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| FRIDAY March 2, 2001 Vol 5, # 22 |
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| FRIDAY March 2, 2001 Vol 5, # 22 |
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| Site Search | Support Yellowstone! Discussion $7.95 Internet, Email, More Email Newsletter | |
YELLOWSTONE ROAD
REPORT PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN- |
WEST ENTRANCE ROAD REOPENED by National Park Service YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park staff has completed plowing the road from the West Entrance to Old Faithful and the West Entrance Road was reopened on Thursday, March 1, at 7:00 a.m. From this point onward this winter season, only current National Park Service-authorized winter concessionaires and those holding current Incidental Business Permits for transportation may bring visitors by mass-transit, wheeled vehicles (vans/buses) or rubber-tracked snowcoaches from the West Entrance to Madison Junction and from Madison Junction to Old Faithful on the plowed surface. All operators must be out of the park by 6 p.m. each day unless prior arrangements have been made with park staff at the West Entrance; the gate will be locked at that time. Parking for wheeled vehicles will be accommodated in the parking lot in front of the ranger station at Old Faithful. Operators are advised that winter driving conditions do still exist and they should use caution driving the roads. Operators are also advised that oversnow traffic will continue from other park entrances, therefore, extra caution should be taken when entering the Old Faithful area. The general public will not be allowed to drive personal vehicles into the park on the West Entrance Road during this period because of safety concerns. If visitors wish to walk along the West Entrance Road, they will be allowed to do so; however, bicycling, skiing and roller-blading will not be allowed on the road at this time because of safety concerns. No snowmobiles can be trailered through the West Entrance for either drop off or staging along the route between West Yellowstone and Old Faithful. As long as conditions remain the same, the West Entrance Road will remain open for wheeled, mass-transit traffic or rubber-tracked snowcoaches until March 12 at 8 a.m., which marks the end of the winter season. |
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS Russ Finley
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SPRING ROAD
PLOWING SCHEDULE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Beginning Monday, March 5, groomed roads in Yellowstone National Park will begin to close to over-snow vehicles so that spring plowing may begin. Roads close at 8 a.m. on the day listed. Monday, March 5 - Mammoth to Norris Junction Wednesday, March 7 - Norris Junction to Madison Junction, Norris Junction to Canyon Monday, March 12 - All remaining groomed roads close to oversnow vehicle use By about May 1 - Cooke City via Colter Pass to Chief Joseph Scenic Highway intersection Monday, May 7 - Chief Joseph Scenic Highway intersection via the Beartooth Pass to the Montana Stateline In conjunction with these road closures, visitor facilities in the park will also close for the winter season according to the following schedule: Sunday, March 4 - Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Dining Room; Mammoth Fuel Station Sunday, March 11 - Old Faithful Snow Lodge; Old Faithful Geyser Grill & Gift Shop; Old Faithful, Fishing Bridge, and Canyon Fuel Stations; Canyon Warming Hut The Mammoth General Store and Mammoth Clinic remain open year round; and the road from the North Entrance to the Northeast Entrance of the park (Gardiner, Montana, to Cooke City, Montana) remains open year round to wheeled vehicles. Visitors are encouraged to call the park for current information prior to traveling to Yellowstone at (307) 344-7381. |
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| RECLAMATION OF ABANDONED
GRAVEL PITS News Brief YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael V. Finley has announced that the park is soliciting comments on problems, issues and alternatives to be addressed in an environmental assessment (EA) for the reclamation and rehabilitation of three abandoned gravel quarry/pits within the park. Yellowstone National Park and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Abandoned Mine Lands Division are proposing to reclaim and rehabilitate the Lone Star Geyser and Sedge Creek pits and associated access roads, and the Natural Bridge/Bridge Bay quarry that were abandoned between the mid 1950s and early 1970s. These areas pose possible threats to public safety, have little revegetation and are eroding, in some cases into streams. The projects would permanently close the quarry and pits and restore the areas to a more natural condition. Reclamation would include, but is not limited to: clearing, stockpiling and reusing existing topsoil; salvaging and transplanting some of the existing vegetation and/or clearing, grubbing, stockpiling, and reusing the vegetation as erosion barriers; mechanical ripping to counteract the effects of soil compaction; burying of clean fill materials from both on-site and off-site sources; grading to re-establish more natural contouring; revegetation with native plant species; and utilizing shredded bark mulch. To assist the National Park Service and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, you are invited to comment on the issues and identify alternatives or other concerns that need to be considered in this process. Please send your comments by March 12, 2001, to: Yellowstone Center for Resources, Attention: Mary Hektner, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190 |
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| AVALANCHE FATALITY IN
GRAND TETON by National Park Service GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Allen Wagner, 24, of Jackson Hole was killed in an avalanche in Granite Canyon on the afternoon of February 23rd. Wagner and three companions left the Jackson Hole Ski Resort along the park's southern boundary at 4 p.m. to ski a chute near Caledonia Couloir. The four soon reached a 40-foot cliff with a narrow 200 foot chute below. Two members of the party skied terrain to the right, and Wagner started to follow. When he was about 40 feet above the cliff, he triggered the release of an 18-inch snow slab, which took him over the cliff into the chute. The avalanche increased in size until it was 175 feet wide with a three-foot crown. Wagner was carried over 500 feet until the avalanche stopped near a creek, burying him about three feet deep. His companions were able to quickly locate and uncover him, but their resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful and had stopped before responding rescuers arrived at 6:30 p.m. Rangers recovered his body. |
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