Yellowstone National Park, established by the
U.S. Congress as a
national park on March 1, 1872, is
located primarily in the U.S. state of
Wyoming
, though it also extends into Montana
and Idaho
.
The park
was the first of its kind, and is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal
features, especially Old Faithful Geyser
, one of the most popular features in the
park. It has many types of
ecosystems, but the
subalpine forest is
dominant.
Indigenous
Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least
11,000 years. The region was bypassed during the
Lewis and Clark Expedition in the
early 1800s. Aside from visits by
mountain
men during the early to mid-1800s, organized exploration did
not begin until the late 1860s. The
U.S.
Army was commissioned to oversee the park
just after its establishment. In 1917, administration of the park
was transferred to the
National
Park Service, which had been created the previous year.
Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their
architectural and historical significance, and researchers have
examined more than 1,000 archaeological sites.
Yellowstone National Park spans an area of , comprising lakes,
canyons, rivers and
mountain ranges.
Yellowstone
Lake
is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North
America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera
, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The
caldera is considered an active volcano; it has erupted with
tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Half
of the world's geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by
this ongoing volcanism.
Lava flows and rocks
from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone.
The park is the centerpiece of the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,
the largest remaining, nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's
northern temperate zone.
Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been
documented, including several that are either
endangered or
threatened. The vast forests and
grasslands also include unique species of plants.
Grizzlies,
wolves, and
free-ranging herds of
bison and
elk live in the park.
Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the
large forest
fires
of 1988, nearly one third of the park
burned. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities,
including
hiking,
camping,
boating,
fishing and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close
access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes
and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park
by way of guided tours that use either
snow
coaches or
snowmobile.
History

Historical poster of Yellowstone from
1938
The park is located at the headwaters of the
Yellowstone River, from which it takes its
historical name. Near the end of the
18th
century,
French
trappers named the river "Roche Jaune," which is probably a
translation of the
Minnetaree name "
Mi
tsi a-da-zi" (Rock Yellow River). Later, American trappers
rendered the French name in English as "Yellow Stone."
Although it is
commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks
seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
, the Native American name source is not
clear.The human history of the park begins at least 11,000
years ago when aboriginal Americans first began to hunt and fish in
the region.
During the construction of the post office in
Gardiner,
Montana
, in the 1950s, an obsidian
projectile point of Clovis origin was
found that dated from approximately 11,000 years ago. These
Paleo-Indians, of the Clovis culture,
used the significant amounts of
obsidian
found in the park to make such
cutting
tools and
weapons.
Arrowheads made of Yellowstone obsidian have been
found as far away as the
Mississippi
Valley, indicating that a regular obsidian trade existed
between local tribes and tribes farther east. By the time
white explorers
first entered the region during the
Lewis and Clark Expedition in
1805, they encountered the
Nez
Perce,
Crow and
Shoshone tribes. While passing through present day
Montana, the expedition members were informed of the Yellowstone
region to the south, but they did not investigate it.

Description of the Grand Canyon of the
Yellowstone
In 1806,
John Colter, a member of the
Lewis and Clark
Expedition, left to join a group of fur trappers. After
splitting up with the other trappers in 1807, Colter passed through
a portion of what later became the park, during the winter of
1807–1808.
He observed at least one geothermal area in the northeastern
section of the park, near Tower Fall
. After surviving wounds he suffered in a
battle with members of the Crow and
Blackfoot tribes in 1809, he gave a description of
a place of "fire and brimstone" that was dismissed by most people
as delirium.
The supposedly imaginary place was nicknamed
"Colter's
Hell
." Over the next forty years, numerous
reports from mountain men and trappers told of boiling mud,
steaming rivers and
petrified trees,
yet most of these reports were believed at the time to be
myth.
After an
1856 exploration, mountain man Jim
Bridger (also believed to be the first or second European
American to have seen the Great Salt Lake
) reported observing boiling springs, spouting
water, and a mountain of glass and yellow rock. These
reports were largely ignored because Bridger was known for being a
"spinner of yarns". In 1859, Captain William F. Raynolds, U.S. Army
surveyor embarked on a two year survey of the northern Rockies.
After wintering in Wyoming, in May 1860, Raynolds and his party
which included naturalist
Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden and
guide Jim Bridger attempted to cross the
Continental Divide over Two Ocean Plateau
from the
Wind River drainage in
northwest Wyoming. Heavy spring snows prevented their passage but
had they been able to traverse the divide, the party would have
been the first organized survey to enter the Yellowstone region.
The
American Civil War hampered
further organized explorations until the late 1860s.
The first detailed expedition to the Yellowstone area was the
Cook-Folsom-Peterson
Expedition of 1869, which consisted of three privately funded
explorers. The Folsom party followed the Yellowstone River to
Yellowstone Lake. The members of the Folsom party kept a journal
and based on the information it reported, a party of Montana
residents organized the
Washburn-Langford-Doane
Expedition in 1870. It was headed by the surveyor-general of
Montana
Henry Washburn, and
included
Nathaniel P. Langford (who later became known as
"National Park" Langford) and a U.S. Army detachment commanded by
Lt.
Gustavus Doane
. The expedition spent about a month
exploring the region, collecting specimens, and naming sites of
interest. A Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, who
had been a member of the Washburn expedition, proposed that the
region should be set aside and protected as a National Park; he
wrote a number of detailed articles about his observations for the
Helena Herald newspaper between 1870 and 1871. Hedges
essentially restated comments made in October 1865 by acting
Montana Territorial Governor
Thomas Francis Meagher, who had
previously commented that the region should be protected. Others
made similar suggestions. In an 1871 letter from
Jay Cooke to Ferdinand Hayden, Cooke wrote that
his friend, Congressman
William D.
