Yellowstone Park 2016

National Park Service Centennial

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

2016

YOUR GUIDE TO THE NATION’S FIRST NATIONAL PARK AND ITS GATEWAY COMMUNITIES June 2016

Billings Gazette

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Y1

Gardiner celebrates Park Service centennial GAZETTE STAFF

‌Gardiner’s population of less than 900 will swell considerably this summer when a crowd gathers to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service on Aug. 25.

“We’re setting the stage for the second century,” said Bill Berg, a Gardiner resident and businessman involved in the celebration.

The town that sits tight on Yellowstone National Park’s northern border is even being gussied up for the affair, part of a $16.5 million project to turn the stone Roosevelt Arch into a pedestrian-only area, create more parking for visitors and build a visitor center. The arch gets its name from former President Theodore Roosevelt who dedicated the structure in 1903.

“Last year was a whole lot of digging and disruption,” Berg said. “Phase One will be wrapped up by Aug. 25.”

That includes the installation of a small stage in Arch Park where musicians Emmylou Harris and John Prine are scheduled to give a free concert on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. Berg predicts attendance at the event will top 5,000. The concert will be streamed live online to widen its reach.

“This very special event will kick off the second century for the National Park Service, highlight the importance of public/ private partnerships, and recognize the completion of the Gardiner Gateway Project Phase One,” said Dan Wenk, Yellowstone National Park superintendent, in a press release.

The concert will also include Leyla McCalla, the children’s

About this section‌

BRETT FRENCH, GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Roosevelt Arch has been blocked off from motorized traffic.

chorus The Singing Angels from Cleveland, Ohio, and Teddy Roosevelt reenactor, Joe Wiegand, with more performances and details to be announced. Local, state, and national dignitaries will also speak at the event.

“The venue is limited so we’re trying to manage expectations while doing the best to have a meaningful event,” Berg said.

“There’s more news coming, too,” he added, although Berg declined to give any hints. Last year, however, he made it clear that he’d like President Barack Obama to attend the festivities, but wouldn’t confirm that was the next announcement.

All of the work is a considerable upgrade from the access available when Yellowstone was named the first national park in 1872. Back then “only a trail suitable for saddle and pack trains ... provided some visitors and supplies access

to the Mammoth Hot Springs area” from Gardiner, according to the environmental assessment completed for the work. “In 1884, Army Corp of Engineers Lt. Dan Kingman constructed a new (and the current) alignment between the town of Gardiner and the park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs. But it was not until the construction of the Roosevelt Arch in 1903 that the road was constructed from the vicinity of the current North Entrance Station to the Roosevelt Arch.”

Because traffic into the park was originally routed through the Roosevelt Arch, a hairpin curve drivers had to negotiate on Park Street in Gardiner to drive through the arch meant traffic would often get backed up as tourists stopped to take photographs. With the redesign, that won’t be a problem.

Last year, almost 65,000 vehicles passed through the North Entrance at Gardiner just in July, the busiest month of a year that set a new record high for visitation — more than 4 million tourists. Many predict that if gas prices remain low and with all of the interest in Yellowstone generated by the Park Service centennial, that visitation could be even higher this year.

Sales director: Dave Worstell.

For information about advertising, call 406The Yellowstone National Park guide is a publi657-1352. cation of Billings Gazette Communications.

Check for updated information about YellowPublisher: Michael Gulledge stone National Park at billingsgazette.com.

Cover photos: Aerial view of Lower Falls of Editor: Darrell Ehrlick

2 | Summer 2016

BRETT FRENCH, GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Roosevelt Arch has been the site for many dignitaries and tourists to pose for photos, including Jimmy St. Goddard, a spiritual chief for the Blackfoot Tribe.

Advance tickets for the concert are required. Tickets are free, but limited. The first tickets were released on May 15. Additional ticket releases will occur on June 15 and July 15 at https://www. ticketriver.com/event/19359.

No alcohol, coolers, umbrellas, or dogs will be allowed at the celebration. For more information, visit https://www.nps.gov/yell/ planyourvisit/evening-arch. htm.

the Yellowstone River by Larry Mayer of the Gazette Staff; bison and calf in Yellowstone National Park by Casey Page of the Gazette Staff; Clepsydra Geyser at Fountain Paint Pots by Bob Zellar of the Gazette Staff and a coyote by McClatchy Newspapers.

Yellowstone Park Guide

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June 2016 Billings Gazette | Y3

From bear management to human management BRETT FRENCH bfrench@billingsgazette.com‌

‌In 1902, Yellowstone National Park game warden C.J. “Buffalo” Jones had a unique way of trying to get black bears to stop raiding campers’ larders and annoying workers — he’d snare the bears on garbage heaps, hoist them aloft by a hind leg and give the bear “a severe chastisement” with a “smart willow switch.”

“This new method of treatment rather caught the bears unawares and appeared to break their spirit for to be detained against their will is a disgrace to wild creatures and they remember their punishment all their lives and teach their offspring to beware, being sure that every men’s hand contains a willow switch and a rope,” Jones wrote of the technique.

The method of attempting to haze bears away from public areas inside Yellowstone National Park is recounted in the recent issue of the journal Yellowstone Science.

Although Jones was eventually told to stop his unusual technique, and shortly thereafter quit, the park has continued to struggle with the best ways to keep bears and humans separate to ensure the survival and safety of both.

Early days Keeping humans and bears apart was not easy early in the park’s history because visitors wanted to see the bears. Motel managers, and even the park’s staff, were happy to oblige. They encouraged the bears to show themselves by dumping garbage in certain spots and setting up bleachers nearby for tourists to watch and photograph the bears.

