Vol 1, # 23

   Monday, March 1, 1999

YELLOWSTONE
WEATHER
Highs 30s, Lows 20s
Possible Snow
 

Yellowstone Net Home Page

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- In October, Yellowstone will be hosting the 5th Biennial Scientific Conference.  The conference is focused on protecting Yellowstone's native plants and animals from non-native species, which continue to pose a threat to the Yellowstone ecosystem.  The NPS says of the conference:

The purpose of the greater Yellowstone conference series is to encourage the awareness and application of wide-ranging, high-caliber scientific work on the region’s natural and cultural resources. The conservation of wild biological resources is increasingly a matter of protecting native plant and animal assemblages from the threat of non-native invasions—some of which may be catastrophic. All parts of the ecosystem, from the aquatic environment to the subalpine terrestrial communities, have been subjected to the willful or accidental introduction of species usually defined as non-native.

The Fifth Biennial Conference will provide a forum for scholars and managers in many disciplines to discuss relevant research and management concerning the relationship between native and non-native species in the Yellowstone ecosystem. The Program Committee invites proposals for scholarly papers and panel discussions that offer historical and contemporary perspectives on the following topics:

Defining “non-native” or exotic/alien species

Ethical considerations in managing non-native resources

Environmental history of native and non-native resources

Research and/or management of non-native species or communities including aquatic birds, mammals, plants, insects, and diseases

Mitigation, rehabilitation, and decision analysis frameworks with application to greater Yellowstone

The effects of non-native species on resources and human experiences in greater Yellowstone

Ethical considerations in managing non-native resources

Natural or artificial redistribution of native species beyond their historic ranges

Biocontrols and other approaches to management of non-native resources

The conference will be held at the Mammoth Hotel in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming. Please contact Joy Perius at (307) 344-2209 for more information.

Would you like to submit an abstract?  Please submit a one-page, double-spaced abstract of proposed papers, posters, or panel sessions, as well as a brief vita of the senior author or panel leader, on diskette or as an attachment via electronic mail (Word, Word Perfect, or ASCII format) by March 15, 1999, to: Program Committee, Yellowstone Center for Resources, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190; email: Joy_Perius@nps.gov Abstracts will be published in the conference agenda booklet. Authors of selected papers and panelists will be notified by May 1, 1999.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS

Ralph Maughan
Kim Steinbacher
Kevin Sanders
Steve Brashear
Clint Wilkes
Tim Gourley
Hon. Bob Gammage
Ruth Colter-Frick
Lee Whittlesey
Tom Mazzarisi
Russ Finley
David Monteith
Denise Elmer
Dr. Bob Bara

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (YNET) -- To date, fifteen Yellowstone bison have been slaughtered by the Montana Department of Livestock this year. The slaughtered bison were carriers of the disease brucellosis, and the DOL considers them a threat to cattle which graze nearby part of the year. This compares to eleven from last winter, and almost 1100 from the 1996-97 winter season.

The DOL has decided to postpone construction of a bison capture facility, thanks to the efforts of the bison advocacy group Buffalo Nations, who have blocked access to the proposed site of the second capture facility for the past month.

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Although an independent researcher hired by Republicans has concluded that the wilderness of Western Montana and central Idaho can support up to 300 grizzlies, Republican senators continue to oppose the grizzly reintroduction.  The study was commissioned by the federal government, under the direction of Republican senators from Montana and Idaho.  Sen Conrad Burns (Montana) recently declared that the area contains too high a concentration of noxious weeds to be able to support a grizzly population.

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Oklahoma State University researchers are working to develop a vaccine for brucellosis, one of the most serious diseases of livestock and a potential agent in biological weapons.  In livestock, the brucellosis bacteria causes cows to abort, makes calves sick, decreases milk production and interrupts breeding cycles. Numerous Yellowstone bison have been slaughtered in recent years because some carry the disease and it is feared they may transmit it to cattle.  The project is three to four years away from experimental trials on cattle. Some bison advocates hold hope that the development of a brucellosis vaccine would stop the unnecessary killing of Yellowstone's bison.

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