Kelley had also suggested
"
Congress pass a bill
reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park forever".
Park creation
In 1871, eleven years after his failed first effort, F.V. Hayden
was finally able to make another attempt to explore the region.
With government sponsorship, Hayden returned to Yellowstone region
with a second, larger expedition, the
Hayden Geological Survey of
1871. He compiled a comprehensive report on Yellowstone, which
included large-format photographs by
William Henry Jackson, as well as
paintings by
Thomas Moran. His report
helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw this region from
public auction; on March 1, 1872,
President
Ulysses S. Grant signed
The Act of Dedication
law that created Yellowstone National Park.
THE ACT OF
DEDICATION
AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land
lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public
park. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and
Wyoming .... is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement,
occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and
dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for
the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall
locate, or settle upon, or occupy the same or any part thereof,
except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and
removed there from...
Approved March 1, 1872.
Signed by:
Nathaniel Langford was appointed as the park's first superintendent
in 1872. He served for five years but was denied a salary, funding,
and staff. Langford lacked the means to improve the land or
properly protect the park, and without formal policy or
regulations, he had few legal methods to enforce such protection.
This left Yellowstone vulnerable to poachers, vandals, and others
seeking to raid its resources. He addressed the practical problems
park administrators faced in the 1872 Report to the Secretary of
the Interior and correctly predicted that Yellowstone will become a
major international attraction deserving the continuing stewardship
of the government. In 1875, Colonel
William Ludlow, who had previously explored
areas of Montana under the command of
George Armstrong Custer, was
assigned to organize and lead an expedition to Montana and the
newly established Yellowstone Park. Observations about the
lawlessness and exploitation of park resources were included in
Ludlow's
Report of a Reconnaissance to the Yellowstone Nation
Park. The report included letters and attachments by other
expedition members, including naturalist and mineralogist
George Bird Grinnell. Grinnell
documented the poaching of buffalo, deer, elk and antelope for
hides. "It is estimated that during the winter of 1874–1875, not
less than 3,000 buffalo and mule deer suffer even more severely
than the elk, and the antelope nearly as much."
As a result, Langford was forced to step down in 1877.Having
traveled through Yellowstone and witnessed land management problems
first hand,
Philetus Norris
volunteered for the position following Langford's exit. Congress
finally saw fit to implement a salary for the position, as well as
to provide a minimal funding to operate the park. Norris used these
funds to expand access to the park, building numerous crude roads
and facilities.
In 1880,
Harry Yount was appointed as
"gamekeeper" to control poaching and vandalism in the park.
Yount had
previously spent a number of years exploring the mountain country
of present-day Wyoming, including the Grand Tetons
, after joining Dr. Hayden’s Geological Survey in
1873.Today, he is considered the first national park ranger,
and Younts Peak, located at the head of the Yellowstone River, was
named in his honor. However, these measures still proved to be
insufficient in protecting the park, as neither Norris, nor the
three superintendents who followed, were given sufficient manpower
or resources.

Fort Yellowstone, formerly a
U.S.
Army post, now serves as park headquarters.
The
Northern Pacific Railroad
built a train station in Livingston,
Montana
, connecting to the northern entrance in the early
1880s, which helped to increase visitation from 300 in 1872 to
5,000 in 1883. Visitors in these early years were faced with
poor roads and limited services, and most access into the park was
on horse or via
stagecoach. By 1908
visitation increased enough to also attract a
Union Pacific Railroad connection to
West Yellowstone, though rail visitation fell off considerably by
World War II and ceased around the
1960s.
During the 1870s and 1880s
Native American tribes
were effectively excluded from the national park. A number of
tribes had made seasonal use of the Yellowstone area, but the only
year-round residents were small bands of Western
Shoshone known as "Sheepeaters". They left the area
under the assurances of a treaty negotiated in 1868, under which
the Sheepeaters ceded their lands but retained the right to hunt in
Yellowstone. The United States never ratified the treaty and
refused to recognize the claims of the Sheepeaters or any other
tribe that had made use of Yellowstone. The
Nez Perce band associated with
Chief Joseph, numbering about 750 people,
passed through Yellowstone National Park in thirteen days during
late August, 1877. They were being pursued by the U.S. Army and
entered the national park about two weeks after the
Battle of the Big Hole. Some of the
Nez Perce were friendly to the tourists and other people they
encountered in the park, some were not. Nine park visitors were
briefly taken captive. Despite Joseph and other chiefs ordering
that no one should be harmed, at least two people were killed and
several wounded. One of the areas where encounters occurred was in
Lower Geyser Basin and east along a branch of the Firehole River to
Marys Mountain and beyond. That stream is still known as Nez Perce
Creek. A group of
Bannocks entered
the park in 1878, alarming park Superintendent
Philetus Norris. In the aftermath of the
Sheepeater Indian War of 1889,
Norris built a fort for the purpose of preventing Native Americans
from entering the national park.
Ongoing poaching and destruction of natural resources continued
unabated until the U.S. Army arrived at
Mammoth Hot Springs in 1886 and built
Camp Sheridan.
Over the next 22 years the army constructed
permanent structures, and Camp Sheridan was renamed Fort
Yellowstone
. With the funding and manpower necessary to
keep a diligent watch, the army developed their own policies and
regulations that permitted public access while protecting park
wildlife and natural resources. When the National Park Service was
created in 1916, many of the management principles developed by the
army were adopted by the new agency. The army turned control over
to the National Park Service on October 31, 1918.
