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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1998 |
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Volume 2, No 76 | |||
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PARK
WEATHER MORE NEWS The Yellowstone Net Newspaper is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
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PUBLISHER EDITOR IN CHIEF CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS
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by Wolf Expert RALPH MAUGHAN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- Wolf observation has been a bit slow in Yellowstone lately. Perhaps the hot weather is one factor. Even the Druid Peak Pack has disappeared from the Lamar Valley the last several days. Let's hope they haven't gone to the high country where they can't be observed. That is a possibility because their two pups-of-the year are no longer at the den site, and so the pack is free to move. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of wolf news. Here are the summary details: PUPS Druid Peak Pack. -- After so much anticipation it looks like they have only two pups, a black one and a gray one. Both have been observed down in the valley with the pack. Last year it was speculated that the pack would have many pups, but the final number was just four. These four grew to be big, vigorous and healthy yearlings.. So the size of the Druid Peak Pack is now nine. Rose Creek Pack -- This formerly-easy-to-observe pack has taken their ten surviving pups up onto the Buffalo Plateau. If 1998 is like last summer, they will stay there until autumn when they will come down and perhaps again be visible to the public. Chief Joseph Pack -- This pack has not moved far from where they denned in the Daly Creek/Black Butte Creek area in the NW corner of Yellowstone. They have now been observed with their seven new pups a number of times. Leopold Pack -- This pack is often surprising close to the north end of the Grand Loop Road on the Blacktail Deer Plateau, but they rarely come down to the road. Few people see them. As of now, they remain on the Blacktail Plateau, with their five new pups. Wolf number 16F -- For the second year, wolf number 16 has a litter of pups which she is raising by herself. The father is not known. It might have been number 34M, the alpha male of the Chief Joseph Pack. He fathered her pups last year, all of which are now probably dead. Perhaps he sneaked over the mountain and mated with her again. The father might also have been one of the several adult uncollared wolves that have dispersed from their packs. At any rate, the father did not stay with her. She and her six new pups have been observed a number of times. She is a bit north of the Park, quite a way up in the mountains, and in the backcountry. PACKS STILL WITHOUT A FULL COUNT OF PUPS Nez Perce (will this name be changed?) -- After the release of the four adult wolves from the Nez Perce pen in June, number 67F and other wolves took her four surviving pups to the nearby den of their former pen-mates number 29M and 48F. The pups of 29 and 48 have not yet been seen, in part because they are not being watched closely. There was briefly some real anxiety about these newly released wolves. Recall that they had been penned for about nine months so they wouldn't travel westward back to Dillon, Montana. It is strongly hoped they will stay in the Nez Perce Creek/Hayden Valley area in the center of Yellowstone. Well, suddenly a number of these wolves couldn't be radio-tracked in the routine Yellowstone tracking flights. It was feared they were on their way to Dillon again, but happily all the wolves suddenly showed up back at Nez Perce Creek. Crystal Creek Pack -- So far just one pup has been observed, but the wolf team still thinks this hard-to-see pack probably has more than one. NEWS ABOUT THE OTHER WOLVES Soda Butte Pack and the Thorofare yearlings -- Both are in the remote Thorofare country in the SE corner of Yellowstone. They are not far apart. If they meet, will it be a violent conflict last winter? This resulted in the death of the Thorofare's alpha male and one pup. Or will it be peaceful? Prey is scarce in the area in the winter, but it is plentiful in the summer because the huge Jackson Hole elk herd summers in the Thorofare and surrounding area. The Thorofare yearlings ("orphans" so-to-speak) are ripe for accepting an older wolf into the pack. This may be wolf 24F's big chance to disperse after three years with the Soda Butte Pack. Number 24 was the only pup born to the Soda Butte Pack the year wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone -- 1995. She has spent most of her life in a the remote Heart Lake area where there are no available mates from other wolf packs. Her mother, 5-year-old number 14F, still leads the pack, which has had no alpha male since number 13M, "Old Blue," died of old age early in 1997. The Sunlight Pair -- Number 41F and 52M recently moved away from Sunlight Basin and back towards Yellowstone. They seem to be mostly on the Park side of the crest of the Absaroka Mountains in the rugged headwaters of the Lamar River or sometimes in the North Fork of the Shoshone. THE WASHAKIE PACK AND RANCHER GORDON'S LAWSUIT I saved the big controversy until the until the end. Folks will recall that Dunoir Valley rancher Steve Gordon had filed a lawsuit in the federal district court of Wyoming (before none other than Judge William Downes). Gordon, who is very frustrated with the presence of the Washakie Pack on his Diamond G ranch, has asked Downes' to immediately order the removal of the reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone and Idaho. Downes had stayed [put a hold] on his own order until the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals could rule on Downes' controversial decision. The hearing before Downes began on Monday and continued into Tuesday, and
then it was set to resume (called a "continuance") on August 24. Click here to go to Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report Home Page.
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by CLINT WILKES YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (NPS) -- After years of spending much time in the Yellowstone region, I recently went on my first raft trip of the Yellowstone River. If you plan on entering the Park via the North entrance in Gardiner I strongly recommend and encourage you to call Lewis and Clark Raft Service to take you on the vacation experience of a lifetime. Monica, Brian and Casey are three of the most experienced, professional and FUN guides I have ever met. They have other guides which Brian tried to convince me were even funnier than Monica and Casey but I really find that hard to believe--haha. They offer a full range of guided tours and will customize a trip for you. I went on an afternoon excursion with Monica at the helm but I am definitly going back for one of the late afternoon dinner excursions. I love steak and could see Monica had already prepared the picnic basket for her later trip. I look forward to drifting downstream and stopping and watching these professionals cookout a steak. They also offer a vegetarian meal and will be glad to work with you if you have special dietary requirements. You need to call today if you are going to Yellowstone this summer, even if you are entering the park through one of the other entrances you will still want to go see the Roosevelt Archway at the North entrance and go on one of these raft trips. I suggest you decide before you call the date and time you want to go rafting. They will guarantee your reservation with your credit card. 406-848-7292.
YES, There is a Speed Limit in Montana a Public Service Announcement Three of Yellowstone's five entrances are in Montana, and the majority of visitors to Yellowstone use one or more of the three Montana entrances. Montana has made national headlines in the last few years because of it's supposed lack of highway speed limits. In reality, however, Montana does have speed limits, and visitors on the highways should heed these limits. Montana's daytime speed limit for passenger vehicles is called the Basic Rule. The Basic Rule requires that you drive in a "reasonable and prudent manner" with regard to the weather, road conditions, traffic patterns, vehicle condition and other safety considerations. If you violate the Basic Rule, you may be fined $75 to over $500. Violations will go on your driving record. In addition, the night time speed limit is 65 mph on the Interstates and 55 mph on other highways. Editor-in-Chief Needed Yellowstone Net Newspaper is looking for
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