the Park. Upon graduation from high school, she attended the University of Montana in Missoula, where she received a B.A. in Journalism. She worked at the Missoulian newspaper for two years before moving to Winner, SD, where she and her husband, Jerry, published a weekly newspaper.
Shelli says one of the best gifts her parents gave her was the family’s move to Wyoming from Iowa when she was just three years old. In Wyoming, she grew up taking long Sunday drives that took her to phenomenal wonders like Yellowstone, Grand Teton Park, the Red Desert, the Oregon Trail, Flaming Gorge, Glacier Park, the Badlands of South Dakota and Devil’s Tower; all across Montana, Wyoming and Idaho; and to the tops of big mountains like the Winds and the Tetons. Her favorite place on the planet is Yellowstone and she has dedicated her life and future to sharing it — and the wonders that accompany a Yellowstone vacation — with others.
Shelli’s husband, Jerry, is a teacher in Lander, but is also the company’s Distribution Director and partner in the company. They currently have three sons, Wolf is 7, and Hayden, 5, and Finis, 5 months.
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Ryan Johnson
Chief Marketing Executive
Raised in Dubois, WY, Ryan has been in love with the Yellowstone and Teton territories his entire life. After spending time studying at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, he explored career opportunities in Southern California, specifically in San Diego and Orange County. After returning to Boulder, Colorado, to finish his degree in Psychology, he spent time developing his management skills working for various retailers such as Best Buy and Target Corporation. Even though he has lived in the Denver area for the past five years, his love for the greater Yellowstone area has never ceased. He still travels to Jackson and Yellowstone frequently.
It only makes sense that Ryan will be representing the Jackson Hole and Eastern Idaho areas for the company's advertising efforts.
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Florian Herrmann
International Marketing Manager
Florian Herrmann, a Germany native, is our Cultural Exchange Trainee in Marketing and Tourism Management. After he completed Yellowstone Journal Corporation's International Development project in 2005 by building and marketing International channels for our website, he graduated with a degree in Economics and Management, emphasis in Tourism via the Free University of Bolzano in Italy and finally returned to the U.S. The expertise Florian has gained through an exchange program with the California State Polytechnic University of Pomona (attending the Collins School of Hospitality Management) - combined with European knowledge of destination management and tourism marketing - takes Yellowstone Journal Corporation's mission and goals to a global level.
Florian is excited to promote the world's oldest national park and to help our partners develop marketing strategies for natural destinations. He has a passion for natural areas, and he has already developed quite a love of Yellowstone National Park. Florian has spent ample time in hospitality and tourism in Italy, and has experience in Europe's tour-operating business through a three-year apprenticeship as a travel agent in Munich. As his knowledge of our region increases, Florian is becoming quite the Yellowstone expert.
Florian speaks five languages and enjoys hiking, mountain biking and the outdoors. Word has it that he's also quite an Italian chef.
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Wina Behounek
Administrative Assistant
Wina Behounek was born and raised in Lander, WY and then went on to receive a bachelors degree in fashion merchandising from the University of Wyoming.
She used her degree for several years managing retail for Lord & Taylor and Famous Bar. Most recently she worked for Bell South (now AT&T) Yellow Pages as an advertising executive and collections manager. She has traveled extensively and lived in several cities, including Ft. Collins, Chicago, San Francisco and Baton Rouge. She recently returned to Lander, WY to work as Yellowstone International's Administrative Assistant.
Wina has two children with her husband, Brad. Derek, 18, is a freshman at the University of Lafayette, LA, and Kelby, 16. When not working Wina enjoys the mountains, being outside and spending time with her family.
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Other Contributors
Other contributors to Yellowstone Journal Corporation and YellowstonePark.com include: Bill and Nancy Sniffin, Marsha Gilbert, Brodie Farquhar, Jeff Vanuga, Jeff Henry, Mark Gocke, Julie Darby, Amy Russian, Ernie Over, Sabrina Thoren, Keely Winger, Scott Copeland, the National Park Service and Yellowstone’s Public Affairs Office, and more.
Site Photos by Jeff Vanuga, Mark Gocke and Jeff Henry
All original photos on the YellowstonePark.com site are credited to Jeff Vanuga, Mark Gocke and Jeff Henry, professional Park photographers. Learn more about them.
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