Later history
By 1915, 1,000 automobiles per year were entering the park,
resulting in conflicts with horses and horse driven transportation.
In subsequent years horse travel on roads was eventually
prohibited. Between 1933 and 1941, the
Civilian Conservation Corps
built the majority of the early visitor centers, campgrounds and
the current system of park roads. During
World War II, staffing and visitation both
decreased, and many facilities fell into disrepair. By the 1950s,
visitation increased tremendously in Yellowstone and other national
parks. To accommodate the increased visitation, park officials
implemented
Mission 66, an effort to
modernize and expand park service facilities. Planned to be
completed by 1966, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding
of the National Park Service, Mission 66 construction diverged from
the traditional log cabin style with design features of a modern
style. During the late 1980s, most construction styles in
Yellowstone reverted back to the more traditional designs. After
the enormous forest fires of 1988 damaged much of Grant Village,
structures there were rebuilt in the traditional style. The visitor
center at Canyon Village, which opened in 2006, incorporates a more
traditional design as well.
The
1959 Yellowstone
earthquake just west of Yellowstone at Hebgen Lake
damaged roads and some structures in the
park. In the northwest section of the park, new geysers were
found, and many existing hot springs became turbid. It was the most
powerful earthquake to hit the region in recorded history. In 1963,
after several years of public controversy regarding the forced
reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone,
United States Secretary
of the Interior Stewart Udall
appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform
future wildlife management of the national parks. In a paper known
as the
Leopold Report, the committee
observed that culling programs at other national parks had been
ineffective, and recommended management of Yellowstone's elk
population.
The
wildfires during the summer of 1988
were the largest in the history of the park. Approximately or 36%
of the parkland was impacted by the fires, leading to a systematic
reevaluation of fire management policies. The fire season of 1988
was considered normal until a combination of drought and heat by
mid-July contributed to an extreme fire danger. On "Black
Saturday," August 20, 1988, strong winds expanded the fires
rapidly, and more than burned.
The expansive cultural history of the park has been documented by
the 1,000
archeological sites that have
been discovered.
The park has 1,106 historic structures and
features, and of these Obsidian Cliff
and five buildings have been designated National Historic
Landmarks. Yellowstone was designated an
International Biosphere
Reserve on October 26, 1976, and a
United Nations World Heritage Site on September 8,
1978.
Heritage & Research Center
The
Heritage & Research Center is located at
Gardiner, Montana near the north entrance to the park. The center
is home to the Yellowstone National Park’s museum collection,
archives, research library, historian, archeology lab, and
herbarium. The
Yellowstone National Park Archives
maintain collections of historical records of Yellowstone and the
National Park Service. The collection includes the administrative
records of Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, as well as
resource management records, records from major projects as well
as, donated manuscripts and personal papers.
The archives are
affiliated with the National Archives and Records
Administration
.
Geography

Grand Canyon of the
Yellowstone.
Note the yellow color of the rocks from which the park gets
its name
Approximately 96 percent of the land area of Yellowstone National
Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another 3 percent is
within Montana, with the remaining 1 percent in Idaho. The park is
north to south, and west to east by air.
Yellowstone is in
area, larger than the states of Rhode Island
or Delaware
. Rivers and lakes cover 5 percent of the
land area, with the largest water body being Yellowstone Lake at .
Yellowstone Lake is up to deep and has of shoreline. At an
elevation of above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high
altitude lake in North America. Forests comprise 80 percent of the
land area of the park; most of the rest is
grassland.

Orange Spring Mound
The
Continental Divide of North
America runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park.
The
divide is a topographic feature that
separates Pacific
Ocean
and Atlantic Ocean
water drainages. About one third of the park
lies on the west side of the divide. The origins of the Yellowstone
and
Snake Rivers are near each other but
on opposite sides of the divide.
As a result, the waters of the Snake
River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone
find their way to the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of
Mexico
.
The park
sits on the Yellowstone Plateau
, at an average altitude of above sea level. The plateau is bounded on nearly
all sides by
mountain ranges of the
Middle Rocky Mountains, which range
from in elevation.
The highest point in the park is atop
Eagle
Peak
( ) and the lowest is along Reese Creek ( ).
Nearby
mountain ranges include the Gallatin
Range to the northwest, the Beartooth Mountains in the north, the
Absaroka Range to the east, and the
Teton
Range
and the Madison Range
to the southwest and west. The most prominent summit on the
Yellowstone Plateau is Mount Washburn
at .
Yellowstone National Park has one of the world's largest
petrified forests, trees which were long
ago buried by ash and soil and transformed from wood to mineral
materials.
There are 290 waterfalls of at least in the park, the highest
being the Lower Falls
of the Yellowstone River
at .
Three deep canyons are located in the park, cut through the
volcanic tuff of the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last
640,000 years.
The Lewis
River flows through Lewis Canyon in
the south, and the Yellowstone
River has carved two colorful canyons, the Grand Canyon
of the Yellowstone
and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone in its
journey north.
Geology
Yellowstone is at the northeastern end of
the Snake River Plain, a great
U-shaped arc through the mountains that extends from Boise, Idaho
some to the west. This feature traces the
route of the
North American
Plate over the last 17 million years as it was transported by
plate tectonics across a stationary
mantle hotspot. The landscape of present-day
Yellowstone National Park is the most recent manifestation of this
hotspot below the
crust of the
Earth.
