Vol 3, # 34

   Friday, March 26, 1999

YELLOWSTONE
WEATHER
Highs 40s, Lows20s
Windy, Some Snow
 

Yellowstone Net Home Page

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park biologists, in cooperation with the State of Montana, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Biological Resources Division of the U.S.G.S., have completed the annual late winter elk count for the northern range area. Aircraft were used in the survey and resulted in a count of 11,742 elk in the northern range herd. A classification survey was recently completed and found a ratio of 34 calves to 100 female elk. For purposes of these surveys, the northern range includes from the Lamar Valley in the park, west and north to the Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area, 20 miles north of Yellowstone National Park near Emigrant, Montana.

Elk numbers wintering on the northern range have remained constant the last 2 winters but are down from the 17,000 to 19,000 counted in the mid-1990s. Estimates of calf ratios have varied from 17 to 48 calves per 100 females since the mid-1970s and since 1995 have varied from 23 to 34 calves per 100 female elk.

Concurrently, independent research is being conducted under the direction of noted wolf biologist Dr. Rolf Peterson of Michigan Tech University. His research is investigating new methods and techniques describing elk population parameters on the northern range. Results from that study are expected during the year 2000.

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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 (YNET) -- If you are planning a visit to Yellowstone this summer, now is the time to be making preparations, including your lodging and activity reservations.

Yellowstone Net Travel offers the best customer service in the region and can take care of all your Yellowstone reservations, including lodging and activity needs.

Already, most lodging dates in the Park are filled, so you should be prepared to stay at one of the popular gateway cities:  West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Cody or Jackson.  In addition, if you plan on taking a raft trip, make your plans now, as it one of the most popular activities in Yellowstone vicinity.  Other popular activities include horseback riding, bicycle tours, and guided geyser tours.

For more information, be sure to visit the Yellowstone Net Travel website.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPS) -- Deborah O. Liggett, a 19-year career employee of the National Park Service, has been named the general superintendent of four park units in Southwest Alaska. She will manage Katmai National Park and Preserve, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve and the Alagnak Wild River.

For the past six months, Liggett, 44, has been the acting superintendent of the four units, having moved to Alaska in 1997 to work as a management assistant in the Alaska Regional Office in Anchorage. Prior to her Alaska assignments, Liggett was the superintendent of Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. In that job, Liggett was a key negotiator in mediating conflicts between climbers who use the Tower and Native Americans for whom the Tower was a sacred site. Her previous NPS assignments include Everglades National Park (Florida), Voyageurs National Park (Minnesota), Dry Tortugas National Park (Florida), Big Bend National Park (Texas), Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona) and Great Sand Dunes National Monument (Colorado). Liggett is a native of Denver and a graduate of the University of Colorado with a bachelor's degree in environmental biology.

"I am honored to be selected for the job.  This job is particularly interesting and challenging because of the spectacular resources, the growing public use of these parks, and the fact that most of these areas were established not quite 20 years ago by the Alaska Lands Act. They're still new in many ways, and our decisions today will largely determine their future," Liggett said. "It's an exciting time to be here."

The four park units total about 8.6 million acres, and are administered from a headquarters in Anchorage and field offices in Port Alsworth and King Salmon.

"These parks are at a critical stage in their development, and Deb Liggett is uniquely qualified to lead them into the future," said Alaska Regional Director Bob Barbee. "She will oversee the  construction of new visitor facilities at Brooks Camp in Katmai, develop strategies to manage the growing use of the Lake Clark and Katmai coasts, work on subsistence issues at Aniakchak, and work with other public and private interests to make sure the fabulous fish and wildlife resources along the Alagnak are not harmed by increasing public use."

Liggett lives in Anchorage with her husband, Jay. Off the job, she enjoys recreation in wild areas, reading, antiques, travel and learning to fly fish.

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LUBBOCK, Tex., Wyo. -- Texas Tech University in Lubbock has opened a "Fire Ecology Center" to share information about the good aspects of fire. Much was learned after the fires in Yellowstone National Park a decade ago about the beneficial aspects of fire in clearing out old growth and debris while encouraging young trees, flowers and other vegetation. It is now understood that much of the same benefit can be achieved with prescribed or planned fires under strict controls. The center is offering to share its research with the public or other universities.