Introducing: Yellowstone Firepit Crew
~20% of gross profits will be donated to nonprofits supporting the Park
A generative wildlife art collection
A first-of-its-kind series: 1,018 animal portraits, each representing 10 real animals in locations throughout Yellowstone.
E.g., 468 bison in the collection tie to ~4,680 real bison in the Park; Hayden/Lamar Valley are the two most common locations, consistent with real bison herds.
Buy merch (tees, prints, mug, etc.) or limited-edition NFTs. Mix-and-match your favorite artwork to create custom merch (tool to preview combos coming soon).
NFTs consist of a 900x900 pixel image and traits (animal, hobby, etc.) with 10 editions available. There will never be more, ensured by the blockchain programs powering the Firepit Crew (more in Tech below).
468 bison • 400 elk • 58 black bears • 35 bighorn sheep • 20 moose • 15 grizzly bears • 10 wolves • 7 bald eagles • 4 cougars • 1 wolverine
Built from traits
Each unique animal is programmatically generated from 70+ traits of varying rarity (or 520+ layers):
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Realistic traits: Animals tied to actual populations, real locations, sex, age, summer/winter, day/night, weather, and special ravens/magpies/cutthroat trout.
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Whimsical traits: Hobbies from the mountain west, human eye colors, gold/silver/ghost bodies, and the occasional UFO abduction.
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Rarity score: Each collectible is scored on the rarity of combined traits from 0 (not rare) to 100 (very rare).
E.g., #330: elk, female, adult, natural body, brown eyes, photographer, Old Faithful, winter, night, moon, and raven special object; 20 out of 100 rarity score, due to relatively common traits.
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Why buy the NFTs?
NFTs offer a chance to buy limited editions of our artwork. As that format continues to mature, more tools will exist to showcase and use your NFTs. In the meantime:
#1 Build a digital art collection, starting with pieces that remind you of adventures in Yellowstone. Over time, you'll have more digital spaces to show off your artwork:
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Facebook/Instagram galleries to display users' verified Ethereum/Polygon NFTs (in beta)
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Twitter profile picture badges for verified NFTs (live on Ethereum for Blue members)
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Coinbase NFT marketplace, emphasizing social feeds (in beta)
#2 Win prizes for collection challenges (coming soon) and track collection leaderboards (stay tuned).
#3 Get hands-on experience with blockchain/web3.
#4 List your NFT for sale on a marketplace like OpenSea, which tracks live ownership across the collection.
#5 Reproduce your image for personal use on tees, prints, mugs, etc. (no resale or commercial use).
Giveaways
One of our goals is to educate and encourage positive engagement with Yellowstone.
In that spirit, we're earmarking 10% of the NFTs, or 1,018 animals, for giveaways. Current challenges include:
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Complete three Ranger Programs in Yellowstone.
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Become a Yellowstone Junior Ranger.
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Complete YNP's summer reading challenge: 1,872 pages to celebrate the Park's 150th anniversary this year.
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Complete any Yellowstone Forever Field Seminar.
To claim your NFT:
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Post evidence of completion on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok and tag @firepitcrew.
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Send us your post via DM and include a Polygon wallet address. (Parents can post on behalf of Jr. Rangers.)
While supplies last!
Tech behind the NFTs
Ownership of all artwork is tracked on the Polygon blockchain.
Polygon is a fast, inexpensive and environmentally friendly (99.95% less intensive than Ethereum) blockchain, used for NFTs by large brands like Adidas/Prada and integrated with key platforms like OpenSea and (soon) Facebook/Instagram.
Our Polygon program (aka smart contract) available for review:
0xa931BD6A2718434056DbB58f124Ea41F67Aaa34
All images (900x900 pixel PNGs) / traits (JSONs) are stored via Filecoin/IPFS (decentralized networks) and can never be changed.
Why Yellowstone?
Yellowstone's held a special place in my heart since 2000: my first trip and Junior Ranger swearing in (that's me in the Yankees hat).
It's the world's first national park: home to one of the largest wildlife populations in North America, including several endangered species, and a hotspot that powers geysers and hot springs throughout the Park.
Yellowstone inspires ~4 million visitors each year, including the next generation of Junior Rangers. I couldn't think of a better place for the first Firepit Crew.
Read more about my story here.
Credit for bear, moose & elk videos: @cbienko