The
Yellowstone
Caldera
is the largest volcanic system in North
America. It has been termed a "
supervolcano" because the caldera was formed by
exceptionally large explosive eruptions. The current caldera was
created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred 640,000 years
ago, which released 240 cubic miles (1,000 km³) of ash,
rock and
pyroclastic materials.
This
eruption was 1,000 times larger than the 1980
eruption of Mount St. Helens
. It produced a
crater nearly a two thirds of a mile
(1 km) deep and in area and deposited the
Lava Creek Tuff, a
welded tuff geologic formation.
The most violent
known eruption, which occurred 2.1 million years ago, ejected
588 cubic miles (2,450 km³) of volcanic material and
created the rock formation known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and created
the Island Park
Caldera
. A smaller eruption ejected 67 cubic
miles (280 km³) of material 1.2 million years ago,
forming the
Henry's Fork
Caldera and depositing the
Mesa
Falls Tuff.
Each of the three climax eruptions released vast amounts of ash
that blanketed much of central North America falling many hundreds
of miles away. The amount of ash and gases released into the
atmosphere probably caused significant impacts to world weather
patterns and led to the
extinction of
many species, primarily in North America.
A subsequent minor climax eruption occurred 160,000 years ago. It
formed the relatively small caldera that contains the
West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Later, two
smaller eruptive cycles, the last one ending about 70,000 years
ago, buried much of the caldera under thick lava flows.
Each eruption is in fact a part of an eruptive cycle that climaxes
with the collapse of the roof of a partially emptied
magma chamber. This creates a crater, called a
caldera, and releases vast amounts of volcanic material, usually
through fissures that ring the caldera. The time between the last
three cataclysmic eruptions in the Yellowstone area has ranged from
600,000 to 900,000 years, but the small number of such climax
eruptions cannot be used to make a prediction for future volcanic
events.
Between
630,000 and 700,000 years ago, Yellowstone Caldera was nearly
filled in with periodic eruptions of rhyolitic lavas such as those that can be seen at
Obsidian
Cliffs
and basaltic lavas which can
be viewed at Sheepeater
Cliff
. Lava strata are most easily seen at the
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River
continues to carve into the ancient lava flows. The canyon is a
classic
V-shaped valley, indicative
of river-type erosion rather than erosion caused by
glaciation.
The most
famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world, is Old Faithful
Geyser
, located in Upper
Geyser Basin. Castle Geyser
, Lion
Geyser
and Beehive Geyser
are in the same basin. The park contains the
largest active geyser in the world—Steamboat Geyser
in the Norris Geyser
Basin. There are 300 geysers in Yellowstone and a total
of at least 10,000 geothermal features altogether. Half the
geothermal features and two-thirds of the world's geysers are
concentrated in Yellowstone.
In May 2001, the
U.S.
Geological Survey, Yellowstone
National Park, and the University of Utah
created the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO),
a partnership for long-term monitoring of the geological processes
of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, for disseminating
information concerning the potential hazards of this geologically
active region.
In 2003, changes at the Norris Geyser Basin resulted in the
temporary closure of some trails in the basin. New
fumaroles were observed, and several geysers showed
enhanced activity and increasing water temperatures. Several
geysers became so hot that they were transformed into purely
steaming features; the water had become superheated and they could
no longer erupt normally. This coincided with the release of
reports of a multiple year United States Geological Survey research
project which mapped the bottom of Yellowstone Lake and identified
a structural dome that had uplifted at some time in the past.
Research indicated that these uplifts posed no immediate threat of
a volcanic eruption, since they may have developed long ago, and
there had been no temperature increase found near the uplifts. On
March 10, 2004, a biologist discovered 5 dead bison which
apparently had inhaled toxic geothermal gases trapped in the Norris
Geyser Basin by a seasonal atmospheric inversion. This was closely
followed by an upsurge of earthquake activity in April 2004. In
2006, it was reported that the Mallard Lake Dome and the Sour Creek
Dome— areas that have long been known to show significant changes
in their ground movement— had risen at a rate of per year from
mid–2004 through 2006. As of late 2007, the uplift has continued at
a reduced rate. These events inspired a great deal of media
attention and speculation about the geologic future of the region.
Experts responded to the conjecture by informing the public that
there was no increased risk of a volcanic eruption in the near
future.

Castle Geyser eruption

Castle Geyser eruption, 1874
Yellowstone experiences thousands of small earthquakes every year,
virtually all of which are undetectable to people. There have been
six earthquakes with at least
magnitude 6 or greater in historical
times, including a 7.5 magnitude quake that struck just outside the
northwest boundary of the park in 1959.
This quake triggered
a huge landslide, which caused a partial
dam collapse on Hebgen
Lake
; immediately downstream, the sediment from the landslide dammed the river and
created a new lake, known as Earthquake Lake
. Twenty-eight people were killed, and
property damage was extensive in the immediate region. The
earthquake caused some geysers in the northwestern section of the
park to erupt, large cracks in the ground formed and emitted steam,
and some hot springs' normally clear water turned muddy. A 6.1
magnitude earthquake struck inside the park on June 30, 1975, but
damage was minimal. For three months in 1985, 3,000 minor
earthquakes were detected in the northwestern section of the park,
during what has been referred to as an earthquake swarm, and has
been attributed to minor subsidence of the Yellowstone caldera.
