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Bruce T. Gourley
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS
Kevin Sanders
Kim Steinbacher
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Clint Wilkes
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NOTICE: The next edition of the
Yellowstone Net Newspaper will
be the Monday, July 6 edition.
Have a great 4th of July weekend!
Public Meetings Announced for
Bison Management Plan
by NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
DENVER, Col. (NPS) -- A series of public meetings will be held across the
country this summer to allow people a chance to learn about and comment on the draft plan
for the management of bison in Yellowstone National Park, according to John Cook, Director
of the National Park Service's Intermountain Region.
The plan, formally titled the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the Interagency Bison Management Plan for the State of Montana and Yellowstone
National Park was written by a group of combined federal and state agencies. The U.S.
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, are the lead federal agencies. The State of Montana is the lead state
agency. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is
a cooperating agency.
Public comment on the EIS is encouraged. A 120-day public comment period
began June 12, 1998, and will end October 16, 1998. Public comments and requests for a
copy of the EIS can be sent to:
Bison Management Plan EIS Team
National Park Service - Sarah Bransom DSC-RP
P.O. Box 25287
Denver, Colorado 80225-0287
(303) 969-2310
A summary of the EIS can be obtained, and comments on the EIS can be made
at the following Internet address: http://www.nps.gov/planning/current.htm. In addition,
summaries of the EIS will be available at the meetings, and will be printed on Saturday,
July 11 as an insert in the following papers: Billings Gazette, Bozeman Daily Chronicle,
Casper Star Tribune, and Idaho Falls Post Register.
There will be 13 public meetings in all, beginning with the first meeting
on July 27, 1998, in Helena, Montana, and ending with a meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
on October 6, 1998. Each meeting will last for seven hours from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. A hearing
officer and a court reporter will be present at each meeting. Testimony will be taken from
the public on a first- come, first-served basis. Oral testimony will be limited to five
minutes. Written testimony of any length can also be submitted for the record. A 15-minute
video explaining the EIS process and the range of alternatives will be played every two
hours during the meetings.
The EIS is the culmination of several years of work on the part of the
cooperating agencies to find a solution to concerns surrounding the
migration of bison from inside Yellowstone National Park to surrounding areas in Montana.
The purpose of the proposed interagency action contained in the EIS is to maintain a wild,
free-ranging population of bison and address the risk of brucellosis transmission to
protect the economic interest and viability of the livestock industry in the state of
Montana.
The meeting schedule is as follows:
7/27/98: Helena, Montana, Best Western Colonial Inn Capitol Room, 2301
Colonial Drive, Helena, Montana 59601
7/29/98: Gardiner, Montana, Gardiner School, 510 Stone Street, Gardiner,
Montana 59030
8/10/98: Jackson, Wyoming, Virginian Lodge, Buffalo Room, 750 West
Broadway Jackson, Wyoming 83001
8/11/98: Idaho Falls, Idaho, Best Western - Stardust Motor Lodge, Russet
Room (208) 522-2910, 700 Lindsay Boulevard, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402
8/13/98: West Yellowstone, Montana, Holiday Inn - West Yellowstone ,
Conference Hotel, Can/Dun/Geyser Room 315 Yellowstone Avenue, West Yellowstone, Montana
59758
8/25/98: Billings, Montana, Holiday Inn Billings Plaza, Lewis and
Clark/Yellowstone Room, 5500 Midland Road, Billings MT 59101
8/27/98: Cody, Wyoming, Holiday Inn, Taggarts Rooms 1, 2 & 3, 1701
Sheridan Avenue, Cody, Wyoming 82414
9/1/98: Denver, Colorado, Holiday Inn - Denver West Village, Golden Room,
14707 West Colfax Avenue, Golden, Colorado 80401
9/3/98: Salt Lake City, Utah, Wyndham Hotel, Grand Ballroom, 215 West
South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
9/17/98: Washington, D.C., Sumner School, Museum and Archives, 1201 17th
St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20036
9/23/98: San Francisco, California, Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery Street
Sea Cliff Room, San Francisco, California 94105
9/29/98: Austin, Texas, Holiday Inn South, 3401 South Interstate Highway
35, Austin, Texas 78741
10/6/98: Minneapolis, Minnesota, Thunderbird Hotel and Conference Center
Shoshone Room, 2201 East 78th Street, Bloomington, Minnesota 55425-1228
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Editor-in-Chief Needed
Yellowstone Net Newspaper is looking for
an Editor-in-Chief to run this Newspaper. Must know the entire region, have newspaper
experience and be proficient in web design. Email clint@yellowstone.net
to set up an interview. (eoe)
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Man Found Guilty of Collecting Elk Antlers in Yellowstone
by NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park
Superintendent Michael Finley announced that Robert E. Metcalf, 27, and Garrison L.
Eckley, 26, both of Gallatin Gateway, Montana, pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Stephen E. Cole in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, on June 11, 1998, to possessing natural
features, elk antlers, and entering a closed area.
On June 10, 1998, park rangers observed Metcalf and Eckley collecting elk
antlers in an area closed for bear management activities. The two were arrested when they
were loading approximately twenty (20) elk antlers weighing 199 pounds into their vehicle.