It wasn’t until 1970 that park management decided such practices were unhealthy for bears, and the dumps were banned. Since then, the park’s staff has taken measures to keep bears away from human food, such as bear-proof garbage cans. The idea is straight-

4 | Summer 2016

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK‌

Bears in the West Thumb camp in this photo from Aug. 24, 1924.

1.8 to 2 per million visitors. In the 1970s that dropped to about 0.7 injuries per million and during the next 35 years averaged one injury every 18 years.

This decline in human-grizzly bear conflicts took place despite an increasing population of grizzly bears in the park.

Although visitors to Yellowstone may fear a bear attack, in the park’s 143-year history only six people have been killed by a grizzly.

People are more likely to die from drowning (119) or falling (36). Only being struck by lightning and dying, which has happened to five people, is less common than a grizzly attack.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK‌

Spray compliance

To prevent individual bear encounters, the park encourages visflected in park statistics. The itors to carry bear spray, a proven 1930s, ‘40s and ‘60s were peaks bear deterrent. for grizzly bear-inflicted injuries Park literature handed out to to humans. In those three decades the rate of injuries ranged from Please see Bear, Page 5

A bear-feeding platform is shown in this photo from around 1929. forward: A bear that sees humans as a source of food is a bear that can injure those same campers and tourists.

The change in ideology is re-

Yellowstone Park Guide

Bear From 4

visitors and talks by rangers also emphasize the importance of traveling in groups of at least three people, making noise in areas with thick growth to avoid surprising bears on trails and not running when encountering bears.

Yet a survey of more than 8,000 park visitors between 2011 and 2014 showed few tourists seemed to be getting the message.

Overnight backpacking parties had the highest level of compliance with YNP’s bear spray recommendation,” wrote Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone’s bear manager, in a Yellowstone Science article.

“Fifty-two percent of backpackers carried bear spray.”

The article attributes the high compliance rate of backpackers to the information given faceto-face by the ranger who issues their backcountry camping permit. Receiving information from a human carries more weight than a message conveyed via written handouts or signs. People hiking along boardwalks were the least compliant with the park’s bear spray and groups-of-three messages. Although those travelers may feel safer on the developed routes, there has been one instance of a bear attack on a boardwalk and one near a boardwalk in Yellowstone.

Handling people

With humans so difficult to manage, it would seem the park might have a better chance at working to give bears a fear of humans, such as warden Buffalo Jones had tried to do in the early 1900s. Such aversive conditioning hasn’t been entirely abandoned.

In the 1980s the park developed what it called a “Bear Thumper Gun” that fired 1¼-inch by 3-inch plastic bottles filled with water.

The 602 grain projectiles delivered 300 foot pounds of energy.

The gun’s downfall was that it was

Yellowstone Park Guide

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK‌

A grizzly sow and yearling on the boardwalk in Upper Geyser Basin. Although bear managers in Yellowstone today face different issues than those tackled more than 100 years ago, the basic concept is still the same, keeping the bears and humans apart and therefore safe. only effective at a range of about 20 to 25 yards. Bears quickly learned the gun’s limitations and stayed at least 30 yards away from rangers deploying the firearm.

“Grizzly bears have shown remarkable resilience and tolerance in the face of ever-increasing human presence,” Gunther wrote in a separate article, flourishing despite a growing human presence in the park that has pushed annual visitation to more than 3 million people a year.

Some of Yellowstone’s grizzlies — because they are smart, adaptable and opportunistic — have learned “to ignore people after repeated, non-consequential encounters,” Gunther wrote.

In the 1970s, when Yellowstone altered its bear management, problem bears conditioned to seeing humans as a source of food were killed. By the 1980s that problem had largely ended, but following that, a growing population of black bears and grizzlies meant more bears were being seen

feeding on natural foods in roadside meadows. The close proximity of the bears caused what’s commonly known now as “bear jams,” lines of vehicles alongside the road near the bears so tourists could watch and photograph the huge predators.

instead of the bears, keeping humans a safe distance away so they could still see the bears.

Between 1990 and 2014, the park’s staff recorded more than 4,500 grizzly bear and 7,600 black bear jams. In all of those incidents, not a single bear-caused injury to a human was reported. Instead, the Jam plans analysis found humans were more At first, the park’s staff fearing likely to be hit by a car at the bear human-bear encounters hazed the jams. bears. But in the 1990s rangers decided to try and manage the people Please see Bear, Page 7

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Bear From 5

Although managing the humans seemed to be a better tactic for the park in terms of the bears, all of those jams required personnel to be present resulting in rangers and other staff racking up 2,500 to 3,000 personnel hours manning bear jams each year.

In response to increased bear jams in adjoining Grand Teton National Park, in 2008 a volunteer force that worked with paid staff was formed to manage the bear jams. The group was named the Wildlife Brigade.

“While the Wildlife Brigade Program has been considered a success, maintaining this level of commitment now and into the future requires substantial financial support,” Gunther wrote.

The need for such support will likely grow, too, if visitation to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks continues its upward climb and bear numbers remain stable or grow.

“To be successful, strategies need to consider not only human and bear safety, but also the energetic needs and nutritional state of habituated bears, their contribution to bear population viability, the aesthetic value of public bear viewing and the conservation awareness this brings, and the economic value of bear viewing to gateway communities,” Gunther wrote.

Such considerations and issues facing bear managers in Yellowstone today are much different than those tackled by wardens like Buffalo Jones more than 100 years ago. Yet the basic concept is still the same, keeping the bears and humans apart and therefore safe.