Beginning on April 30, 2007, sixteen small earthquakes with
magnitudes up to 2.7 occurred in the Yellowstone Caldera for
several days. These swarms of earthquakes are common, and there
have been 70 such swarms between 1983 and 2008. In December 2008,
over 250 earthquakes were measured over a four day span under
Yellowstone Lake, the largest measuring a magnitude of 3.9. Seismic
activity in Yellowstone National Park continues and is reported
hourly by the Earthquake Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological
Survey.
Biology and ecology
Mountain meadow at Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is the centerpiece
of the 20 million acre/31,250 square-mile
(8,093,712 ha/80,937 km2) Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem, a region that includes Grand Teton
National Park
, adjacent National Forests and expansive
wilderness areas in those forests.
The ecosystem is the largest remaining continuous stretch of mostly
undeveloped pristine land in the continental United
States,considered to be the world's largest intact ecosystem in the
northern temperate zone (although the area is mostly not
temperate but
subalpine,
and all the national forest lands surrounding the National Park are
not intact). With the successful
wolf reintroduction program, which began
in the 1990s, virtually all the original faunal species known to
inhabit the region when white explorers first entered the area can
still be found there.
Flora
Over 1,700
species of
trees and other
vascular
plants are native to the park. Another 170 species are
considered to be
exotic species and
are non-native. Of the eight
conifer tree
species documented,
Lodgepole Pine
forests cover 80% of the total forested areas. Other conifers, such
as
Subalpine Fir,
Engelmann Spruce,
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and
Whitebark Pine, are found in
scattered groves throughout the park. As of 2007, the whitebark
pine is threatened by a
fungus known as
white pine blister rust;
however, this is mostly confined to forests well to the north and
west. In Yellowstone, about seven percent of the whitebark pine
species have been impacted with the fungus, compared to nearly
complete infestations in northwestern Montana.
Quaking Aspen and
willows are the most common species of
deciduous trees. The aspen forests have declined
significantly since the early 20th century, but scientists at
Oregon State University attribute recent recovery of the aspen to
the reintroduction of wolves which has changed the grazing habits
of local elk.
There are dozens of species of flowering plants that have been
identified, most of which bloom between the months of May and
September. The
Yellowstone Sand
Verbena is a rare flowering plant found only in Yellowstone. It
is closely related to species usually found in much warmer
climates, making the sand verbena an enigma. The estimated 8,000
examples of this rare flowering plant all make their home in the
sandy soils on the shores of Yellowstone Lake, well above the
waterline.
In Yellowstone's hot waters,
bacteria form
mats of bizarre shapes consisting of trillions of individuals.
These bacteria are some of the most primitive life forms on earth.
Flies and other
arthropods live on the
mats, even in the middle of the bitterly cold winters. Initially,
scientists thought that microbes there gained sustenance only from
sulfur.
In 2005, researchers from the University
of Colorado at Boulder
discovered that the sustenance for at least some of
the diverse hyperthermophilic
species is molecular hydrogen.
Thermus aquaticus is a
bacterium found in the Yellowstone hot
springs produces an important
enzyme that is
easily replicated in the lab and is useful in replicating
DNA as part of the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
process. The retrieval of these bacteria can be achieved with no
impact to the ecosystem. Other bacteria in the Yellowstone hot
springs may also prove useful to scientists who are searching for
cures for various diseases.
Non-native plants sometimes threaten native species by using up
nutrient resources. Though exotic species are most commonly found
in areas with the greatest human visitation, such as near roads and
at major tourist areas, they have also spread into the backcountry.
Generally, most exotic species are controlled by pulling the plants
out of the soil or by spraying, both of which are time consuming
and expensive.
Fauna
Yellowstone is widely considered to be the finest
megafauna wildlife habitat in the
lower 48 states. There are almost
60 species of
mammals in the park, including
the
endangered gray wolf, the
threatened lynx, and
grizzly bears. Other large mammals
include the
bison (buffalo),
black bear,
elk,
moose,
mule deer,
mountain goat,
pronghorn,
bighorn
sheep and
mountain lion.
The relatively large bison populations are a concern for ranchers,
who fear that the species can transmit
bovine
diseases to their domesticated cousins. In fact, about half of
Yellowstone's bison have been exposed to
brucellosis, a
bacterial disease that came to North America with
European cattle that may cause
cattle to
miscarry. The disease has little effect
on park bison, and no reported case of transmission from wild bison
to domestic livestock has been filed.
However, the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has stated that Bison are the
"likely source" of the spread of the disease in cattle in Wyoming
and North
Dakota
. Elk also carry the disease and are believed
to have transmitted the infection to horses and cattle. Bison once
numbered between 30 and 60 million individuals throughout North
America, and Yellowstone remains one of their last strongholds.
Their populations had increased from less than 50 in the park in
1902 to 4,000 by 2003. The park's bison population reached a peak
in 2005 with 4,900 animals. Despite a summer estimated population
of 4,700 in 2007, the number dropped to 3,000 in 2008 after a harsh
winter and controversial brucellosis management sending hundreds to
slaughter. The Yellowstone herd is believed to be one of only four
free roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North
America.
The other three herds are in the Henry Mountains of Utah
, Wind Cave
National Park
in South
Dakota
and on Elk Island in Alberta, Canada.
To combat the perceived threat, national park personnel regularly
harass bison herds back into the park when they venture outside of
the area's borders. During the winter of 1996–97, the bison herd
was so large that 1,079 bison that had exited the park were shot or
sent to slaughter.
