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MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1998 |
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PARK
WEATHER MORE NEWS The Yellowstone Net Newspaper is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
ARCHIVES DISCUSSION FORUMS Go to the Yellowstone Net Home Page Send us
your Comments
PUBLISHER EDITOR IN CHIEF INTERN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS
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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. (NPS) -- In April, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway officials began work on new Winter Use Plans and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The first step in the process is scoping, which is where issues and alternatives are identified. As part of the scoping process, open house meetings have been scheduled at surrounding communities to allow the public to share their concerns about winter use, learn about the planning process and possible management solutions, and collect public comments. Meetings have been scheduled for the following dates and locations: Cooke City, Montana June 15 Cooke City Fire Hall Gardiner, Montana June 16 Gardiner High School Multi-Purpose Room Bozeman, Montana June 17 Gallatin County Courthouse, 311 West Main Billings, Montana June 18 Holiday Inn, Pool Terrace Room, 5500 Midland Blvd. All meetings will take place between 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will follow an informal open house format. People may come and go as they wish; there will be no formal presentations. National Park Service staff, as well as representatives from the cooperating agencies (the States of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, as well as Teton and Park Counties, Wyoming; Fremont County, Idaho; Park and Gallatin Counties, Montana; and the U.S. Forest Service) will be on hand to answer questions and collect comments. Other open house meetings will be held on the following dates and locations (once meeting locations are confirmed, this information will be announced in future news releases): Ashton, Idaho: June 22 The objective for the new Winter Use Plans is to provide future winter visitors in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway with a full range of quality winter use experiences in both developed and primitive settings. These recreational experiences will be offered in appropriate locations or settings, where they should not adversely impact sensitive natural resources, wildlife, cultural areas, or the experiences of other park visitors. In order to ensure the safety of all park visitors and employees, potential conflicts between different types of use groups will be minimized. A draft EIS is scheduled to be released in August of 1999. Following a public review of the draft, a final plan will be formulated, and is expected to be released in October of 2000. Interested parties unable to attend any of the open houses are encouraged to submit their comments in writing by July 18 to: Yellowstone Planning Office, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190. For additional information regarding meeting locations or the scoping process, please call the National Park Service at (307) 344-2019, or visit www.nps.gov/yell/winteruseplan.htm.
Yellowstone Net Named "Top
Pick" by the YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- New Riders Publications, authors of the World Wide Web Internet Yellow Pages, has chosen the Yellowstone Net web site as a "Top Pick" in the latest edition of the Yellow Pages, which just recently landed on store shelves. The Internet Yellow Pages lists and reviews the top 10,000 web sites as chosen by their editorial staff. Of the 10,000 sites included in the volume, only about five percent are awarded the New Riders Publications' Top Picks honor. The Internet Yellow Pages says the following of Yellowstone Net: "Visit Yellowstone Net for all kinds of information on the park, news, photos, specialty stores, reservations, related links, and access to the Yellowstone Net community. Check it out."
Editor-in-Chief Needed Yellowstone Net Newspaper is looking for
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A YNET Weekly Feature
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- Although summer has arrived in Yellowstone, the bison and brucellosis issue is far from over. Drafts of the long-awaited Yellowstone / Montana Interagency Bison Management Plan have been released, and questions are being raised as to its potential effectiveness. Indeed, the preferred alternative in the plan calls for allowing cattle producers in the state of Montana to have the final word on whether bison will be allowed to roam out of the Park in the future. The proposal is basically the same as the manner in which stray bison were handled this past winter: the animals were captured and tested for brucellosis, and the DOL decided whether to kill the captured bison or haze them back into the Park. The bison population in Yellowstone would thus be kept to between 1700 and 2500. Groups such as the Wyoming Wildlife Federation are questioning the wisdom of allowing the Montana cattle producers to decide the fate of Yellowstone's bison -- and with good reason. Although only eleven bison were killed this past winter, the low number of deaths was largely because of the very mild winter. If next winter is harsh, far more bison will leave the Park, and far more would almost certainly be killed if their fate rests in the hands of the Montana Department of Livestock. Unfortunately, the Montana Department of Livestock seems to have a vendetta against bison. This is evidenced by the fact that although they are taking a dogmatic stand against the bison, they have no problem with brucellosis-carrying elk mingling with their cattle. The double-standard is even more marked when one considers that wild elk are known to transmit brucellosis to cattle, whereas there is no documented case of a wild bison doing so. Elk are welcome, while bison are gunned down. Could this be so because elk are valuable to the hunting (and thus ranching) industry, whereas bison have no redeemable value to ranchers? The final decision on the bison management plan has yet to be made. The entire bison and brucellosis controversy and this resulting plan is testimony to how difficult is has become for different interest groups to work together for an acceptable agreement. Although the jury is still out, it looks as if Yellowstone's bison are going to continue dying at the hands of a handful of folks who are simply fearful that the bison will do something which they have actually never done -- transmit brucellosis to cattle. Are you concerned about the health and vitality of Yellowstone National Park? Join the campaign to Protect Yellowstone from those forces which would exploit and destroy the Park!
College Guide to a Summer Job in
Yellowstone  This column is based on my interactions with people who have worked
in Yellowstone (or who want to work in the Park). Some of these stories will be the
"behind the scenes" story of why I wrote a particular story in my book. If
you have a story to contribute to this column, email
me. For more information about my book, College Guide to a Summer Job in Yellowstone, click here.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- "All good things must come to an end." Somebody famous said that years ago. A really good thing has come to an end, at least temporarily in Gardiner, Montana. Cecil's Restaurant will not be opening this summer. Reports are that it "might" reopen in the future.
I spent many hours drinking coffee and writing stories for my book during the summer of 1994. I will always have fond memories of Cecil's. If you ever worked in Cecil's during a summer in Yellowstone would you please email me about your experience? I would enjoy hearing from you.
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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.
