Vol 3, # 95

   Monday, November 8, 1999

YELLOWSTONE
WEATHER
Highs 60s, Lows 20s
Partly Sunny

   

Yellowstone Net Home Page
 

ROAD REPORT
Some road
construction
delays.
 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- The Winter Use Issue continues to be on the front burner this fall, as the National Park Service and regional and local officials and leaders continue to pros and cons of both the NPS' preferred plan and a counter-proposal offered by business interests in the gateway communities.  The NPS would like to plow the road between West Yellowstone and Old Faithful during the winter months, thus reducing snowmobile pollution and opening up Old Faithful to more visitors.   Local business interests are also proposing a way to reduce pollution, but without closing the West Entrance to snowmobiles. 

The National Park Service continues to seek input from the American public in regards to the Winter Use Proposal, as the following NPS press release notes:

"The National Park Service (NPS) has announced another avenue for the public to provide their comments on the Draft Winter Use Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. Comments may be submitted by calling 307-344-2500 (this is not a toll-free number). The public can also submit written comments on the plan by writing: Clifford Hawkes, National Park Service, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado 80228; or by e-mail at: yell_winter_use@nps.gov. Comments on the document will be accepted until December 1, 1999.

After receiving inquiries from the public about the possibility of submitting comments over the telephone, the NPS evaluated the request and decided it was important to provide the public with as many ways as possible to present their comments on this important document. Individuals submitting their comments by phone will have two minutes to record their message. The message will then be written down by park staff and become part of the public record. Since it will be difficult to guarantee that comments will be transcribed verbatim, the NPS suggests individuals still submit written comments by mail or e-mail to the addresses mentioned above.

The complete Draft Winter Use Plan and Environmental Impact Statement may be reviewed on the Internet at www.nps.gov/yell/technical/planning/. Printed copies of the complete document (700+ pages) or its executive summary are available by writing to Clifford Hawkes at the above-mentioned address."

Yellowstone Net also gives you opportunities to voice your opinion to your congresspersons and editorial sections of magazines and newspapers by clicking here.

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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. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael Finley reminds visitors that park roads will close for the season at 8 a.m. today, Monday, November 8, to allow snow to accumulate in preparation for the winter season. An exception is the road from the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, to the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, Montana, which remains open year-round to automobile travel (although this road is subject to temporary closures, and chains or snow tires may be required at times due to hazardous winter driving conditions).

The following roads closed earlier this season: Dunraven Pass (Tower Fall via Dunraven Pass to Canyon), Beartooth Pass (outside the Northeast Entrance of the park) and the section of road from the East Entrance to Fishing Bridge (for construction).

Park visitors are reminded that with the closing of park roads, the fishing season in Yellowstone also closes (at 10 p.m. on Sunday, November 7) in ALL portions of the park.

At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, December 15, 1999, Yellowstone will open for the winter season to oversnow vehicles. Winter oversnow road openings are dependent on sufficient snow. Groomed roads will begin to close to oversnow vehicle use at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 6, 2000, with the closure of the Mammoth-to-Norris road. On Wednesday, March 8, Norris Junction to Madison Junction, and Norris Junction to Canyon will close. All remaining groomed roads will close to oversnow vehicle use at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 13, 2000.

When the interior park roads close to automobile traffic on November 8, non-motorized travel in the form of bicycles, roller blades and roller skis, will be allowed as long as weather permits. Specific information on these types of activities can be obtained by contacting the park.

At this time of year, roads in the park are subject to temporary closures, and chains or snow tires may be required at times due to hazardous winter driving conditions. Travelers to the park are urged to contact park headquarters at (307) 344-7381 for current road and weather conditions.

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK -- The National Park Service now has two webcams installed within Yellowstone National Park.  This follows several months of webcam experimentation within the Park.

The two webcams are located in Old Faithful and Mammoth.   The Old Faithful webcam is (not surprisingly) pointed at Old Faithful Geyser, while the Mammoth webcam, which is located at the Albright Visitor's Center, offers a view of the lawn in Mammoth (elk can oftentimes be seen in this cam).

The National Park Service also has webcams located in other national parks, such as Glacier National Park, Zion National Park, and Manassas National Battlefield.  Yellowstone Net offers access to all national park webcams at www.yellowstone.net/webcams.htm.

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BELGRADE, Mont. (YNET) -- Yellowstone Net (www.yellowstone.net), the premier Yellowstone National Park internet site, has added several exciting new features for Yellowstone fans.  First and foremost is the addition of a fully-featured, free online email client for web users.  This free email is in the form of yourname@mail.yellowstone.net, and is a great way to show your support for Yellowstone National Park.  The free email offer comes with twice as much storage space as most other online email accounts, an address book, folder management system, search feature, the ability to retrieve mail from any POP email accounts you may already have, and more.  Email prefixes are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

In addition, Yellowstone Net has added a Community Center for web users.  The Community Center offers live chat with other users, as well as a compilation of links to all the various features of the Yellowstone Net site which allow users to interact with one another and show their support for Yellowstone National Park.

The third major addition to the Yellowstone Net is the newly revised online Shopping Mall.  Just in time for the Christmas season, the Mall offers three stores featuring thousands of travel and outdoor items ranging from Backpacks to Tents to Outdoor Books to Luggage.  Mall stores are equipped with a secure credit card transaction system.

To access Yellowstone Net's Free Email, the Community Center, or the Shopping Mall, go to the home page (www.yellowstone.net) and click on the appropriate link.

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