Animal rights
activists argue that this is a cruel practice and that the
possibility for disease transmission is not as great as some
ranchers maintain. Ecologists point out that the bison are merely
traveling to seasonal grazing areas that lie within the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem that have been converted to cattle grazing,
some of which are within National Forests and are leased to private
ranchers. APHIS has stated that with vaccinations and other means,
brucellosis can be eliminated from the bison and elk herds
throughout Yellowstone.
Starting in 1914, in an effort to protect elk populations, the U.S.
Congress appropriated funds to be used for the purposes of
"destroying wolves, prairie dogs, and other animals injurious
to agriculture and animal husbandry" on public lands. Park
Service hunters carried out these orders, and by 1926 they had
killed 136 wolves, and wolves were virtually eliminated from
Yellowstone. Further exterminations continued until the National
Park Service ended the practice in 1935. With the passing of the
Endangered Species Act in
1973, the wolf was one of the first mammal species listed. After
the wolves were extirpated from Yellowstone, the
coyote then became the park's top canine predator.
However, the coyote is not able to bring down large animals, and
the result of this lack of a top predator on these populations was
a marked increase in lame and sick megafauna.
By the 1990s, the Federal government had reversed its views on
wolves. In a controversial decision by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(which oversees threatened and endangered species),
Mackenzie Valley wolves, imported from
Canada, were reintroduced into the park. Reintroduction efforts
have been successful with populations remaining relatively stable.
A survey conducted in 2005 reported that there were 13 wolf packs,
totaling 118 individuals in Yellowstone and 326 in the entire
ecosystem. These park figures were lower than those reported in
2004 but may be attributable to wolf migration to other nearby
areas as suggested by the substantial increase in the Montana
population during that interval. Almost all the wolves documented
were descended from the 66 wolves reintroduced in 1995–96. The
recovery of populations throughout the states of Wyoming, Montana
and Idaho has been so successful that on February 27, 2008 the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf
population from the endangered species list.
An estimated 600 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem, with more than half of the population living within
Yellowstone. The grizzly is currently listed as a threatened
species, however the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced
that they intend to take it off the endangered species list for the
Yellowstone region but will likely keep it listed in areas where it
has not yet recovered fully. Opponents of delisting the grizzly are
concerned that states might once again allow hunting and that
better conservation measures need to be implemented to ensure a
sustainable population.
Population figures for elk are in excess of 30,000—the largest
population of any large mammal species in Yellowstone. The northern
herd has decreased enormously since the mid-1990s, and this has
been attributed to wolf predation and causal effects such as elk
using more forested regions to evade predation, consequently making
it harder for researchers to accurately count them. The northern
herd migrates west into southwestern Montana in the winter.
The
southern herd migrates southward, and the majority of these elk
winter on the National
Elk Refuge
, immediately southeast of Grand Teton National
Park. The southern herd migration is the largest mammalian
migration remaining in the U.S. outside of Alaska.
In 2003, the tracks of one female lynx and her cub were spotted and
followed for over . Fecal material and other evidence obtained were
tested and confirmed to be those of a lynx. No visual confirmation
was made, however. Lynx have not been seen in Yellowstone since
1998, though
DNA taken from hair samples
obtained in 2001 confirmed that lynx were at least transient to the
park. Other less commonly seen mammals include the mountain lion
and
wolverine. The mountain lion has an
estimated population of only 25 individuals parkwide. The wolverine
is another rare park mammal, and accurate population figures for
this species are not known. These uncommon and rare mammals provide
insight into the health of protected lands such as Yellowstone and
help managers make determinations as to how best to preserve
habitats.
Eighteen species of fish live in Yellowstone, including the core
range of the
Yellowstone
cutthroat trout—a fish highly sought by
anglers. The Yellowstone cutthroat trout has faced
several threats since the 1980s, including the suspected illegal
introduction into Yellowstone Lake of
lake
trout, an
invasive species
which consume the smaller cutthroat trout.
Although lake trout
were established in Shoshone and
Lewis
lakes in the Snake River drainage from U.S.
Government stocking operations in 1890, it was never officially
introduced into the Yellowstone River drainage. The cutthroat trout
has also faced an ongoing drought, as well as the accidental
introduction of a parasite—
whirling
disease—which causes a terminal nervous system disease in
younger fish. Since 2001, all native sport fish species caught in
Yellowstone waterways are subject to a catch and release law.
Yellowstone is also home to six species of
reptiles, such as the
painted turtle and
Prairie rattlesnake, and four species of
amphibians, including the
Boreal Chorus Frog.
311 species of birds have been reported, almost half of which nest
in Yellowstone. As of 1999, twenty-six pairs of nesting bald eagles
have been documented. Extremely rare sightings of
whooping cranes have been recorded, however
only three examples of this species are known to live in the Rocky
Mountains, out of 385 known worldwide. Other birds, considered to
be species of special concern because of their rarity in
Yellowstone, include the
common loon,
harlequin duck,
osprey,
peregrine
falcon and the
trumpeter
swan.
Forest fires
Fire in Yellowstone National Park
Wildfire is a natural part of most
ecosystems, and plants found in Yellowstone have adapted in a
variety of ways.
Douglas-fir has a thick bark
which protects the inner section of the tree from most fires.
Lodgepole Pines —the most common tree
species in the park— generally have cones that are only opened by
the heat of fire. Their seeds are held in place by a tough resin,
and fire assists in melting the resin, allowing the seeds to
disperse. Fire clears out dead and down wood, providing fewer
obstacles for lodgepole pines to flourish.
Subalpine Fir,
Engelmann Spruce,
Whitebark Pine and other species tend to grow
in colder and moister areas, where fire is less likely to occur.