To do that, Gunther sees an increased role for education and bear jam traffic controllers in the parks.

“The most formidable challenge for managing habituated bears in national parks is not managing the bears, but in sustaining and expanding the people management programs that have made habituated bear management a success in the parks to date,” he wrote.

National Park Service T‌ here is an average of one bear attack per year in Yellowstone. In 2011 and 2015, in separate incidents, three visitors were killed by bears inside the park. Your safety cannot be guaranteed.

Safe traveling in bear country begins before you hit the trail: When you arrive at the park, find out about recent bear activity at a visitor center or backcountry office.

Know what areas are closed for bear management.

Before you set out, be sure to learn what to do if you encounter a bear.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK‌

In the early 1900s, Yellowstone Learn how to reduce your risk of en- warden C.J. “Buffalo” Jones tried some new tactics to make countering a bear. troublesome bears fear humans, Report all bear encounters and wild- including trapping them, hoisting life incidents to a park ranger imme- them aloft and beating them with diately. a stick.

Yellowstone Park Guide

Summer 2016 | 7

National spotlight on Yellowstone

BOB ZELLAR, GAZETTE STAFF

Old Faithful erupts under blue skies in Yellowstone National Park.

National Geographic writer reflects on what makes park special CHRISTINE PETERSON For The Gazette‌

‌For the past two years, writers, photographers, map makers and editors for National Geographic have been working on an issue devoted entirely to Yellowstone National Park.

It was an unusual idea, created by former editor in chief Chris Johns.

“Yellowstone is the first park ever in the world, and as such in the centennial year of the Park

8 | Summer 2016

Service, we thought that it represents something really huge,” said Jamie Shreeve, National Geographic’s deputy editor in chief.

“We wanted an issue that was as big and impactful as Yellowstone has been for 150-odd years.”

Even more unique than the issue, which came out in late April is the writer. National Geographic chose to use one author, Bozeman resident David Quammen, to pen all of the main text. It is likely the first time one person has written most of an issue in the magazine’s 128-year history.

Quammen moved to Montana in 1973 and is intimately familiar with Yellowstone National Park and the greater Yellowstone ecosys-

tem. That kind of local knowledge brought to life the various issues, people and wildlife that encompass Yellowstone, Shreeve said.

The magazine also used half a dozen photographers who spent months at a time living in the area, including Wyoming Migration Initiative photography fellow Joe Riis.

“This park, this issue, is a celebration not just of one park but of the entire notion of parks and what it has meant,” Shreeve said. “(Yellowstone) is the physical expression of democracy in its most beautiful way, and it deserves this kind of celebration.”

Here are excerpts from an interview with Quammen asking about the project, the Yellowstone eco-

system and what makes a place truly wild.

How did you choose these particular stories?

I started with an open mind.

When I do magazine work or when I write any book, I get interested in a subject and do a whole lot of research and talk to a lot of people...

I want to learn as much as I can.

I want to find out what is interesting. I want to find out what is important, and then eventually, when I have a strong sense of all the things that are really important and all the things that are interesting, I will try and see where the lines cross.

Please see Spotlight, 9

Yellowstone Park Guide

can be counted. How many of the sion tends to be more permanent original species do we have? How than the destruction that could be many of the original processes like caused by overhunting. Once peomigration do we have? ple move in and settle and put down It is a combination of all of those their roots, put down their concrete things. The number of species we and put down their plumbing and have, the number of big, difficult put down their electrical lines and predatory species we have. The fiber optic lines, then it is very unnumber of small, endangered, likely that place will ever be wild delicate species that we have. The again. amount of landscape that we have In one of your stories, you without roads. The number of eco- have a quote from Yellowstone logical processes that we’ve pre- wolf biologist Doug Smith, served. … All of those things I put “Look at those eyes,” Smith said. together I think of as wild.

They were wide open, blazDo you think wild places can ing a coppery brown. “That’s be lost and found again? wild,” he said. “This is what our Yes. I think that restoration can world is trying to do away with. occur, but it is difficult. It is one Right here, that look. We want thing if you kill off a species, for to keep that look. That’s what instance by hunting, like we’ve Yellowstone Park is all about.” done with the wolf. You can bring Can someplace be wild without GAZETTE STAFF‌ it back, as was done. That is a great predators? success story. If you nearly eradicate It depends on the place. For inA lone bull elk grazes in a pasture near Norris in Yellowstone National a species as was done with the griz- stance, on islands, the island of Park. zly bear, you can bring it back. But Mauritius where the dodo lived, of smart management, but we are if you settle an ecosystem and chop before human beings sailed up very lucky to have it still there. And it up and build houses and roads on it was tested every day, every week it, then that sort of habitat converContinued from 8 Please see Spotlight, 10 on the question of how badly do we Do you think Yellowstone is want it and what are we willing to one of the best examples of the do in order to preserve it. I think it’s interface between wildlife and a great test case of our relationship with nature, with the wild. humans?

I absolutely do. It is our biggest How do you define what park complex in the Lower 48. It sits makes a place wild?

