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| MONDAY March 12, 2001 Vol 5, # 25 |
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| MONDAY March 12, 2001 Vol 5, # 25 |
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| Site Search | Support Yellowstone! Discussion $7.95 Internet, Email, More Email Newsletter | |
YELLOWSTONE ROAD
REPORT PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-
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 PROTECTING YELLOWSTONEby 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) -- Winter in Yellowstone is officially over (see story below), and the Park may never be the same again. Starting next year, snowmobiles are scheduled to begin being phased out of Yellowstone. The snowmobile industry is fighting the snowmobile ban, which has already been approved but may face trouble under the current presidential administration. At the very least, it is expected that if snowmobiles are allowed to remain, they will be limited numerically and will be the environmentally friendlier machines which debuted, quite successfully, in West Yellowstone this winter. However, in the midst of the controversy, this past winter has revealed something notable concerning winter visitors: even though snowmobile usage was unrestricted, visitors flocked to snowcoaches and snow vans in record numbers. Indeed, when the winter season was cut short by two weeks because of the mild winter season, visitors by the droves utilized the temporary bus transit system that was hastily put into place in order to provide service to Old Faithful. The message being sent by the visiting public is that people who want to see Old Faithful in the winter will use the available mode(s) of transportation in order to do so. The larger message here is that the wonders of Yellowstone, not the mode of transportation, define winter in the Park. Regardless of the outcome of the snowmobile controversy, Yellowstone National Park will remain. And the winter visitors will come. (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.) |
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS Russ Finley
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WINTER
SEASON NOW OVER YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- As of this morning, Monday, March 12, the 2000-2001 winter season is now officially over. Yesterday, winter visitor services at Old Faithful, Fishing Bridge and Canyon closed to visitors. This morning, the remaining Park roads closed to oversnow traffic. The process of plowing the roads is now underway, with road openings scheduled beginning April 20, at which time Old Faithful will be opened to automobile traffic via the North and West entrances. The roads leading to the Yellowstone from the northeast (Chief Joseph Scenic Highway and Beartooth Pass) will close to oversnow traffic in early May for spring plowing, and are scheduled to open to automobile traffic in late May or early June, depending on weather conditions. 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. |
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| STUDY REVEALS MOUNTAIN
LAKES BIOLOGICALLY SENSITIVE News Brief MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. -- According to a study conducted in Mount Rainier, alpine lakes transplanted with fish may never recover, even if the fish are completely removed. None of Mount Rainier's lakes originally had fish. Like many mountain lakes, they lack adequate food supply and nutrients and spawning grounds. Visitors began adding fish to Rainier's lakes in the late 1800s, and the Park Service stocked the lakes for much of the 20th century. Since the 1970s, however, the practice of stocking fish in Rainier's lakes has been curtailed, and many have been allowed to revert back to their original fishless state. Biologists, however, have discovered that even after two decades of having removed the fish, algae and lakeshore vegetation have yet to return to their pre-fish state. |
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 PEOPLE AND PLACESby Clint Wilkes On occasion Clint Wilkes will offer a story of interest to everyone who loves Yellowstone and the surrounding area. Some stories will be humorous, others will illustrate a point. You the reader are invited to respond by email. BELGRADE, Mont. (YNET) -- I read this post in our Discussion Forum and was really impressed with it so I asked Faye for permission to share it with all of you. I hope you enjoy it and take Faye's advice. TAKE YOUR GROWN CHILDREN TO YELLOWSTONE Last year I took my married 18 year old daughter to Yellowstone and spent 2 entire weeks camping. We had more fun than I thought a mother and daughter ever could! We told jokes, sipped coffee, talked about the future, reminisced about the past, remembered old days that I thought she had long forgotten. We talked about her grandfather and had a remember when time. We sung songs, made up our own verses of old favorites and listened to frightening sounds outside our tent in Slough Creek, wondering if it was a bear rubbing on our tent! We had a ball. It was a wonderful time for remembering and a bonding time I am sure that we will both remember for a lifetime! Please take your grown children. You'll be glad you did! |
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