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ROAD REPORT The East Entrance is Temporarily Closed Due to Fire Danger. 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) -- For the second time this summer, a Yellowstone visitor has suffered burns from a hot pool in Yellowstone, illustrating once again the dangers which are inherent within Yellowstone. A six-year old girl from Florida was playing with her brother in a thermal area last Tuesday, August 31, when she lost her balance and partially fell into the scalding water. The following is excerpts from the National Park Service press release regarding this latest incident: The girl was visiting Yellowstone with her mother and brother and had spent the previous night camping in Madison Campground. They stopped to view a thermal area from a pullout on Fountain Flats Drive. The children ran ahead of their mother towards the thermal feature. The nine year old boy successfully balanced across a narrow geyserite brim of the thermal pool that separates the hot (192°F - 200°F) thermal waters of the pool and the cooler river. The girl tried to follow her brother but slipped off the narrow ledge and submerged her lower right leg in the thermal waters, receiving second and third degree burns. She was able to stop her fall before completely becoming immersed in the pool. Her mother assisted her at the edge of the pool and then took her to the Madison Campground to seek medical attention. Park staff immediately responded to the area and stabilized her injuries. She was transported by ambulance to the airport in West Yellowstone, Montana, and then flown by the fixed wing air ambulance to the Salt Lake City Burn Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is the second individual to receive a thermal burn during the 2001 summer season. All park visitors are reminded that for their own safety and the safety of their children it is important to stay on boardwalks and designated trails while viewing all thermal features in the park; it is unsafe to run or play around thermal features. Scalding water underlies thin, breakable crusts; many geyser eruptions are unpredictable, and thermal features are near or above boiling temperatures. Boardwalks and trails help to protect park visitors and prevent damage to delicate formations. Yellowstone is both a magnificent and dangerous place. It demands our respect even as we marvel at its wonders. It is especially tragic when a young child suffers from an accident, and the fact that two visitors have suffered burns from hot pools within the past month reminds us yet again that Yellowstone must be treated with care, caution and alertness for the personal safety of those who traverse her landscape. (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 Russ Finley Ralph Maughan Kim Steinbacher Steve Brashear Clint Wilkes Hon. Bob Gammage Lee Whittlesey David Monteith Denise Elmer Dr. Bob Bara Matthew McLean		YELLOWSTONE FIRE UPDATE News Brief YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- The Arthur Fire near the East entrance of Yellowstone is almost contained, according to Park officials. The fire has burned an area larger than 2000 acres and has led to the closing of the Park's East entrance for the past eight days and counting. However, cooler, wetter weather has led officials to predict that the fire will be fully contained by this Friday. Hundreds of fire fighters, plus helicopters and planes, have been used to battle the blaze, which started on Sunday, August 29. Last week the was growing rapidly and was threatening the East entrance, but rain on Friday assisted fire fighting efforts. BACK TO TOP
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		WHIRLING DISEASE STUDY News Brief YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Researchers in Yellowstone are studying the parasite that causes whirling disease in young trout. The parasite burrows into fish cartilage and can disrupt motor skills to create the whirling behavior. In some streams across Montana, the disease has decimated trout populations. Thus far, whirling disease has not effected Yellowstone's waterways to such a degree, although the parasite has been found in Yellowstone Lake. The National Park Service has received several grants to study the disease in an effort to prevent an outbreak in Yellowstone. Currently, parasite testing is taking place in thirteen tributaries around Yellowstone Lake, thanks to the grants. BACK TO TOP
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		FATALITY IN GLACIER News Brief GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. -- A Montana man died early Sunday when his bicycle flipped over a rock wall during a full moon ride in Glacier National Park. The man lost control of his bicycle on a downhill section of the Going-to-the-sun Road and fell an estimated 250 feet after flipping over the rock wall which lined the roadway. BACK TO TOP