Yellowstone News

Contractors have almost finished initial cleanup work at several sites around Yellowstone National Park where leaky underground fuel tanks had contaminated soil and groundwater over the past few decades.Some of the polluted sites are near pristine waters, and while they did not pose an immediate threat to drinking water, it is important that they be cleaned up, said Jim Evanoff, environmental protection specialist for the park.

Scientists from around the country found more than 1,200 species of plants and animals in Yellowstone National Park in a 24-hour research marathon in late August. The park's first BioBlitz has documented the species with taxonomic and DNA experts still analyzing lab results, which "will surely increase our numbers,'' said organizer Kayhan Ostovar, an assistant professor of environmental science at Rocky Mountain College. Some of the finds included new species, such as the tiger beetle, previously undocumented in the park, Ostovar said.

Visitors to northern Yellowstone National Park have been filing a lot fewer unusual auto damage claims during this fall's elk mating season compared to recent years. The reason is last winter's demise of elk No. 6, a large bull with sprawling antlers that was famous for attacking tourists' cars in the Mammoth area while strutting his stuff during mating season. No. 6 caused thousands of dollars in damage to cars over the years and even attacked two tourists, knocking one down and causing the other to need stitches.

The National Park Service says roads leading to the interior of Yellowstone National Park will close to automobile traffic on November 2. Park officials say cars will not be able to travel to places like Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge until the winter snowpack is cleared in the spring. The closure allows the park to prepare for snowmobile and snowcoach traffic, which will be allowed Dec. 15. A handful of roads within the park already have been closed for the season or because of construction.

Yellowstone National Park's scientific research on wolves got caught in the crossfire of Montana's inaugural wolf season when hunters killed two collared wolves just north of the park earlier this month. As the smoke has cleared, federal wolf officials are at odds over the effect of the shootings and Montana's game managers are re-examining how it will conduct its next wolf season - if there is one. Environmental groups have appealed Montana and Idaho's wolf hunting seasons in federal court.

Since retirement, my wife, Sherry, and I have been going to Yellowstone National Park two or three times a year. We tell our friends we're addicted to the park. In many ways, winter is the best season. Although bears are not seen, many other animals can be spotted and photographed more easily. You don't have to stay at one of the lodges in the park. By staying in a motel in Gardiner, Mont., you can get off-season rates of less than $50.

Wolf 527 was a survivor. She lived through a rival pack's crippling 12-day siege of her den. When another pair of wolves laid down stakes in her territory, she killed the mother and picked off the pups while the invader's mate howled nearby in frustration and fury.

With the general rifle season opening on Sunday for big game across Montana, state and federal agencies are urging hunters to be bear aware. Yellowstone National Park, the Forest Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks each issued the same statement urging people to be cautious during this time of year, when black and grizzly bears are actively feeding before denning for the winter.

Yellowstone National Park Lodges will offer “Lodging & Learning” packages this winter in Yellowstone National Park. The park’s winter season begins Dec. 18, 2009 with the opening of the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel opens Dec. 21, 2009. The lodges provide the only wintertime accommodations within the park. Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel will close for the season March 8, 2010, and Old Faithful Snow Lodge will close March 7, 2010. 

America's National Parks are high on our interest list.We travel in the summertime to national parks or visit the parks in the South during the winter.As a travel agent, some great winter destinations I recommend are Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. Not only do the snowmobile riders enjoy seeing the parks in the winter, but they are joined by snowshoers and cross country skiers.

At Yellowstone National Park, the clear soda cups and white utensils are not your typical cafe-counter garbage. Made of plant-based plastics, they dissolve magically when heated for more than a few minutes.At Ecco, a popular restaurant in Atlanta, waiters no longer scrape food scraps into the trash bin. Uneaten morsels are dumped into five-gallon pails and taken to a compost heap out back.And at eight of its North American plants, Honda is recycling so diligently that the factories have gotten rid of their trash Dumpsters altogether.

Wildlife officials in Montana will consider changes to the state's inaugural wolf hunt after hunters killed nine of the predators in just three weeks along the border of Yellowstone National Park. More than 1,300 gray wolves were removed from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana this spring following a costly federal restoration effort. Hunting has been promoted as a way to keep the population of the fast-breeding species in check and reduce wolf attacks on livestock. At least 48 wolves have been killed since Sept. 1 by hunters in the two states.

Montana's summer tourism season wasn't as bad as expected - and was far better than in surrounding states and most of the rest of the country. It helped that visitor numbers at the major national parks in Montana soared above those for the 2008 season. Visitation was bolstered by locals vacationing closer to home and by publicity sparked by filmmaker Ken Burns' PBS documentary featuring the nation's parks as "America's Best Idea," said Betsy Baumgart, administrator of the Montana Promotions Division.

The National Park Service has approved a plan to restrict snowmobile numbers in Yellowstone National Park to less than half of last winter's limit. The park on Thursday announced daily limits that will allow up to 318 snowmobiles and up to 78 snowcoaches per day in the park for the next two winter seasons. The park has allowed up to 720 snowmobiles a day into the park over the past five winters, but actual use has been far less.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) ― The National Park Service is soliciting comments for a proposed project to improve part of the Heart Lake Trail in Yellowstone National Park. The project will focus on the portion of the trail near its junction with the South Boundary Trail in the vicinity of the confluence of Red Creek and the Snake River. The main intent of the project will be to re-establish trail tread that is prone to erosion.