Yellowstone News

Celebrate your inner wolf during Wolf Awareness Week Oct. 12 to Oct. 18. Wildlife experts say it’s time to put to rest the misconceptions about wolves and to acknowledge the important role these predators play in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Although the wolf symbolizes wild nature, its own nature has long been cloaked in myth and superstition. Earlier this century, wolves were methodically exterminated from nearly all of their historic range, including Colorado.

More than 100,000 miles, two motorcars, 48 states and 270 national parks later, 12-year-old Chandler Johnson still hasn’t met her goal — a goal to visit every National Park by the time she is 14. “I enjoy going to the parks because I learn about the historical, cultural and environmental relevance they each have,” said Chandler. There are currently 391 National Park areas designated by the National Park Service. For the last six and a half years, Chandler has traveled around the country with her parents, Carmen and Jay Johnson, and participated in the Junior Ranger program.

About four million people visit Yellowstone, the world's oldest and most famous national park, every year. It's a measure of the pulling power of this corner of northwest Wyoming - home to more than half of the world's geysers, famed for its rainbow-hued hot springs and populated by an array of wildlife that includes buffalo, elk, moose, wolves, bears and coyotes.

Officials at Yellowstone National Park reversed an earlier stand against crafting a temporary winter-use plan for the upcoming 2008-2009 season, saying they'd begin immediate work on an environmental assessment by early November, followed by a 15-day comment period.

Although a judge previously shot down plans to allow snowmobiles into Yellowstone National Park this winter, officials are now at work on a different plan to allow the rides in time for snow season.

Officials at both the national parks — Yellowstone and Glacier — are reminding hunters that there is no hunting in the parks. They also point out that it is the hunter's responsibility to know where they are if close to a park boundary, even if the boundary is not clearly indicated. Federal regulations prohibit the killing or removal of any animal, living or dead, from inside the park. Taking and removing any animal parts, including shed antlers, is also prohibited.

With a federal judge throwing out the latest winter use plan for Yellowstone National Park, one big question looms for potential visitors: How should they proceed with a potential winter sojourn? No one seems to know, including the National Park Service. In fact, under current guidelines, no snowmobiles or snowcoaches will be allowed inside the Park this winter.

Why did Yellowstone National Park capture and slaughter 1,400 of its famous bison during the winter of 2007-08? And who has an excellent plan to make certain that this action need not be repeated? The shocking slaughter was necessary, Yellowstone officials note, as part of a disease control initiative.

Yellowstone National Park officials, attempting to balance competing demands for cell phone service and preserving the park's tranquility, have released a draft plan to guide the development of wireless services within the park. The environmental assessment proposes a limited increase in cell phone coverage in the 3,500-square-mile park while excluding cellular towers from the backcountry, park road corridors and smaller developed areas.

All National Park Service sites, including Yellowstone National Park, will offer free admission on Saturday, Sept. 27, in honor of National Public Lands Day. National Public Lands Day began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. It's now the nation's "largest, hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance America's public lands," the Park Service says.

Handing environmentalists a major victory, a federal judge yesterday overturned the Bush administration's plan to allow hundreds more snowmobiles to traverse Yellowstone and other iconic national parks each winter.

State and federal livestock officials have launched an investigation into the possibility of a second Wyoming cow testing positive for brucellosis, jeopardizing the state's disease-free status even as the rancher at the center of the first outbreak decides to slaughter his herd.

In the heart of the park here on a recent warm day, all 358 spaces at the Fishing Bridge Recreational Vehicle Park were jammed with RVs and camping equipment. Despite high fuel prices and a sputtering economy that have hurt RV sales and caused many people to put the brakes on vacation plans, plenty of the lumbering, gas-guzzling rigs have taken to the road this summer.

Tauck World Discovery celebrated a unique milestone recently when it hosted the 10,000th participant in its award-winning guest-volunteer program in Yellowstone National Park. The 10,000th volunteer was in one of three Tauck tour groups working in the Park over the weekend of July 19 - 20. The volunteers each donated a portion of their vacation time with Tauck, an escorted tour operator, to work on preservation and beautification projects in Yellowstone National Park.

Dupuyer students started class Wednesday, Aug. 27, and though their numbers are way down from last year, teacher Lydia Mild has some special educational treats for her five students. To kick off the year, the Dupuyer students are doing a comparison unit between Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park. According to Mild, the unit will cover migratory trails, native tribes and many other aspects of the parks.