That’s not easy to answer. Some right in the middle of the American West surrounded by ranches people talk about, we have to save and towns and shopping centers. wilderness. I usually don’t use Gardiner Chamber of CommerCe It is surrounded like an island by the word wilderness because I am P.O. Box 81, Gardiner, Montana, 59030 modern America, and that makes acutely aware that, for instance, (406) 848-7971, www.gardinerchamber.com it different from big wild parks in the Yellowstone plateau was used Alaska, and yet it is a big wild com- by the Shoshone and Sheep Eater plex — 22 million acres roughly for and Black Feet and Nez Perce and the ecosystem. Two national parks, the Crow at least intermittently portions of national forests, wild- throughout centuries and millenlife refuges, part of the Wind River nia before Europeans got here. I Reservation. don’t equate the wild with wilderIt’s a big mass of mostly wild ness because wilderness tends to landscape that contains the major imply the absence of humans. The predators and the big mega fauna wild suggests biological diversity, of all sorts — the grizzly, the wolf, landscape that is close to its origithe mountain lion, the coyote, elk, nal form before forces of settlement bison, wolverine. It contains every- and heavy population densities arthing that was there when Colum- rived. I admit that it is not an absobus landed. And that is amazing in lute difference between what is wild 2016. And it’s a tricky situation to and what is settled. It is a relative maintain and it requires patience measure. But biological diversity, and political compromise and a lot for instance, can be measured. It

Spotlight

Gardiner

Yellowstone Park Guide

Summer 2016 | 9

Spotlight Continued from 9

there, it was a wild place. It was an island and there were very few predator species. One of the things that allowed the dodo to be a giant flightless bird that laid its eggs on the ground was the absence of predators.

If the predators are native to that particular ecosystem and you’ve eradicated them then I would say no, that doesn’t fit my definition of wild. In Yellowstone, if we lose the mountain lion and the wolf again and the grizzly bear, then I would be done calling Yellowstone wild no matter how many beautiful trees and canyons it has.

Does the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, as a smaller microcosm of what it once was, make you sad because it is isolated or hopeful?

It is hopeful to me. In a way it is sad, but we have 310 million people living in this country… it is inevitable that a lot of the landscape has become transformed and has become arrogated to human uses and high intensity human uses…

But I think that we should be very glad that the glass is half full, or we should be glad that the glass is one-tenth full, that we have this magnificent, big, fairly wild place that we call the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

Some people call it a zoo. Some people call it a big ranch... There are other areas of the backcountry of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem that are also definitely not a zoo. If you ski up into the upper Pelican Valley in the middle of winter, it’s not a zoo, it is a wild place.

What do you see as the future of Yellowstone?

I think there are two very difficult things we need to deal with that will largely determine the future of Yellowstone and oddly enough the question of grizzly delisting will not be one of them.

Private land in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and what happens to private land. Whether the

10 | Summer 2016

big private ranches get chopped up into ranchettes and suburbs; whether people continue coming to Yellowstone saying, ‘I want to own a piece of it. I want 100 acres and I want to build a cabin and I want a road and a dog and a satellite dish in the Yellowstone ecosystem.’ That is one of the things that will destroy the ecosystem.

The other thing we need to deal with is related to that, it is another form of people loving it to death, and that is visitor traffic into the park. Four million visits to Yellowstone, more than 3 million into Grand Teton. There is going to be a point where we say, ‘Sorry, but you can’t all drive your cars into this place.’ That’s already being done in Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, these smaller national parks, and it is going to have to come in Yellowstone. At a certain point we will have to say not everybody, and maybe not anybody will be able to see Yellowstone at the convenience of their own automobile. Welcome to the gate of Yellowstone. There is a big parking lot, park your car and get on the shuttle. And that is going to be a difficult and unpopular threshold and it is going to take political capital and support for what remains wild about Yellowstone, in order to make it happen.

If it doesn’t happen, then there’s a point where we’re going to love the place to death and it is going to be, as I say, are we turning the Yellowstone ecosystem into a theme park or a great big boring suburb with antler motif doorknobs?

If fewer people visit, do they become less connected?

We have to tell the story of this place so well that people love it even if they never visit it. And there are places like that. There are places that are extremely important to the human species that we can never visit. For instance, some of the rock art caves in southern France. People can’t go into them because human breath, moisture, perspiration, CO2 destroys the cave paintings. It is sort of a paradox. We have to love those places

GAZETTE STAFF‌

Tourists gather around the boardwalk to watch Old Faithful geyser erupt in Yellowstone National Park. enough to stay the hell away from them.

That will not be an absolute with Yellowstone. But a lot of the people who care about Yellowstone, a lot of the people we need to care about Yellowstone, have to be people who aren’t visiting Yellowstone every year, or maybe at all, but they still need to know there is a place in the

heart of the American West where the grizzly bear and the wolf lives, and big herds of elk live. Part of what people need to make that abstract commitment is good storytelling and good presentation of photography as well as words to make them understand why this place is valuable whether or not it ever becomes their own playground.

Yellowstone Park Guide

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Stay a safe distance from wildlife; get going early JENNA CAPLETTE For The Gazette ‌

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Photographing Yellowstone

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ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH‌

The Thumb Geyser Basin features a boardwalk that takes visitors past a number of steaming, colorful hot springs. Be aware that steam can condense on camera gear, so take steps to keep it clean and dry.

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‌ hotographing Yellowstone? Be prepared.

P In Yellowstone, you’ll discover spectacular opportunities for incredible photographs every day. Be prepared.

1. Keep your camera handy, loaded with fresh batteries. While changing batteries, great photo opportunities can evaporate.

2. Know what your camera can do.

There are some shots you will see folks with fantastic lenses making that your camera may not be able to replicate. Then it’s best to just enjoy the view.

3. Taking several photographs helps to train your eye.

Check each on your LCD screen to see how it worked. If it clearly did not work, delete it. If you’re not sure, view it later on your computer or a kiosk in a photography store that allows you to view images, select your favorites for editing and printing.

4. Carry a notebook.

Document your experience as you capture images, record what did and didn’t work, what to do differently next time.

