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YELLOWSTONE WEATHER Highs 70s, Lows 30s Partly Cloudy More Weather ROAD REPORT All roads are now open, but are subject to closure. More Info THE DAILY CARTOON ONLINE GREETING CARDS PUBLISHER Yellowstone Net Company EDITOR-IN- CHIEF Bruce Gourley MORE LINKS 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) -- Although wildfires in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are occupying the headlines these days, other issues facing Yellowstone remain. One such issue is the fate of Yellowstone's bison, who face death at the hands of the Montana Department of Livestock when they leave park boundaries during the winter months. The National Park Service is close to releasing a Environmental Impact Statement concerning bison management. The following is from the National Park Service: A final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to address bison management in and around Yellowstone National Park will be released to the public this week. This document is a final EIS but is not a final decision on bison management; a joint Federal Record of Decision (ROD) will determine how bison will be managed in and around Yellowstone National Park. The joint ROD will be signed by the agencies this fall and will be made available to the public. The modified preferred alternative is designed to meet objectives set forth in the FEIS for bison management in Yellowstone and Montana - to maintain the largest wild, free-ranging population of bison in the United States and address the risk of brucellosis transmission in order to protect the economic interest and viability of the livestock industry in the state of Montana. The modified preferred alternative uses several management techniques in an adaptive management framework to reduce the unnecessary killing of bison and provide for separation of bison and cattle on public lands outside the park and further reduce the already very low risk of brucellosis transmission to cattle. The modified preferred alternative includes tolerance of some bison on public lands during winter, limiting the spring bison population to 3,000 animals, vaccination of bison, vaccination of cattle, and additional monitoring of cattle in specific areas near Yellowstone. Some techniques for bison management could include additional monitoring of bison on public lands outside the park, hazing bison onto appropriate public lands or back into the park in the spring to avoid lethal removal, and control of some bison on public lands outside the park through capture and slaughter and agency shooting. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Interior's National Park Service are issuing the FEIS for public comment. While a public comment period is not required on an FEIS, the agencies are accepting written comments that: 1) document substantive concerns on specific elements of the agencies' modified preferred alternative as modified from the Draft EIS; and 2) provide new information that would substantively change the agencies' FEIS analyses. Written comments can be addressed to: Bison Management Plan EIS Team, Yellowstone National Park, Attention: Sarah Bransom (YCR), P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190; or submitted through the Internet at the National Park Service web site at www.nps.gov/planning. Written comments must be postmarked on or before October 2, 2000. Resolving the issue of how best to manage bison in and around Yellowstone National Park involves decisions that will affect many individuals, including those involved in the cattle industry, those responsible for bison management, and the millions of Americans that visit Yellowstone each year. During the public comment period on the draft EIS (June 12, 1998 through November 3, 1998), 67,520 public comment letters were received containing 212,249 individual comments. This FEIS addresses those comments and concerns. To request a copy of the FEIS, please contact the park at (307) 344-2159. (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 Matthew McLean		WILDFIRE UPDATE by National Park Service Editor's Note (Wednesday, August 23) -- The South Entrance to Yellowstone is now open, although visitors using the road are not allowed to stop on the roadway between the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Parkway south of Yellowstone to the Lewis Canyon Overlook within the Park. All trails in the area are closed due to fire danger. For the moment, the fires within the Park are not expanding significantly. For more information, go to the Wildfire Update page. (BG) YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park officials report that no new fire starts were found within Yellowstone National Park today. However, aerial reconnaissance flights were not possible for safety reasons. Cooler temperatures slowed fire activity this afternoon, although the potential remains for increased fire activity as weather conditions change. The South Entrance road remains closed due to fire activity near the southern Yellowstone boundary. A barricade, located south of Grant Village allows park visitors staying at the Lewis Lake Campground to travel to the campground from the north, but no further. Yellowstone’s fires are located in