Prince Albert II announces new conservation prize and celebrates family connection to Buffalo Bill.
This Wednesday, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco arrives in Cody as the guest of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. He is celebrating the 100-year anniversary of his great, great grandfather’s legendary hunting trip with William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and is presenting the inaugural Camp Monaco Prize—a new scientific research grant supporting biodiversity studies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
“We’re thrilled to host Prince Albert II this weekend as we celebrate the 100-year anniversary of such a unique milestone and adventure,” said Barron G. Collier II, chairman of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Board of Trustees. “We’re also proud to partner with the Prince’s foundation and the University of Wyoming’s Biodiversity Institute to award the first ever Camp Monaco Prize—an important investment into the amazing natural wonder of the American West.”
In 1913, Prince Albert I became the first reigning European head of state to visit the United States. Known for his strong interest in science, the Prince visited the US to, among other things, study the workings of the weather bureau. Prince Albert I, traveling to Wyoming by train, joined Buffalo Bill and a group of friends for a two week excursion into the Rocky Mountains near Yellowstone Park.
HSH Prince Albert II continues his ancestor’s passion for science and the environment through the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation-USA, which focuses on biodiversity, climate change, and water issues. Over the summer, three sponsoring institutions—the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Draper Natural History Museum, the University of Wyoming’s Biodiversity Institute, and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation-USA—joined together to select the winning proposal for the inaugural Camp Monaco Prize. The research project aims to discover new ways to monitor and safeguard migratory wildlife in Greater Yellowstone and other important conservation areas across the globe.
During his visit, Prince Albert II revisits the area surrounding the hunting camp Prince Albert I of Monaco and Buffalo Bill established in 1913, near what is now Yellowstone National Park. He will also participate in a tree planting ceremony at the Center and tour parts of Yellowstone that could be immediately impacted by the Camp Monaco Prize winning submission. Prince Albert II will finish the weekend by celebrating the winners of the Camp Monaco Prize with other guests on September 21, during the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s annual Patrons Ball.
Since 1917, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West (formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center) has been committed to the greatness and growth of the American West, keeping western experiences alive. The Center of the West, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, weaves the varied threads of the western experience—history and myth, art and Native culture, firearms, and the nature and science of Yellowstone—into the rich panorama that is the American West. The Center of the West has been honored with numerous awards, including the prestigious 2012 National Tour Association’s Award for “favorite museum for groups,” the 2013 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, and was most recently named one of True West magazine’s “Top 10 Must-See Museums.”
About the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
In 2006, following in the environmentally-friendly footsteps of his forefathers, HSH Prince Albert II created the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, dedicated to the protection of the global environment. The foundation focuses on three major challenges: climate change and developing renewable energies; the loss of biodiversity; and water management (improving universal access to clean water and fighting desertification). By 2010, the foundation had extended its international outreach by opening chapters in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the United States. To date, more than 125 projects across the globe have been selected as recipients of grants totaling in excess of $23 million. Click here for more information about the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
About the Biodiversity Institute
The University of Wyoming’s Biodiversity Institute, a division of the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, seeks to promote research, education, and outreach concerning the study of living organisms in Wyoming and beyond. The Institute brings into common action the considerable resources on biodiversity scholarship already present at the University of Wyoming and makes them widely accessible to Wyoming’s citizens and university students. Click here for more information about the Biodiversity Institute.
Since 1917, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West has been committed to the greatness and growth of the American West, keeping western experiences alive. The Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, weaves the varied threads of the western experience—history and myth, art and Native culture, firearms, and the nature and science of Yellowstone—into the rich panorama that is the American West.
For additional information, visit centerofthewest.org or the Center’s page on Facebook.