5. Get up and get going.

Morning offers incredible opportunities for seeing wildlife, and some of the best

lighting for outdoor photography. So do evening and shiny-bright days that are slightly overcast. Fog and snowstorms and other types of weather also create dramatic opportunities for extraordinary photographs.

6. Steam from geysers and hot pots can condense on your gear. Know how to keep your camera dry and carry an absorbent, lint-free cloth, to pat dry your camera body and lens. Purosol Optical Molecular Lens Cleaner is a “green” cleaner that breaks down the bonds that dust, dirt and grime use to glue themselves to lens surfaces. Use it with a microfiber lens cleaning cloth like Spudz that comes in a handy pouch that you can easily hang on your camera bag.

7. Photographing wildlife requires distance for safety and good inter-species relations. Be prepared to work from a distance despite the temptation to get just a little closer. If your camera has interchangeable lenses, work with a larger one, 300mm or more. The best wildlife photos show their subject interacting with landscape, weather and other animals — not with you.

If you have a spotting scope or good binoculars and want to use your iPhone for wildlife shots, look for a Universal Optics Adapter.

Your images evoke memory. At the end of each day, protect them by transferring them from your camera’s flash memory to a computer and backing them to an external drive.

Summer 2016 | 13

Centennial sights National Parks’ centennial may draw record crowds TOM HOWARD thoward@billingsgazette.com‌

After Yellowstone National ‌ Park welcomed a record 4 million visitors in 2015, what will America’s first national park do for an encore in 2016?

Probably more of the same.

Tourism experts are predicting that 2016 should be another banner year for Montana’s tourism industry. Montana hosted 11.7 million nonresident travelers in 2015, an 8 percent increase from 2014. However, the $3.6 billion, in spending represented a decrease of 8 percent from the previous year.

Officials from the University of Montana Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research suspect that lower gas prices likely contributed to the decline in nonresident spending last year. But other factors may be in play. Travelers belonging to the millennial generation might account for a dip in tourism spending. In general, millennials — people who were born between 1980 and 1995 — have less disposable income and are more likely to be paying down student debt. Millennials are also more likely to take advantage of the “sharing economy,” using services such as Uber and Airbnb, a website that allows people to list and rent out their property to travelers, usually at a discount compared to what motels charge, said Norma Nickerson, director of the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at UM.

14 | Summer 2016

JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF‌

President Barack Obama tours the geyser basin at Old Faithful on Aug. 15, 2009.

UM’s research shows that Yellowstone and Glacier National Park represent the biggest draw to out-of-state travelers. A number of events that will coincide with the centennial of the National Park Service could also boost visitation this year.

The U.S. Army protected Yellowstone from poachers and other unsavory characters for most of the three decades prior to the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. Conservationists had long advocated for the creation of a civilian corps of rangers to protect Yellowstone’s resources and ensure the safety of tourists.

“I earnestly recommend the establishment of the bureau of National Parks,” President William Howard Taft wrote in 1912.

“Such legislation is essential to the proper management of those

wonderful manifestations of nature, so startling and so beautiful that everyone recognizes the obligations of the government to preserve them for the edification and recreation of the people. The Yellowstone Park, the Yosemite, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, the Glacier National Park and the Mount Rainer National Park and others furnish appropriate instances. In only one case have we made anything like adequate preparation for the use of a park by the public. That case is the Yellowstone.”

Writing in “The Yellowstone Story,” historian Aubrey L. Haines mentioned that Congress refused to allocate any money for the park service, although the Department of the Interior established a quasi-park service in 1913 and “seasonal rangers” worked in the park in the years before the Park

Service was established.

“The idea of a centralized national park administration rattled around in the federal bureaucracy for years before the National Park Services was created on Aug. 25, 1916,” writes Paul Schullery, author of “Searching for Yellowstone.” The National Park Service Act charged the new agency to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Several special events have been planned as the Park Service centennial approaches.

The National Park Service will host local, state and national dignitaries for the National Park Service centennial, on Aug. 25 at Roosevelt Arch.

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody will host a symposium commemorating the centennial on June 15. Six scholars will share their perspectives on the history of art and artists in Yellowstone with “Inspiring Sights: Yellowstone through Artists’ Eyes.”

“We’re excited to share in the 100th anniversary of the National Park Serivice — especially since Yellowstone is right in our back yard,” said Karen McWhorter, the center’s Scarlett Curator of Western Art. “The symposium coincides with an exhibition of the same name in the in the Whitney Western Art Museum, as well as the publication of a revised edition of art historian Peter Hassrick’s book ‘Drawn to Yellowstone.’”

Yellowstone Park Guide

Sounds of science

National Park Service‌

Loon in the southeast arm of Yellowstone Lake.

Project offers behind-the-scenes audio stories RUFFIN PREVOST yellowstonegate.com ‌

‌ or wildlife biologists, geologists F and other researchers, Yellowstone National Park serves as a living science lab unlike any other place on earth. From underground magma chambers and unique thermophilic microbes to grizzly bears and gray wolves, Yellowstone science research routinely makes headlines around the world.

For reasons of safety, logistics and other factors, the general public rarely has a chance to go behind the scenes to see how that research is conducted.

But now, a new audio series offers listeners a backstage pass to learn more about how research is conducted in Yellowstone, and what it means for the park’s wildlife and landscape.

Telemetry is a co-production of Yellowstone Park and Montana State University’s Acoustic Atlas. It can be found at acousticatlas.org/ yellowstone/ The new series promises to take listeners on a “sound safari” of Yellowstone, offering an in-depth look at how researchers conduct the work that helps inform policy decisions inside the park and across the region.

