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YELLOWSTONE |
IN THE NEWS TODAY: Former Yellowstone Researchers Honored -- by NPS Sierra Club Speaks On Grizzly Protection -- News Brief Group Calls for Ban on Snowmobiles -- News Brief Bear Problems at Yosemite Drop -- News Brief Daily Environmental News -- from ISyndicate |
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ROAD REPORT PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-
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FORMER
YELLOWSTONE RESEARCHERS HONORED FOR BOOK by National Park Service YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Two former Yellowstone National Park scientists, Dr. Mary Meagher and Dr. Douglas B. Houston, have won the prestigious Joan Paterson Kerr Award for their book, Yellowstone and the Biology of Time. The award was announced at the recent Western History Association's annual meeting. Yellowstone and the Biology of Time was chosen as the best illustrated book on the history of the American West for 1999. By analyzing 100 sets of comparative photographs, Yellowstone and the Biology of Time reveals the dynamic nature of Yellowstone's changing landscape. "Never before has the public had this opportunity to clearly see Yellowstone's ecological processes in action over the long haul," Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael Finley said. "This book is a milestone in our efforts to understand where this wild setting has been and where it's going." The photographic sets are followed by an extended narrative describing the geology, soils, and vegetation of the park, as well as a discussion of "the agents of change" that shape today's wild Yellowstone: climate, fire, wildlife, humans, and other forces still active in the park. Most of the photo sets contain three pictures, with many of the original views dating as far back as the 1870s and 1880s, including a number of images by the well-known early Yellowstone photographers William Henry Jackson and F.J. Haynes. After locating the earliest available images of each area of the park, Drs. Meagher and Houston rephotographed the same locations in the 1970s, after the 1988 fires, and in some cases in the 1990s. They then studied the photographs to note long-term changes in vegetation and other features. Superintendent Finley notes, "This is a fascinating and important piece of scholarship. This remarkable book is an invaluable resource to park management and scientists, providing insightful data on changes--or the lack of change--to the park's flora and fauna, and even to the geology. " Dr. Meagher began her long association with Yellowstone in 1959 and held a variety of research-related positions, including several years as chief biologist. She retired in 1997 as research biologist for the Midcontinent Ecological Science Center, National Biological Service (now the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey), Yellowstone National Park. During her career in Yellowstone, her specialty was large mammal ecology, with an emphasis on bison, about which she published many technical papers and articles. Following a research project on the Shiras moose in Jackson Hole, Dr. Douglas B. Houston studied ungulates in northern Yellowstone from 1970 to 1980. He is also author of the award-winning book, The Northern Yellowstone Elk: Ecology and Management (1982). He retired in 1997 as research scientist for the National Biological Service at Olympic National Park, where he studied mountain goats, salmon, and other ecological topics. The Joan Paterson Kerr Award was established in 1992 by Chester Kerr in honor of his wife, Joan Paterson Kerr. The biennial award was originally established to recognize the best illustrated book for a university press; last year that changed to include all presses. Yellowstone and the Biology of Time was printed by the University of Oklahoma Press. |
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS Ralph Maughan
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SIERRA CLUB
SPEAKS UP ON GRIZZLY PROTECTION News Brief YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK -- This past summer the Sierra Club gathered signatures of Yellowstone visitors in support of grizzlies in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Earlier this week, the organization submitted about 15,000 public comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is studying whether or not to begin the process of removing the Grizzly from the Endangered Species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is suggesting a "artificial recovery zone," but the Sierra Club and some other advocacy groups believe such a zone is not sufficient, pointing to the fact that 62% of bear-human contacts occurred outside of the zone. In particular, the habitat area needs to be extended to the north and west of the Park in order to protect the Grizzly, the Sierra Club maintains. |
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| ANIMAL RIGHTS
GROUP SEEKS BAN ON SNOWMOBILES IN PARKS News Brief The Fund for Animals, an animal rights group, this week called for a ban of snowmobiling, snowcoaching and snow-plowing in both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The debate over how to resolve Yellowstone's Winter Use problems continues to garner more attention, with The Fund for Animals being one of several groups that have called for a complete ban of snowmobiles within the Park. The National Park Service has proposed opening the West Yellowstone to Old Faithful route to automobiles this year, while snowmobile advocates have countered with a proposal that would limit the number of machines, as well as the hours the machines could be in the Park, and the utilization of cleaner-burning machines. The Park Service is accepting comments until December 1. You can make your voice heard on this and other issues. |
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| BEAR PROBLEMS AT
YOSEMITE DROP News Brief YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- Park officials have noted that bear problems in Yosemite, one of the nation's most-visited national parks, dropped by some 60% this past summer. In 1998, bear incidents topped 1300, with the damage totaling over half-a-million dollars. This past summer, both numbers dropped well over half. The success is attributed to the Park Service making strong efforts to warn visitors about bears and teaching visitors proper precautions to take in order to avoid bear problems. |
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