The Yellowstone
Net Newspaper Friday December 19, 1997 Vol. 1 No. 31 |
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by BRUCE T. GOURLEY HELENA, Mont (YNET) -- This week a federal judge's rulings refused to stop the killing of bison under the bison interim managment plan. However, U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell did rule that no more than 100 bison may be killed under the plan this winter. He also ordered that he receive weekly reports regarding bison killings. In addition, he ordered Park officials to develop plans for feeding bison artificially as a means of keeping them in the Park, and he ordered the preparation of contigency plans for closing sections of roadways during severe winter storms, which would make it more difficult for bison to leave the interior of Yellowstone. Last winter, over 1000 bison were killed because they carried the disease brucellosis and thus posed a danger to Montana's cattle industry, which mandates that herds be brucellosis-free. The rulings are a victory for bison advocates in that it ensures that Yellowstone's bison herd will remain at a stable size, which is considered to be at least 2000. The ruling comes on the heels of the National Park Service announcing measures in the bison interim management plan designed to reduce the number of bison slaughtered from last winter. Nevertheless, some bison advocacy groups, such as Buffalo Nations, which has offices in both West Yellowstone and Gardiner and seeks to keep bison from leaving Yellowstone, have declared they will not be satisfied as long as any bison are slaughtered. In addition, artificially feeding Yellowstone's bison inside Park boundaries may be illegal, as it violates the Park's policy of managing wildlife naturally within Park boundaries. The rulings by Judge Lovell come as a result of a lawsuit against the National Park Service's bison interim management plan brought by the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative, a coalition of 45 tribes who are seeking to restore bison to tribal lands.
Second Wolf Killed Outside Yellowstone by BRUCE T. GOURLEY YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK -- The Billings Gazette reports that a second male wolf from the Druid Peak Pack (No. 38) has died in the North Absaroka Wilderness area as a result of gunshot wounds. The previous wolf was killed earlier this month. Male No. 38 was wounded at about the same time, and later died from its injuries. Officials suspect the same person or persons was responsible for both deaths.
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Hiram Chittenden of the U.S.Corps of Engineers claims to have discovered this lake on the Continental Divide at Craig Pass in 1891. Chittenden, who built many early roads in Yellowstone, was searching for a practical route to locate his new road between Old Faithful and West Thumb. It was not until 1893 that Northern Pacific Railroad officials named the lake for Isabel Jelke of Cincinnati. Little is known about Jelke or about her relationship to Chittenden, the NPRR, and Yellowstone Park. Chittenden's 1916 poetic tribute to the lake and his discovery includes the puzzling line: "Thous has no name; pray, wilt thou design to bear / The name of her who first sung of thee" (Verse, p.53). Perhaps Isabel Jelke was already associated with the lake when Chittenden "discovered" it. Isa Lake is also noteworthy as probably the only lake on earth that drains naturally to two oceans backwards, the east side draining to the Pacific and the west side to the Atlantic.
Public Meetings on Yellowstone Management Issues Announced by BRUCE T. GOURLEY CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- U.S.Senator Craig Thomas announced that he will be holding two public meetings in January for the purpose of discussing management policies in Yellowstone National Park. Among the issues to be discussed are the winter management plan and the bison controversy. The first meeting will be in Jackson on January 9, with the second taking place in Cody on January 12.
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Each Friday we will feature the story behind a "Yellowstone
Landmark." Written by NPS Yellowstone Historian Lee Whittlesey, the stories are
from his book entitled Yellowstone Place Names.