For Jennifer Jerrett, who produced

Telemetry’s first episode focusing on loon captures, the project has taught her to try and carry an audio recorder whenever she ventures out.

“There have been times when I have not had a recorder with me, just while out on personal time, and I’ve missed an amazing experience,” Jerrett said.

For Telemetry’s first long-form piece, Jerrett captured haunting audio of the four different types of loon calls — the yodel, the wail, the hoot and the tremolo. The 12-minute audio piece details how researchers work at night using decoy bird calls to lure loons in for safe capture on Wolf Lake. Blood is drawn and the birds are banded for further tracking and study.

The loon research is important because Yellowstone is home to only about a dozen breeding pairs, with the next closest population more than 200 miles away. Researchers worry that the birds are not breeding with outside populations, which could be a problem for their ongoing presence in the park.

Jerrett said Yellowstone Park will highlight future editions of Telemetry on its social media channels, and the series may become a regular podcast if public reaction is favorable.

Don’t get caught in a bad situation.

While you’re enjoying Montana’s parks and rivers this summer: STOP to read the safety signs around the dams and waterways.

LOOK around to make sure you don’t leave any trash.

LISTEN for warning sirens that signal when dam spill gates are opening.

Spring M. Customer Associate, 9 years of service

Yellowstone Park Guide Summer 2016 | 15

EVENTS IN GATEWAY COMMUNITIES

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Tiara is an outdoor concert venue at Tippet Rise in the Beartooth foothills near Fishtail. The arts and music center opens to the public on June 17.

June 1-Aug. 31‌

rade and a barn dance. 307-754Cody Nite Rodeo: 8 p.m. daily. 4320. www.saddlemule.com.

Gates open at 7 p.m. Stampede Park. Codystampederodeo.com.

June 16-18‌ Headwaters Country Jam: June 15-19‌ Headliners include Lee Brice, TyJake Clark Mule Days: Western ler Farr, Joe Nichols, Chase Bryant, event in Ralston, Wyo., promoting Darryl Worley, Mark Chesnutt, the saddle mule which includes Hawthorne Roots and more. The mounted shooting, team sorting, Bridge at Three Forks. Headwarodeo events, a trail course, a pa- terscountryjam.com.

16 | Summer 2016

June 17‌

Recital by Nickolai Demidenko: 6:30 p.m. Tippet Rise Art Center. A weekly concert series and schedule of films is planned at this sanctuary for art and music on a 11,500-acre ranch outside Fishtail. Concerts are 6:30 p.m. on Fridays and 2 and 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays. All concert tickets are $10 for adults,

free for anyone younger than 18.

See the full schedule at tippetrise.org

June 18‌

Ariel String Quartet Celebrates: Artist Stephen Talasnik’s Pioneer, 2 p.m. Tippet Rise Art Center. tippetrise.org Please see Events, 17

Yellowstone Park Guide

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Events Continued from 16

Collaborative Concert: Ariel String Quartet with Nikolai Demidenko, 6:30 p.m. Tippet Rise Art Center. tippetrise.org

June 18-19‌

Plains Indian Museum Powwow: Robbie Powwow Garden on the grounds of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. 307-5784102. www.centerofthewest.org.

June 23-25‌

Red Lodge Songwriter Festival: Red Lodge event celebrating country songwriters, featuring songwriters from Nashville, Montana and Wyoming. redlodgesongwriterfest.com.

BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Battle of the Little Bighorn Re-enactment takes place at 1 p.m.

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF‌ June 24-26 on the banks of the Little The Home of Champions Rodeo Parade takes place every day at noon from Bighorn River. The Real Bird family July 2-4 in Red Lodge. hosts a re-enactment of “Custer’s June 24-26‌ Last Stand” from the American Battle of the Little Bighorn Indian point of view.

Re-enactment: 1 p.m. each day, on the banks of the Little Bighorn River, the Real Bird family hosts Little Bighorn Days include liva re-enactment of “Custer’s Last ing history areas, arts and crafts Stand” from the American Indian fairs, a book fair, a 5K run/walk, point of view. Featuring local rid- a Lamborghini show. Parades, an ers and re-enactors from around 1876 Grand Ball and much more. the United States, the Battle of Hardinmt.com. livingston Chamber of CommerCe the Little Bighorn Re-enactment 303 E. Park St., Livingston, Montana, 59047 began nearly 20 years ago as a way June 26‌ to impart more Native American Symphony in the Park: This (406) 222-0850, www.DiscoverLivingston.com history and culture, and takes free outdoor community conplace during Crow Native Days. cert is a great way to take in the Littlebighornreenactment.com. Billings Symphony Orchestra at Pioneer Park. An instrument June 25‌ “petting zoo” at 4 p.m., 5 p.m.

Fishtail Family Fun Day: Community Band concert and Events begin with a pancake the main concert at 7 p.m. 406For All Your Foreign breakfast at 7 a.m. The infamous 252-3610 or billingssymphony.

And AmericAn Auto r epAirs “two-mile parade in a one block org. town” begins at 11 a.m. The day’s 14th Annual Montana Barevents include vendors, events in becue Cookoff: Absarokee hosts the park, barbecue lunch, raffle some of the region’s best ribs, and a duck race. The band “Hill- chicken and other smoked deP.O. Box 649 billings” will perform. lights. Events take place in down1317 East Callender town Absarokee and will include Livingston, MT 59047 beer, a food truck round-up, live June 25-28‌ 406-222-6855 Little Bighorn Days: The music and a kid zone. past comes alive every June in and around Hardin. Highlights of Please see Events, 18

Livingston LARRY’S FOREIGN CAR REPAIR

Yellowstone Park Guide

Summer 2016 | 17

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Events Continued from 17

June 30:‌

Cody/Yellowstone Extreme Bulls: 8 p.m. PRCA’s top 40 bullriders matched against the PRCA’s best bucking bulls to compete for well over $45,000 in cash. Stampede Park. Codystampederodeo.com

July 2-4‌

Home of Champions Rodeo and Parade: Noon parade daily on Red Lodge’s main street. Rodeo begins at 6 p.m. July 2-3 and 3 p.m. July 4. 406-446-2422 or redlodgerodeo.com.

