Vol 3, # 75

   Monday, August 30, 1999

YELLOWSTONE
WEATHER
Highs 80s, Lows 40s
Mostly Sunny
 

Yellowstone Net Home Page
 

ROAD REPORT
Some road
construction
delays.
 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- The summer season is rapidly drawing to a close in Yellowstone, with this coming weekend marking the end of the official summer season.  Soon, thoughts in Yellowstone will be turning to winter, and with winter comes one of Yellowstone's most pressing concern's:  the fate of the Park bison.

Yellowstone's bison, in recent years, have become victims of a seemingly ill-planned campaign to combat the disease brucellosis (a disease which some wild bison harbor and which can cause domestic cattle to abort their fetuses).  Actually, it is not so much a campaign against brucellosis as it is a campaign against bison by the Montana Department of Livestock.  The DOL completely ignores brucellosis in elk (who can transmit the disease to domestic cattle), and instead vent's its anger on the bison (of which there is no evidence that they can transmit the disease to cattle).  Thus, it could appropriately be called a "bison war," in which well over a thousand bison have been needlessly slaughtered during the past three winters.

This winter, however, there is hope that the bison casualties will be reduced, as the government has purchased nine thousand acres of land just north of Yellowstone, land which will give the bison a safe zone in which to roam during the winter months when their search for food often carries them out of the Park.

The progress in the "bison wars," as with other issues surrounding Yellowstone, is slow.  The fate of Yellowstone's wolves continue to hang in the balance of a judge of panels, although the American public is solidly behind the wolves.  Repairs on Yellowstone's badly outdated and leaking sewer systems is getting underway, finally.  The Park has finally secured enough funding to re-construct park roads properly.  Some issues which are far from being resolved include the bio-prospecting controversy (should Yellowstone get a share of profits from scientific discoveries made within it's borders?) and the ongoing winter-use controversy, which addresses the question of the proper place of snowmachines in the Yellowstone ecosystem during the winter months.

From season to season, these issues remain.  Yellowstone depends on the support of it's owners, the American public, to ensure that it endures to the next generation.

You can help by writing or emailing your congressman.   Let them know how you feel about protecting and preserving Yellowstone National Park.

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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. --Several months ago Yellowstone official's announced their intention to begin inspecting commercial vehicles which utilize the Park's roadways.  Numerous tour buses descend upon Yellowstone each summer, and delivery trucks constantly ply the roadways delivering various goods and supplies within the Park.

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The Park County Travel council is considering proposing that the Wyoming state legislature raise the sales tax in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park from its current 4% rate to a 5% rate.  The extra revenue is anticipated to bring in an additional $1.5 million for the Park. 

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Now that the summer season in Yellowstone is drawing to a close, winter will soon be uppermost in the minds of Yellowstone vacationers.  Yellowstone offers a unique winter experience, whether from a snowmachine or on cross-country skies.  The season runs from mid-December through early March, and it is not too early to begin making winter plans in Yellowstone.   For more information, click here.

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