The Second Century, 1972-Present
Restoring and Preserving Yellowstone's Fragile Ecosystem

This is part one of two parts of the story of Yellowstone's Second Century.

1970s -- Attention slowly begins turning from viewing Yellowstone as a recreational playground to viewing Yellowstone as an ecological treasure which needed to be preserved and protected for future generations.  The awareness of the fragile nature of the Park's resources and a growing awareness of the connectedness of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem began in the previous two decades, but the 1970s witness the implementation of more steps to restore ecological balance in the Park and protect the Park from the ill effects of human interaction, while at the same time not discouraging human visitation.

1972 -- Yellowstone celebrates its 100th anniversary.  The First World Conference on National Parks is held.

1974 -- Fishing is prohibited from Fishing Bridge in order to protect the spawning of the native cutthroat trout.

1976 -- Yellowstone is designated as a Biosphere Reserve, in recognition of its ecological value.

1978 -- Yellowstone is designated as a World Heritage Site, in recognition of its ecological value.

1988 -- The worst fire season in Yellowstone's history takes place.  "The Fires of 1988" burn some 1.4 million acres in the Yellowstone ecosystem between June and October.  25,000 firefighters and $120 million dollars are unable to stop the massive flames.  Early winter snows finally extinguish the flames.

1989 -- As Yellowstone's fire policies continued to come under immense criticism, the Park is already displaying signs of recovering from the fires as wildflowers arise in profusion from the blackened ground.

Continue to the second part of Yellowstone's Second Century.

Yellowstone Net is Produced by Bruce Gourley, Russ Finley,  & Tim Gourley.
Copyright 1997-2005 by Bruce Gourley.