Both individuals were ordered to make restitution to the park of $1,325
each and pay a $10 victim/witness fund assessment. Both were sentenced to three years
probation and are prohibited from entering the park during this period.
Superintendent Finley reminds all park visitors that possession and/or
removal of any natural features from national parks is prohibited by law and subject to
fine and/or imprisonment. Anyone who has information regarding illegal activities in
Yellowstone National Park is encouraged to call park headquarters at (307) 344-7381.
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People and
Places
A Weekly Column
by CLINT WILKES
 Every Wednesday 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.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- The following
poem is from Lou Pryor, a former summer campground host in Yellowstone:
Summer in Yellowstone
We spent five months up in Yellowstone Park,
Supposed to be working, but it was a lark.
All summer long we lived in the campground,
Near the north gate, not far from town.
We took their money, as the campers came in,
And told them what site they could park in.
Most of the time we didn’t have to be there,
So we roamed the Park, went everywhere.
We sat up our 5th wheel on May first,
At that time the elk were looking their worst.
From a long cold winter, they were shaggy and thin,
But it didn’t take long for them to get sleek again.
Before we knew it, babies were being born.
There would be several new ones every morn.
There was the deer, the elk, and big buffalo,
You could see animals everywhere you go.
It would take you forever to see every paintpot,
There were so many, and always steamy and hot.
Don’t forget Old Faithful, that spews up so high,
It looks so beautiful against the bright blue sky.
There’s lots more geysers spewing in the air,
Truly a place of wonder, everywhere.
At the Grand Canyon, we hiked down,
Reaching the bottom, where the falls we found.
Lots of fast water, and mist in the air,
And a beautiful rainbow over the whole affair.
Down below the falls was a huge pile of snow,
Stayed there the year round, a glacier you know.
The walls of the canyon are yellow as gold,
That’s where the Park got its name, I’ve been told.
Out in the meadows, all over the ground,
Beautiful wild flowers and grasses can be found.
The animals would feed at the break of day,
Then try to find a quiet place to stay.
All except the big moose and buffalo,
Wherever they wanted, they would go.
The graceful white swan, on the river they glide,
Never a ripple, with their young by their side.
What a glorious sight, to be driving somewhere,
When over in the meadow, you see antlers in the air.
As you look closer, they come into view,
Some elk in the tall grass, hiding from you.
All summer long we didn’t see many bear,
But the Rangers assured us, they were there.
One day Rick rode up on his big roan horse,
And told about a bear, eating his main course.
We jumped in the pick-up, and away we did flee,
Hoping to get there, the feast to see.
Momma bear and her two cubs, there they are,
Eating the elk, struck down by a car.
She had pulled it up in the trees, almost out of sight,
From beside the road where it was struck last night.
We just watched, as we quietly sat,
She kept an eye on us, she knew where we were at.
They are such beautiful creatures, all shiny and black,
But good eating habits, they certainly do lack.
In the back of the campground was a bush of chokecherries,
And my mouth just watered at the thought of those berries.
I kept close watch, every day,
But guess I wasn’t the only one looking that way.
One morning I thought, “Tomorrow I’ll bring a pail along,”
The next morning when I got there, the berries were all gone.
I guess that bear was watching, just like me,
And he decided that “this” was the day “to be.”
He ate every berry that he could find,
Didn’t leave a one that I could call mine.
Rick had warned me, and warned me good,
That those chokecherries were that bears favorite food.
One early morning as we were going to town,
A large herd of sheep around a curve we found.
They were all over the mountainside, and some up on top,
Such a sight to see, as from boulder to boulder they’d hop.
We jumped out of the pick-up, our cameras in hand,
To try to get some good pictures of this big band.
The big rams were up on top, putting on a show,
Sparring with each other in the early morning glow.
The sounds of their horns, as they met with a clash.
Rang through the frosty air, like a sharp whiplash.
We held our breath, as the little ones ran around,
Playing tag, just like they were on flat ground.
The side of the mountain was straight up in the air,
Nothing but huge boulders up an down, everywhere.
They were such a joy just to see,
And to know they were wild and free.
Over at Roosevelt, they had a stageride,
And also trail rides, in the big outside.
There is Fishing Bridge, where we loved to go
To watch the fly fishing, and see the big buffalo.
They had to close the Fishing Bridge Campground,
It was where the bears come to feed, they soon found.
All along the river, where they caught trout,
They’d catch a big fish, and throw it out.
There are so many trails you can hike,
All over the Park, wherever you like.
They are all checked out, every week or so,
To see if it’s safe for you to go.
If there is a sign of bear, they close it down,
And keep checking until no more sign is found.
There is a lot the everyday visitor doesn’t know,
Of what goes on, to make the Park “just so.”
There is so much to do and see in this great Park,
It would take a year from daylight to dark.
We just had five months, and we had to go.
When we had to leave, my feelings were low.
On the first day of October, we hooked up,
Our 5th wheel trailer behind our pickup truck.
That was the best summer I ever spent,
Come next year, when Mike called, I sure wished I’d a’went.
Lou Pryor
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