Livingston Roundup Rodeo: A parade downtown at 3 p.m. on July 2 kicks off events.

Rodeo nightly at 8 p.m. and fireworks nightly at Park County Fairgrounds. A kiddie rodeo is planned for 3 p.m. on July 4. livingstonroundup.com.

July 3‌

Stampede parade: 9:30 a.m., downtown Cody. Codystampederodeo.com.

July 4‌

Stampede parade: 9:30 a.m., downtown Cody. Codystampederodeo.com.

Cody Stampede rodeo: 5 p.m. Codystampederodeo.com West Yellowstone: Events all day including live music by Slamabama from 7 to 10 p.m. in Town Park, a parade celebrating the National Park Service Centennial at 6 p.m., and fireworks at 10 p.m. Visityellowstonecountry. com.

Celebrate Freedom: Fourth of July celebration, 5-10 p.m. at Castle Rock Park in Billings. Free to the public with games and arcade booths, food and concessions, and a fireworks show at dark. www.harvestchurch.tv.

18 | Summer 2016

HANNAH POTES/GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Celebrate Freedom Fourth of July celebration at Castle Rock Park in Billings includes fireworks after dark.

July 9-10‌

SummerFair: One of the largest juried arts and crafts festivals in the state at this fundraiser for the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings. The event is at Veterans Park and admission is $3 for adults, free for those 17 and

younger. Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 406-256-6804, ext. 236 or artmuseum.org.

July 15‌

Summerfest Along the Yellowstone: Sacajawea Park, Liv-

ingston. The music lineup features Western Skies, Bus Driver Tour and perennial favorite the Max. Admission is $5. Check livingstonmontana.org for more information.

Please see Events, 19

Yellowstone Park Guide

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

INDEPENDENT RECORD‌

Dancing is encouraged at the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, set for July 2831 outside White Sulphur Springs. Wynonna and her band, The Big Noise, will headline the July 30 show.

Events Continued from 18

July 15-16‌

Moods of the Madison: Ennis music festival featuring Bassnectar, Young The Giant, Wolfgang Gartner, The Wailers, Rising Appalachia, Sol, Robert Randolph And The Family Band, The Russ Liquid Test, Maxwell Hughes, Farch, One Leaf Clover, Lecture, Poppa Chachi, Hawthorne Roots, The Bent Bones, Echodrive, Dubuddha, Nintendeaux and Woodburn. Find out more at www.moodsofthemadison.com; facebook.com/MoodsOfTheMadison

July 15-17‌

Main Street kick off the annual weekend celebrating cars and allthings cruisin’. Saturday’s events include a classic car show along Broadway Avenue and a drive-in movie at the fairgrounds. Drag races at the airport take place on Sunday. 406-664-3264; cruisenredlodge.com.

July 28-31‌

Red Ants Pants Festival: Five-time Grammy winner Wynonna Judd and her band the Big Noise will headline this year’s festival outside White Sulphur Springs. The Mavericks, Dar Williams, The Mission Mountain Wood Band and Hayes Carll also will perform. http://redantspantsmusicfestival.com/

Beartooth Rally: An annual July 30‌ rally and weekend full of rides, Shakespeare in the Parks: food, dancing and more. For more 6 p.m. “Comedy of Errors,” West information call 406-446-2022 Yellowstone School football field. or visit bonedaddyscustomcycle. Free. com.

Clark Days: William Clark’s stop at Pompeys Pillar on July July 22-24‌ 25, 1806, is marked at Pompeys Cruisen Red Lodge: Regis- Pillar National Monument for tration and a barbecue at Bone Daddy’s, and a parade down Please see Events, 20

Yellowstone Park Guide

FULL OF EXCITEMENT. There’s plenty to see and do. Start

planning your Cody, Wyoming vacation today. Call 1-800-393-2639 or visit yellowstonecountry.org.

T H E W I L DE S T WAY IN TO Y EL LOW S TON E.

Summer 2016 | 19

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

HANNAH POTES/GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Magic City Blues Fest will be on Montana Avenue only this year, with Aug. 5 headliner Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Aug. 6 headliner Ziggy Marley.

Events Continued from 19

Clark Days. Historical talks, nature walks, Native American cultural presentations, music, and food are part of the annual commemoration, where Saturday camping is allowed for just one night of the year. 406-969-5380 or pompeyspillar.org/clark-days.

Aug. 2-7‌

Sweet Pea Festival: Events begin with Chalk on the Walk, an all-day event where people

20 | Summer 2016

are encouraged to chalk up the sidewalks. The fun continues on Aug. 3 with Bites of Bozeman, an evening event from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The festival starts back up at 4 p.m., Aug. 5, in Lindley Park. The weekend continues with a children’s run and parade to the park. A beer and wine garden featuring Montana microbrews, dining, music, performances by local theater and dance troupes, family-friendly entertainment and activities, a flower show, and more than 100 arts and crafts vendors round out one of Montana’s favorite festi-

vals. 406-586-4003 or sweet- Wayne Shepherd, Elle King and peafestival.org. more. Magiccityblues.com

Aug. 4-7‌

46th Annual Yellowstone Rod Run: Classic car parade at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with cars on display from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in West Yellowstone’s Pioneer Park.