Aspen trees sprout new growth
from their roots, and even if a severe fire kills the tree above
ground, the roots often survive unharmed because they are insulated
from the heat by soil. The National Park Service estimates that in
natural conditions, grasslands in Yellowstone burned an average of
every 20 to 25 years, while forests in the park would experience
fire about every 300 years.
About thirty-five natural forest fires are ignited each year by
lightning, while another six to ten are
started by people— in most cases by accident. Yellowstone National
Park has three
fire towers, each
staffed by trained fire fighters. The easiest one to reach is atop
Mount Washburn, though it is closed to the public. The park also
monitors fire from the air and relies on visitor reports of smoke
and or flames. Fire towers are staffed almost continuously from
late June to mid-September— the primary fire season. Fires burn
with the greatest intensity in the late afternoon and evening. Few
fires burn more than , and the vast majority of fires reach only a
little over an acre (0.5 ha) before they burn themselves out.
Fire management focuses on monitoring dead and down wood
quantities, soil and tree moisture, and the weather, to determine
those areas most vulnerable to fire should one ignite. Current
policy is to suppress all human caused fires and to evaluate
natural fires, examining the benefit or detriment they may pose on
the ecosystem. If a fire is considered to be an immediate threat to
people and structures, or will burn out of control, then fire
suppression is performed.

Fire damage to trees giving way to new
growth in Yellowstone
In an effort to minimize the chances of out of control fires and
threats to people and structures, park employees do more than just
monitor the potential for fire.
Controlled burns are prescribed fires which
are deliberately started to remove dead timber under conditions
which allow fire fighters an opportunity to carefully control where
and how much wood is consumed. Natural fires are sometimes
considered prescribed fires if they are left to burn. In
Yellowstone, unlike some other parks, there have been very few
fires deliberately started by employees as prescribed burns.
However, over the last 30 years, over 300 natural fires have been
allowed to burn naturally. In addition, fire fighters remove dead
and down wood and other hazards from areas where they will be a
potential fire threat to lives and property, reducing the chances
of fire danger in these areas. Fire monitors also regulate fire
through educational services to the public and have been known to
temporarily ban campfires from campgrounds during periods of high
fire danger.The common notion in early United States land
management policies was that all forest fires were bad. Fire was
seen as a purely destructive force and there was little
understanding that it was an integral part of the ecosystem.
Consequently, until the 1970s, when a better understanding of
wildfire was developed, all fires were suppressed. This led to an
increase in dead and dying forests, which would later provide the
fuel load for fires that would be much harder, and in some cases,
impossible to control. Fire Management Plans were implemented,
detailing that natural fires should be allowed to burn if they
posed no immediate threat to lives and property.

A crown fire approaches the Old
Faithful complex on September 7, 1988
1988 started with a wet spring season although by summer, drought
began moving in throughout the northern Rockies, creating the
driest year on record to that point, courtesy of the droughts of
1988 and 1989.
Grasses and
plants which grew well in the early summer from the
abundant spring moisture produced plenty of grass, which soon
turned to dry tinder. The National Park Service began firefighting
efforts to keep the fires under control, but the extreme drought
made suppression difficult. Between July 15 and July 21, 1988,
fires quickly spread from throughout the entire Yellowstone region,
which included areas outside the park, to on the park land alone.
By the end of the month, the fires were out of control. Large fires
burned together, and on August 20, 1988, the single worst day of
the fires, more than were consumed. Seven large fires were
responsible for 95% of the that were burned over the next couple of
months. A total of 25,000 firefighters and U.S. military forces
participated in the suppression efforts, at a cost of 120 million
dollars. By the time winter brought snow that helped extinguish the
last flames, the fires had destroyed 67 structures and caused
several million dollars in damage. Though no civilian lives were
lost, two personnel associated with the firefighting efforts were
killed.
Contrary to media reports and speculation at the time, the fires
killed very few park animals— surveys indicated that only about 345
elk (of an estimated 40,000–50,000), 36 deer, 12 moose, 6 black
bears, and 9 bison had perished. Changes in fire management
policies were implemented by land management agencies throughout
the U.S., based on knowledge gained from the 1988 fires and the
evaluation of scientists and experts from various fields. By 1992,
Yellowstone had adopted a new fire management plan which observed
stricter guidelines for the management of natural fires.
Climate
Winter scene in Yellowstone
Yellowstone climate is greatly influenced by altitude, with lower
elevations generally found to be warmer year round. The record high
temperature was in 2002, while the coldest temperature recorded is
in 1933. During the summer months of June through early September,
daytime highs are normally in the range, while nighttime lows can
go to below freezing (0 °C)—especially at higher altitudes.
Summer afternoons are frequently accompanied by
thunderstorms. Spring and fall temperatures
range between with cold nights in the teens to single digits (-5 to
-20 °C). Winter in Yellowstone is very cold with high
temperatures usually between zero to 20 °F (-20 to -5 °C)
and nighttime temperatures below zero °F (-20 °C) for
most of the winter.
Precipitation in Yellowstone is highly variable and ranges from
annually near Mammoth Hot Springs, to in the southwestern sections
of the park. The precipitation of Yellowstone is greatly influenced
by the moisture channel formed by the
Snake River Plain to the west that was, in
turn, formed by Yellowstone itself. Snow is possible in any month
of the year, with averages of annually around Yellowstone Lake, to
twice that amount at higher elevations.