remote backcountry areas and are not threatening any developed areas at this time. Following is information on current fire activity in the park. There are approximately 80 people assigned to the Spruce Complex fires and they are supported by 1 helicopter and 4 engines. The Stone Fire was first reported yesterday. This fire is located in the backcountry on the Pitchstone Plateau. It is approximately 1 acre and is currently unstaffed. The Plateau Fire, located in a remote area of the southwestern portion of Yellowstone near Boundary Creek, is estimated to be 370 acres. This fire is unstaffed. The Glade Fire is located near the southern boundary of Yellowstone in Grand Teton National Park. This fire is currently estimated to be 3,200 acres. Crews are working to suppress this fire and protect structures at the South Entrance and Flagg Ranch. The Moose Fire, located near Moose Creek south of Shoshone Lake, is estimated at 1,200 acres. It is currently unstaffed. The Boundary Fire is located along the South Boundary of the park near Grassy Lake. This fire is estimated at approximately 120 acres and is burning in an area that was burnt during the 1988 Yellowstone fires. This fire is unstaffed. The Unlucky Fire, located in the southwest portion of the park in the Bechler area, is now estimated to be approximately 1,500 acres. This fire was first reported on Sunday, August 13. It is unstaffed. Currently, suppression efforts are not being conducted on some fires in the park. Before determining whether suppression efforts will be initiated on an individual fire, a number of factors are taken into consideration, including weather conditions, human safety, terrain, and available resources. Some of these fires are located in areas that present a great safety risk to firefighters, with rugged terrain and heavy fuels. Additionally, the park has very limited resources. Yellowstone fire crews are assisting with fires outside the park in Montana and areas surrounding the park—fires that have the potential to affect human safety or damage manmade structures. Although suppression efforts are not being taken on some fires, all fires are closely monitored and mapped on a daily basis. In the Spruce Complex, eight fires — the Star Fire (1-2 acres), the Mallard Fire (1 acre), the Fred Fire (1-2 acres), the Knothead Fire (1 acre), the Lost Spring Fire (1 acre), the Firehole Fire (1 acre), the Thumb Fire (1-2 acres), and the Spruce Fire (1 acre)—have been controlled. There have been a total of 30 fires during the 2000 fire season, 4 of these were human-caused; the remaining 26 were lightning-caused. Overall park fire danger is rated as high. Breezy and sunny conditions are forecasted for Monday. A warming trend is expected next Wednesday and Thursday. Park officials remind visitors that the other entrances (East Entrance, Northeast Entrance, West Entrance, and the North Entrance) remain open, as well as all frontcountry visitor and park facilities, including all lodging, food services, general stores, gift shops, and campground Plateau. BACK TO TOP
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		NATIONAL FIRE NEWS National Interagency Fire Center BOISE, Idaho (NIFC) -- At least 98 large fires are currently burning 1,293,768 acres across nine western states, Texas and Florida. Some of the large fires received rain, helping crews with containment efforts. Initial attack activity was moderate in the Eastern Great Basin, and light elsewhere. Two more military battalions from Kentucky and North Carolina have been ordered and should arrive on fires in Montana around August 25. Gusty winds are forecast today for portions of Montana, and parts of Wyoming can expect low humidities, winds, and dry lightning. To date this year, 5,459,245 acres of land have been burned in 68,791 large fires. The ten year average through August 20 is 2,520,963 acres burned in 57,968 fires. For more information on current wildfire nationwide, including photos, click here. BACK TO TOP
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		FIRE RESTRICTION INFORMATION by National Park Service YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park officials announce that the recent fire restriction on no wood or charcoal fires in the frontcountry includes all campgrounds, picnic areas, parking areas, and employee housing. The restriction has been implemented due to fire danger with increasing fire activity and continuing hot and dry conditions, and went into effect beginning Saturday morning, August 19, at 1 a.m. The restriction includes the use of fire grates, charcoal grills, fire pans, and any other ember-producing equipment. Additionally, no smoking is allowed in the frontcountry except within buildings where smoking is normally permitted-in vehicles or designated smoking areas, provided an ashtray is used. Other restrictions implemented August 5 prohibit any backcountry wood or charcoal fires, and smoking is restricted to the immediate vicinity of the cooking area in designated backcountry sites only. Some backcountry trails are also closed due to fire activity. Visitors using the backcountry are encouraged to call the backcountry office at (307) 344-2160 for specific trail closure information and other possible restrictions. BACK TO TOP