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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 Yellowstone Net Update -- by Bruce Gourley Geyser Update -- News Brief Prairie Protection Plan -- 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's wolves continue to attract much attention, although their presence in the Park is now secure, thanks to a federal ruling. The American public is fascinated with the creatures, while many area ranchers and outfitters are firmly opposed to the wolves, fearing that the animals pose a threat to their livelihoods. For their part, the wolf population is growing quite nicely, and recent statistics indicate that although the wolves are impacting elk herds in the region to some degree, there is no overall drastic reduction in the number of elk in the larger Yellowstone region. In fact, the Northern Yellowstone elk herd has increased from last winter. I recently came across a Yellowstone wolf study conducted by student researchers from the University of Michigan. Although the results of the study were released a year ago, they do not seem to have garnered much attention. The researchers used a computer model called "Stella" to simulate the population growth of wolves in Yellowstone and their impact on all manner of Yellowstone wildlife, from elk to coyote to ground squirrel to raven and more. The conclusions of this interesting study are as follows: Despite the innate simplicity of computer modeling, our project bettered our understanding of the complexity of natural ecosystems. We successfully simulated predator-prey relationships and the effects of a keystone species in the Yellowstone Ecosystem through our Stella models. Based on our models and research, we predict that: The wolves will grow to hold elk populations in check. The Coyote population will continue to decrease, but avoid extinction, due to spatial heterogeneity and their adaptation to a scavenging subsistence. Biodiveristy rates continue to increase in response to the wolves, though at a slower pace. These conclusions clearly do not spell disaster for Yellowstone or the Park's elk herd. In fact, prior to the re-introduction of the wolves, some biologists were concerned about the elk population getting out of hand and adversely affecting the Yellowstone ecosystem. The entire results of the University of Michigan wolf study is available online at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mabelson/WolfReintro95.htm. Be warned that it has lots of graphs and pictures and takes a very long time to load! (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		YELLOWSTONE NET SITE UPDATE by Bruce Gourley BELGRADE, Mont. (YNET) -- The Yellowstone Net site has recently upgraded its popular Discussion Forum to accommodate more users while loading more quickly. The previous forum was somewhat unwieldy in loading slowly and not allowing users to post a note without the entire page first loading. In addition, Discussion Forums for the following national parks have been added: Grand Teton, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon and Yosemite. These forums have been requested by various users over the past few months. The Discussion Forums are open to the general Internet public. No sign-up is required to use the forums. BACK TO TOP
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		GEYSER UPDATE News Brief YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Continued research underneath the surface of Yellowstone Lake is revealing that the lake bottom contains numerous thermal features, from rows of 100-plus feet silica spires to enormous hydrothermal explosion craters. Based on recent discoveries, some geologists are theorizing that Monument Geyser Basin, located between Madison Junction and Norris Basin, may have been formed under water in an ancient glacial lake. The formations in Monument Geyser Basin, long known for their distinctiveness, bear some similarities to Yellowstone Lake's underwater thermal structures. BACK TO TOP
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		PRAIRIE PROTECTION PLAN News Brief Although Wyoming is best known for Yellowstone National Park, the northeast section of the state features the 553,000-acre Thunder Basin National Grassland, one of the larger grasslands remaining in America. The U.S. Forest Service is currently working on a 10-15 year plan to protect grasslands in Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas. The grasslands contain habitat for the black-footed ferret, bison, elk, prairie dog and bighorn sheep. The Sierra Club and the Predator Conservation Alliance are advocating further protection of the grasslands. BACK TO TOP