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MONDAY, SEPT 28, 1998 |
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Volume 2, No 97 | |||
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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 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS
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 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) -- Last week Casey, the man running our vacation programs, and I made a business trip to Jackson Hole. For those of you thinking about visiting the park in the near future, let me tell you that both Yellowstone and the Tetons are gorgeous. We drove all the way from Gardiner and back, so to say I was starving when we finally arrived back in Gardiner was an understatement. As we pulled into Gardiner Casey and I looked at each other and almost at once we both said - "REDDS!"
Only a few miles prior as we were driving through Mammoth we were discussing perhaps grabbing a quick bite from his fridge before I headed back home. The plan changed quickly once we showed our season pass and ID to the Ranger as we were leaving the park. Usually at REDDS I just have a small green salad with sliced tomatoes on the side (want to buy a bridge in Brooklyn?). REDDS probably has the most famous baby back ribs in Montana and this is what Casey ordered. I've had them more than once and have been wanting to try the Montana Cowboy Steak so that is what I ordered. When my steak arrived along with Caseys "baby backs" I knew there was no way I could have made a wrong decision!! Next trip - ribs??? Cowboy steak??? Living this close to Yellowstone sure brings up some hard choices!!!!
National Park News From Around the World News Briefs Flood-Relief Coming to National Park in India -- In an effort to help rescue threatened animals from flood-stricken Kaziranga National Park in India's northeastern state of Assam, the World Wildlife Fund is sending equipment and providing financial assistance to the park. The flooding, which peaked Sept. 4-7, has caused considerable hardship to some 130 village communities on the park's fringes and has contributed to the loss of wildlife, including 31 one-horned rhinos. Click here to read the full story from the Environmental News Network. National Parks and Conservation Association Opposes New Park Bill -- The National Parks and Conservation Association Friday criticized a major new package of parks and public lands measures as a last-minute assault on parks to end the 105th Congress. The NPCA says the package of dozens of boundary adjustments, land transfers and other measures put forth this week by Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, is littered with damaging initiatives that had stalled in this Congress because of massive opposition. Click here to read the full story from the Environmental News Network.
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A YNET Weekly Feature
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- The United States government has an opportunity to do something which would both benefit the American people and help further restore our American heritage. Some 7850 acres of prime wildlife winter range on the northern border of Yellowstone National Park are available for purchase. They have been offered to the government to purchase and preserve for the American public. Thus far, however, the government has not taken advantage of this golden opportunity to serve the American public and preserve more of our American wilderness heritage which Yellowstone represents. The Billings Gazette Sunday editorial addresses this very issue. The Gazette editorial aptly sums up the issues involved, and we concur with their conclusions: This expanse of semiarid valley and rugged mountain slopes stretches from the Yellowstone National Park boundary northwest of Gardiner along the Yellowstone River, over Cinnabar Mountain to the south end of Yankee Jim Canyon. The land is a patchwork of private and federal ownership with the Church Universal and Triumphant being the largest private landowner. The church last year offered a land exchange that involved selling or granting conservation easements on portions of its Royal Teton Ranch to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for about $13 million. The Elk Foundation, in turn, worked with federal land management officials to lay the groundwork for public purchase of this key wildlife corridor. Wildlife migrate through this land between the Yellowstone plateau and lower altitude winter range in Paradise Valley. It includes range heavily used by elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, pronghorn and bison. The exchange would create a more uniform pattern of public and church land. It would also create a buffer between the park and private lands for roaming bison that have been unwelcome in Montana. The Clinton Administration endorsed the proposal. A senior policy advisor visited the land this month to reaffirm the commitment to protect the land from development. But Congress first must designate the Royal Teton Ranch land for priority funding under the federal Land and Water Conservation program. Two other Montana land deals, the Gallatin II and Lindbergh Lake, also are up for funding. Each of the three is distant and distinct in the natural values it would protect. The Royal Teton exchange must not be excluded ... Montana's congressional delegation, especially Sen. Conrad Burns, must support this project. As a member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee, Burns' support will make the difference in whether the Royal Teton land becomes open to the public. Burns and Rep. Rick Hill have indicated support for the Gallatin II and Lindbergh Lake projects, but not for the land at Yellowstone's border. Sen. Max Baucus has said he wants to proceed with phases of all three projects ... Eighteen years ago, the Royal Teton Ranch could have been opened to the public. The Forbes family was willing to sell, but Ronald Reagan and James Watt set a policy of no new land purchases. The church bought the land. Development continues apace at Yellowstone's borders. The opportunity to conserve this land is unlikely to come around a third time. If you are concerned about the health and vitality of Yellowstone, we encourage you to write your congresspersons and express your views about the need to protect and preserve the national treasure we call Yellowstone.
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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.
