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YELLOWSTONE WEATHER Highs 20s, Lows 0s Partly Sunny More Weather Road Conditions		Yellowstone Net Home Page Vacation Reservations	IN THE NEWS TODAY: Protecting Yellowstone -- by Bruce Gourley Bison Update -- by Bruce Gourley Wild Horses for Sale -- News Brief Glacier National Park News -- News Brief NEW! Daily Environmental News -- from ISyndicate
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ROAD REPORT North entrance open only. For more road info, click here. COMMUNITY CENTER THE DAILY CARTOON ONLINE GREETING CARDS PUBLISHER Yellowstone Net Company EDITOR-IN- CHIEF Bruce Gourley MORE LINKS Vacation Discussion Newspaper Archives Send us your comments		PROTECTING YELLOWSTONE by Bruce Gourley Yellowstone is a national treasure which is owned by the American public. Protecting Yellowstone is the responsibility of the American public. This weekly feature will help identify and explore the issues which are crucial to the ongoing, healthy existence of the "Crown Jewel" of America's National Park system. YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- Yellowstone continues to be in the middle of a contentious debate over the winter use of the Park. At the heart of the debate is high levels of pollution resulting from increasing snowmobile usage. Park officials have voiced their desire to prohibit snowmobiles on the West Yellowstone to Old Faithful roadway (instead opening the road to automobiles), environmentalists are pushing for the gradual removal of all snowmobiles from the Park, and West Yellowstone businesses are calling for cleaner-running and quieter snowmobiles. In the midst of this ongoing debate, snowmobile manufacturer Arctic Cat has presented Yellowstone National Park with two experimental snowmobiles which operate cleaner and quieter than typical machines. The two experimental snowmobiles feature four-stroke engines, as opposed to the standard engines found in snowmobiles. Four-stroke engines are comparable to automobile engines, whereas the two-stroke engines mix gasoline and oil directly, thus producing more power and speed, two things many snowmobile enthusiasts want. The experimental sleds will be used for ranger and maintenance duties in the Park this winter. Although not as powerful as regular snowmobiles, the machines are adequate for touring Yellowstone, which has a 45 mph speed limit. Although there are no immediate plans to mass produce the cleaner-running snowmobiles, the presence of the machines in the Park this winter is a reflection of the reality that faces Yellowstone as the Park grapples with winter use issues. Without doubt, the days of two-stroke snowmobiles in Yellowstone are limited. The question remains as to the fate of snowmobiles in general in Yellowstone National Park. (Yellowstone Net provides you opportunity to voice your opinion regarding the various Yellowstone issues to your congresspersons and to editorial sections of magazines and newspapers by clicking here.) BACK TO TOP
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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		BISON UPDATE by Bruce Gourley BELGRADE, Mont. (YNET) -- Thus far, with the mild winter that the Yellowstone region has experienced to this point, there are no reports of Yellowstone bison wandering out of the Park and being slaughtered by the Montana Department of Livestock. The coming winter months will be the crucial time, as the winter stretches out and the snow piles up, driving some of the Park's bison to seek food at lower elevations outside of the Park. The Montana Department of Livestock continues to be adamant that it will seek to destroy any wandering bison who test positive for brucellosis, even though studies have shown that there is little accuracy in their tests, and despite the protests of other government agencies and many environmental groups. Even while the Yellowstone bison drama drags on, an interesting experiment with bison is taking place just west of Yellowstone in eastern Idaho: a herd of bison have been ranging on public land. During the past six months, some 350 bison were turned lose on Bureau of Land Management land. The bison have been easier on the land than cattle, spending less time around streams and not destroying stream banks. The only real problem which developed was when the bison started gathering on a county road in December, raising concerns of an automobile accident, although non resulted. Idaho is learning that bison can make good neighbors and be easier on the land. BACK TO TOP
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		WILD HORSES FOR SALE News Brief The United States Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to offer wild horses and burros for sale to the public this summer in Havre (July 29), Lewiston 9(August 5) and Glasgow (August 26), Montana. The minimum bid for a wild horse or burro is $125, and applications must be submitted two weeks prior to the auction dates. Applications can be obtained at any BLM office. BACK TO TOP
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		GLACIER NATIONAL PARK NEWS News Brief KALISPELL, Mont. -- Glacier Park International Airport, located next to Glacier National Park, returned to year-round daily flights last year, with the result being a ten percent increase in passengers. As Glacier National Park has increased in popularity, so has Glacier Airport, becoming the fastest growing Montana airport. Similarly, in Wyoming, the Jackson Hole airport, near Grand Teton National Park, is one of that region's fastest-growing airports. BACK TO TOP