Tornadoes in Yellowstone are rare; however, on July
21, 1987, the most powerful tornado recorded in Wyoming touched
down in the Teton
Wilderness
of Bridger-Teton National Forest
and hit Yellowstone National Park. The
tornado was classified as an
F4, with
wind speeds estimated at between . The tornado left a path of
destruction wide, and long, and leveled of mature pine
forest.
Recreation
Orientation map of Yellowstone National Park showing many of the
major tourist attractions
Yellowstone is one of the most popular national parks in the United
States. Since the mid-1960s, at least 2 million tourists have
visited the park almost every year. At peak summer levels, 3,700
employees work for Yellowstone National Park concessionaires.
Concessionaires manage nine hotels and lodges, with a total of
2,238 hotel rooms and cabins available. They also oversee gas
stations, stores and most of the campgrounds. Another 800 employees
work either permanently or seasonally for the National Park
Service.
Park service roads lead to major features; however, road
reconstruction has produced temporary road closures. Yellowstone is
in the midst of a long term road reconstruction effort, which is
hampered by a short repair season.
In the winter, all roads aside from the
one which enters from Gardiner, Montana
, and extends to Cooke City, Montana
, are closed to wheeled vehicles. Park roads
are closed to wheeled vehicles from early November to mid April,
but some park roads remain closed until mid-May. The park has of
paved roads which can be accessed from 5 different entrances. There
is no public transportation available inside the park, but several
tour companies can be contacted for guided motorized transport. In
the winter, concessionaires operate guided
snowmobile and
snow
coach tours. Facilities in the Old Faithful, Canyon and Mammoth
Hot Springs areas of the park are very busy during the summer
months. Traffic jams created by road construction or by people
observing wildlife can result in long delays.
The National Park Service maintains 9 visitor centers and museums
and is responsible for maintenance of historical structures and
many of the other 2,000 buildings.
These structures include National
Historical Landmarks such as the Old Faithful Inn
built in 1903–04 and the entire Fort
Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District
. An historical and educational tour is
available at Fort Yellowstone which details the history of the
National Park Service and the development of the park. Campfire
programs, guided walks and other interpretive presentations are
available at numerous locations in the summer, and on a limited
basis during other seasons.
Camping is available at a dozen campgrounds
with more than 2,000 campsites. Camping is also available in
surrounding National Forests, as well as in Grand Teton National
Park to the south.
Backcountry campsites
are accessible only by foot or by
horseback and require a permit. There are
of
hiking trails available. The park is not
considered to be a good destination for
mountaineering because of the instability of
volcanic rock which predominates. Visitors with pets are required
to keep them on a leash at all times and are limited to areas near
roadways and in "frontcountry" zones such as drive in campgrounds.
Around thermal features, wooden and paved trails have been
constructed to ensure visitor safety, and most of these areas are
handicapped accessible. The National Park Service maintains a year
round clinic at Mammoth Hot Springs and provides emergency services
throughout the year.

Vintage photo of visitors feeding
bears in spite of the danger
Hunting is not permitted, though it is in
the surrounding National Forests in season.
Fishing is a popular activity, and a Yellowstone
Park fishing license is required to fish in park waters. Many park
waters are
fly fishing only and all
native fish species are
catch and
release only. Boating is prohibited on rivers and creeks except
for a stretch of the Lewis River between Lewis and Shoshone Lakes,
and it is open to non-motorized use only. Yellowstone Lake has a
marina, and the lake is the most popular boating destination.
In the early history of the park, visitors were allowed, and
sometimes even encouraged, to feed the bears. The bears had learned
to beg for food, and visitors welcomed the chance to get their
pictures taken with them. This led to numerous injuries to humans
each year. In 1970, park officials changed their policy and started
a vigorous program to educate the public on the dangers of close
contact with bears, and to try to eliminate opportunities for bears
to find food in campgrounds and trash collection areas. Although it
has become more difficult to observe them in recent years, the
number of human injuries and deaths has taken a significant drop
and visitors are in less danger.
Other
protected lands in the region include Caribou-Targhee
, Gallatin
, Custer
, Shoshone
and Bridger-Teton National Forests.
The
National Park Service's John
D.
Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial
Parkway
is to the south and leads to Grand Teton National
Park. The famed Beartooth Highway
provides access from the northeast and has
spectacular high altitude scenery. Nearby communities
include West
Yellowstone, Montana
; Cody,
Wyoming
; Red Lodge, Montana
; Ashton,
Idaho
; and Gardiner, Montana
. The closest air transport is available by
way of Bozeman
; Billings, Montana
; Jackson
; Cody,
Wyoming
or Idaho Falls, Idaho
. Salt Lake City
, to the south, is the closest large metropolitan
area.
See also
References
- U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 17, Chap. 24, pp.
32-33. "An Act to set apart a certain Tract of Land lying near the
Head-waters of the Yellowstone River as a public Park." From
The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 collection.
Library of Congress
- Nathaniel P. Langford-The Vigilante, the Explorer, the
Expounder and First Superintendent of the Yellowstone Park by
Olin D. Wheeler 1912 text of speech to Montana Historical
Society
- Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone
National Park to the Secretary of the Interior for the year
1872.From The Evolution of the Conservation Movement,
1850-1920. Library of Congress
- Griske, op. cit.,
p. 122
- Leopold, A. Starker, et al. 1963. " The Goal of Park Management in the United
States". Wildlife Management in the National Parks.
National Park Service. Retrieved on
September 19, 2009.
- USGS: Latest Earthquakes - US » Yellowstone
Region
- 2007 Yellowstone National Park Fishing
Regulations
- National Park Service
Further reading
External links