Aug. 5-14‌

Smoking Waters Mountain Man Rendezvous: Step into the experience of 1800s life. The encampment, complete with Trader’s Row, fires the imagination of what life in that era was like. Entertainment, demonstraAug. 5-6‌ tions and seminars on a variety Magic City Blues: Montana’s of “life-as-it-was” skills give a largest urban music festival takes deeper appreciation of challenges place on Montana Avenue on and dangers that were faced and Friday and Saturday. Headliners include Ziggy Marley, Kenny Please see Events, 21

Yellowstone Park Guide

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Events Continued from 20

overcome. Tomahawk and knife demonstrations, black-powder shoots, mountain-man storytelling and musicians are all a part of the annual event. Admission is free. The encampment is visible to all travelers arriving on U.S. 20 from the southwest. On the Gallatin National Forest Service land immediately west of West Yellowstone and adjacent to Iris Street. Twoturtlestradingpost. com.

Aug. 11-13‌

Buffalo Bill Invitational Shootout: Cody Shooting Complex. Event combines firearms history and present-day shootCASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF‌ Please see Events, 22

MontanaFair is Aug. 12-20 at MetraPark.

Church of St. Anthony of Padua Located behind Buffalo Bill Historical Center Cody, Wyoming

Cody Weekend Masses:

Saturdays, 5:00 pm • Sundays, 9:00 am

St. Theresa Meeteetse,WY Sundays, 8:30 am

Virginia City

virginia city chamber of commerce P.O. Box 218, Virginia City, Montana, 59755 1-800-829-2969, www.virginiacity.com

Our Lady of the Valley Clark,WY

Sundays, 11:00 am

Services in Yellowstone National Park: Roman Catholic Mass (when priest is available) or Liturgy of the Hours - Communion Service Canyon Outdoor Amphitheater Saturdays, 4:30 pm • June 18 - September 17, 2016 Old Faithful Lodge Employee Recreation Hall Sundays, 9:00 am • June 19 - September 18, 2016 Lake Lodge Employee Rec Hall Sundays, 11:30 am • June 19 - September 18, 2016

http://www.stanthonycody.org

Yellowstone Park Guide

Summer 2016 | 21

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Events Continued from 21

ing sports. Individual and teams competitions, limited to 100 participants. The public is invited to observe shooting at the Cody Shooting Complex. 307-5784025.

Heart of the West Contemporary Art Show and Auction: More than 60 juried artists and galleries exhibit their work at The Best Western GranTree Inn, Bozeman. 406-781-0550 or heartofthewestart.com.

Aug. 12-14‌

Rockin’ the Rivers: Vince Neil, Buckcherry, Loverboy, Firehouse, Steelheart, Royal Bliss, Heart by Heart, Hell’s Belles and more. Aug. 11 kick-off pre-party starts the weekend. The Bridge at Three Forks. Rockintherivers. com.

Aug. 12-20‌

MontanaFair: Multi-platinum pop star, Jason Derulo, performs at Rimrock Auto Arena on Aug. 12; Comedian Gabriel Iglesias, better known as the “Fluffy Guy,” on Aug. 13 and 3 Doors Down and Theory of a Deadman on Aug. 14.

Supercross and PRCA Pro Rodeo complete the night shows.

ValuPasses to the fair include all grounds and night show entertainment and are available at metrapark.com.

Aug. 13‌

Annual Hebgen Lake Yacht Club Poker Run: Kirkwood Resort and Marina, Hebgen Lake, 646-7200

Aug. 14-20‌

Park County Days: The weeklong event will celebrate the National Park Service Centennial.

With themed activities like Ranch Heritage and Farm Day, Museum and Cultural Heritage Day, Art

22 | Summer 2016

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION‌

Pictured on horseback are President Theodore Roosevelt, left, and Acting Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park Maj. John Pitcher at Liberty Camp, Yellowstone National Park, April 1903, as photographed by Ezra B. “E.B.” Thompson.

Walk to Yellowstone Day, Food tional Park Service Centennial Fun and Suds in the Park and celebration, 7 p.m. Arch Park, Gardiner. Tickets are free, but more. Parkcountydays.com limited. Tickets will be released on June 15 and July 15 at https://www.

Aug. 17-22‌ Crow Fair: The nation’s larg- ticketriver.com/event/19359. est modern-day American Indian National Park Service Cenencampment celebrates its 98th tennial Celebration: 3 p.m. year at Crow Agency featuring along the banks of the Yellowdancing, drumming, food, daily stone River in Livingston. Event in rodeos and racing, evening pow- at Roosevelt Arch in Gardiner will wows and morning parades. Visit be broadcast live on theater-sized teepeecapital.com or check the screen.

Crow Fair Facebook page.

this Labor Day weekend staple.

Events begin at 10 a.m. and include a street fair, parade and street dance. 406-326-2315

Sept. 5‌

Labor Day Arts Fair: This annual art event features more than 80 artists’ booths displaying and selling bead work, pottery, paintings, sculptures, photography and more. Free, live entertainment throughout the day includes fiddlers, belly dancers, folk musiSept. 4‌ cians, food booths, a concession Aug. 25‌ Great Montana Sheep Drive: stand and much more. Festivities Emmylou Harris and John Hundreds of sheep take to the begin at 9 a.m. Admission is free.

Prine in concert: Part of Na- main street of Reed Point during Redlodge.com.

Yellowstone Park Guide

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