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| MONDAY June 11, 2001 Vol 5, # 56 |
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| MONDAY June 11, 2001 Vol 5, # 56 |
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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) -- Only two weeks after Interior Secretary Gale Norton visited Yellowstone and expressed support for allocating more money to help resolve Yellowstone's $700 million of backlogged maintenance problems, the seriousness of the Park's infrastructure problems surfaced yet again as another sewage spill took place near Yellowstone Lake. (See story below) The time for talking about Yellowstone's many problems is long past. Indeed, the time for action is long past. And yet if action can be taken now, at least it could be a beginning towards the goal of bringing Yellowstone's infrastructure up to par. Failing sewage systems, roads with potholes the size of a small car (and I'm only half joking), crumbling structures, eroding trails, understaffing, low pay for Rangers and other personnel, the encroachment of non-native species of plants and animals, are all among the many basic problems which plague the world's oldest and greatest national park. Under even ideal conditions, these problems could not be resolved overnight. However, these problems can be addressed in a satisfactory manner in the long term if only one missing ingredient is applied: money. For the past two decades, Congress has not given Yellowstone officials enough money for addressing even these most basic of problems. It's not that the U.S. government does not have the money available. Rather, the money has been spent elsewhere while Yellowstone, one of America's greatest contributions to the world, literally crumbles from neglect. The Bush administration has pledged nearly $5 billion over the next few years to address maintenance problems in America's national parks. Many believe this is too little, too late. Yellowstone is only one of over 300 national parks, many of which are suffering from neglect. Relatively little of the proposed monies will go to Yellowstone. Those of us who love America's national parks need to remind Gale Norton and the Bush administration that more than token attention is needed to fix the legion of problems which plague Yellowstone and America's other national parks. (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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SEWAGE
SPILL NEAR YELLOWSTONE LAKE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park officials report that park staff discovered a broken sewage line serving the Lake government housing area. Approximately 10,000 gallons of raw sewage had soaked into the ground, came to the surface and emptied into a ditch that flows into a spawning stream; some of the liquid may possibly have reached the spawning stream near Yellowstone Lake before the sewage line could be shut down; the break occurred sometime early Tuesday morning, June 5, 2001. The break was discovered on a routine check of the Lake Lodge lift station. The line was blocked, and after clearing the line, a cracked pipe was discovered. The pipe, placed in the late 1960s or early 1970s, can be susceptible to breakage when settling or shifting occurs, which apparently happened in this instance. Park staff have replaced the damaged pipe with new pipe that can more appropriately handle and adjust to shifting and settling. The area has been cleaned up. No visitor services were affected by the breakage. The incident has been reported to the Wyoming Department
of Environmental Quality. |
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| GRIZZLY BEAR TRAPPED IN
YELLOWSTONE by National Park Service
The yearling first came to the attention of park staff on May 26 when park visitors reported they had observed a small grizzly bear on the shore of Dot Island. The visitors had taken a photo of the bear, which they e-mailed to the park’s Bear Management Office. The photo confirmed that the bear was a yearling grizzly bear. On Tuesday, May 29, park staff investigated the island and observed fresh yearling grizzly tracks all along the perimeter beach of the island. Numerous fresh yearling-size bear scats were also observed, as well as an old set of adult-size tracks and older adult-size scats, most likely from a female grizzly. The yearling was observed briefly in the interior of the island but quickly ran into thick brush. No adult grizzly bear was observed, nor was any fresh sign of the adult bear. Scats and feeding signs indicated that the bears had been grazing grass and the foliage of cow parsnip. Park staff returned to the island on Wednesday, May 30, and set up a scent lure station with two remote cameras to determine if the adult grizzly bear was still on the island. More fresh yearling tracks were observed on the beach, but again there was no fresh sign of the adult bear. On Friday morning, park staff retrieved the camera film and confirmed there were no pictures of the adult bear. Fresh yearling grizzly tracks were again observed all around the perimeter beach of the island. A light weight aluminum culvert trap was transported to the island on the park’s landing craft boat, carried to shore, and set in tree cover just beyond the beach. The trap was baited with road-killed mule deer. When the trap was checked early Saturday morning the yearling had been captured. The island was thoroughly searched for the adult female bear or her remains. Although numerous adult size scats and day beds were found, the mother bear was obviously no longer on the island. The yearling was transported by landing craft to the western shore of Yellowstone Lake and released. The bear was fairly small in size for a yearling probably due to a minimal subsistence living on sparse vegetation all spring. Further search of the island indicated that the bears had been grazing on grasses, ripping open logs for insects, digging truffles, and eating cow parsnip. Almost every square foot of the 28-acre island had some sign of the bears. A den was also found indicating that the bears had probably come across on the ice in mid to late December and denned on the island for the winter. After emerging from the den, probably just shortly before or after the ice had broken up (May 14), the bears had remained on the island eating what little vegetation was available. As food became scarce, the adult female probably swam back to the mainland. The yearling may have been afraid to make the 1.5 mile swim and was abandoned by its mother on the island. An adult female grizzly accompanied by one yearling was observed on the mainland west of Dot Island a few days prior to the capture operation. NOTE: Photo is Edgerton Family Photo |
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| YELLOWSTONE TO CONDUCT
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE INSPECTIONS by National Park Service YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael Finley has announced that the park will soon begin full level inspections on commercial vehicles within park boundaries. The inspections will be unannounced and will focus on commercial buses, as well as tractor-trailers. Staff from the Motor Carrier Division of the Wyoming Highway Patrol and Montana Highway Patrol have assisted park rangers in past years with the full level inspections and will continue to do so this year at random locations throughout the park. A full level inspection evaluates both the driver and the bus to assure full compliance under the Department of Transportation's Code of Regulations, Title 49, that govern commercial vehicles. This is the third year of the program. During the first year, 53 vehicles were inspected, resulting in 14 driver warnings, 10 driver citations, 48 vehicle warnings, and 5 vehicle citations; fines totaled $1,920. Eight buses, three delivery trucks, and seven drivers were placed out of service for violations. Last year, 70 vehicles were inspected, with only 20 percent of the vehicles and drivers completing the inspection without violations. Of the remaining inspections, an average of three violations per vehicle and driver was documented. Twenty-two violation notices were issued with fines totaling $3,050. Other general park-specific violations totaled $315. Five vehicles were placed out of service for temporary maintenance repairs; and additional six vehicles and drivers were placed out of service for at least eight hours. |
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YELLOWSTONE
NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park officials report that a small
grizzly bear yearling (sex undetermined) stranded on Dot Island, a small island in
Yellowstone Lake, has been trapped and relocated to a spawning stream on the mainland on
the west shore of Yellowstone Lake.