Winter 2015 Working for the Winter From Wolves to Willows Winter in Yellowstone’s Interior
Last month, we shared with you the important news that the boards of directors of both the Yellowstone Association (YA) and Yellowstone Park Foundation (YPF) unanimously announced their intent to merge into a new nonprofit organization to benefit Yellowstone National Park. As a combined organization, we can take advantage of each organization’s strengths and be more responsive to the needs of Yellowstone National Park. Through shared resources, we truly believe that the Yellowstone Association and the Yellowstone Park Foundation can connect more people to the park through outstanding visitor experiences and educational programs, and translate those experiences into lifelong support. Our transition work will begin immediately, and our goal is to make the transition as seamless as possible. We expect to begin operating jointly by March of 2016, and the new organization will be fully in effect by February 2017. When we launch our new organization next year you will be introduced to our new name and website. Please be assured that we remain committed to supporting the park through engagement, educational programs, visitor experiences, and philanthropy. Engagement/education and philanthropy will be equal priorities in our new organization. We will continue to keep you informed as we bring these two strong organizations together over the coming months. As we close out this year and prepare for what’s to come, we are excited for the future of Yellowstone and believe our next chapter will be our best yet! Happy holidays,
Yellowstone Association Leadership Team Jeff Brown
Executive Director
Daniel Bierschwale Director of Retail
Wendie Carr
Marketing Manager
Roger Keaton
Director of Finance and Administration
Dennis McIntosh
Director of Facilities
Kathy Nichols
Human Resources Manager
Ken Voorhis
Director of Education
Yellowstone Association Board of Directors Claire Campbell Board Chair Boulder, CO
Lou Lanwermeyer
Vice-Chair Brasstown, NC
Jeff Brown Yellowstone Association executive director
PS: The 100th anniversary of the National Park Service is August 25, 2016, and we are starting the celebration early. Please be sure to check the enclosed holiday insert for a sticker which identifies you as one of the winners of a YA-exclusive NPS centennial hat and water bottle!
Bob Shopneck
Treasurer Denver, CO
Tom Detmer
Assistant Treasurer Denver, CO
Patty Carocci
Secretary Arlington, VA
Michael Campbell Sarasota, FL
Katie Cattanach Denver, CO
Sandy Choate Austin, TX
Gale Davis Wilson, WY
Penney Cox Hubbard Baltimore, MD
Katherine Loo Yellowstone’s official nonprofit education partner
Colorado Springs, CO
Mat Millenbach Portland, OR
Bryan Morgan Boulder, CO
Alex Perez Palo Alto, CA
Alan Shaw Big Sky, MT
What’s on the cover? Wolf in Yellowstone’s winter landscape. COVER STEVE HINCH; STEVEHINCHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Winter TABLE OF CONTENTS
02 Working for the Winter 06 From Wolves to Willows:
Studying Trophic Cascades on the Northern Range
10 NPS Q&A: Daniel Stahler,
Chief Project Biologist of YNP Wolf Project
11 Winter in Yellowstone’s Interior:
Old Faithful Snow Lodge
12 Yellowstone Winter Travel Plan
Advances and Adapts
13 Creatures Large & Small:
Snowshoe Hare
14 Naturalist Notes:
Winter’s Elusive Owls
15 YA Family: Maria Bisso 16 Membership
Yellowstone Quarterly 1
“What’s that like?”
That’s usually the first question you get— other than maybe “Why?”—when you tell someone you spent a winter living in Yellowstone’s interior. It’s hard to explain everything that goes into it— the seclusion and camaraderie, the exertion and relaxation, the beauty and harshness, the absence of some things and the abundance of others. But the people who work at Canyon, Lake, and Old Faithful understand how these incongruities meld into one cohesive experience and create an adventure that can’t be found anywhere else.
Working for the Winter By Stephen Camelio
Photos The road less traveled: Yellowstone’s interior is truly a magical place. Right A visitor takes in the view of Nymph Lake from a snowy overlook.
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remembers. “I told them, ‘I’m out in Hayden Valley somewhere and once I figure out where I’ll let you know.’” The wind was blowing, and it was snowing so hard Coy couldn’t see where he was going. He had to go from snow stake to snow stake to make it back home. The trip back to Canyon took him four hours. Other memorable moments from his time include watching the otters sliding on the snow into the river near the Chittenden Bridge and just enjoying the splendor of the Lower Falls in the winter. “It’s really beautiful when it’s all iced over,” Coy says. “I remember being out shoveling off platforms at Artist Point as a tour group was oohing and ahhing. When they turned to me and said, ‘You must just love it here,’ I just smiled and said, ‘Yeah, this is my office.’”
This Is My Office Although he’s now been Canyon’s National Park Service (NPS) district maintenance supervisor for eight years and was the deputy supervisor before that, it was Shelby Coy’s first winter job 15 years ago that hooked him on winter in the interior. “I was a groomer operator for five years, and I still groom some,” he says. “Being out there completely by yourself in the park is a lot different—the beauty and quiet are unlike anything or anywhere else.” A self-described “mountain man,” Coy grew up in Gardiner, Montana, cross-country skiing and racing snowmobiles from an age when most kids are still learning to walk. “I think that’s why as a groomer I really enjoyed making a trail for everyone to come in on,” Coy says. Now his duties include overseeing a team that runs the grooming operation as well as keeps trails open, shovels snow at the overlooks, and removes snow off the roofs of buildings— a pretty dangerous job considering the white stuff can pile as high as 7–8 feet on the ground at nearly 8000 feet of elevation. And while there are also jobs inside—like remodeling apartments or hiring employees for the summer season— to be taken care of, Coy relishes the fact that these tasks can be done without the hustle and bustle of summer. On his time off he can relax with a bowl of chili and copies of the Livingston Enterprise his mom saves up for him. “In winter it’s not one emergency to the next,” Coy says. “It’s more laid back and a more enjoyable pace of life.” Of course, that doesn’t mean winter doesn’t have its own worries. In fact, Coy says one of his most memorable moments of his time at Canyon was one of his own near emergencies reminiscent of the adventures early explorers had in Yellowstone during the winter. “The Comm Center keeps track of us when we’re grooming at night and called me for a check,” he
The Lake Sings Itself To Sleep This winter will be Bruce Sefton and his wife Melinda’s 28th at Lake. Each year begins with putting the district to bed. For Sefton, the area’s NPS maintenance supervisor, this means winterizing the buildings in the fall and draining all the water lines so they don’t freeze, while Melinda, a painter for the National Park Service, spruces up interiors. When the snow comes, the most pressing matter is keeping Sylvan Pass safe and passable for oversnow vehicles entering the park from Cody, Wyoming. A team effort of the law enforcement rangers and Sefton’s staff, it is a daily duty that must be accomplished for avalanche control in the region. “Each morning the rangers use snow science—like digging snow pits to determine snow pack and checking weather data to predict the likelihood of an avalanche,” Sefton says. If they determine it could be too dangerous for oversnow vehicles to travel the pass, the rangers assemble a team of maintenance staff and rangers that are certified to conduct avalanche control missions. “We have a World War II-era howitzer that fires 105mm rounds,” Sefton says. “These explosions shake loose the snow so it comes down in a controlled manner and doesn’t hurt anyone.” The howitzer is fired as conditions dictate, usually about 10 missions per winter. Then an equipment operator clears the snow and debris with a Sno Cat to make the road passable for snowmachines. Yellowstone Quarterly 3
Also done as needed is clearing snow off the roofs of buildings. “Some winters we have to go up and cut off refrigerator-sized chunks of snow; other winters, we don’t have to go up at all,” Sefton says. Sefton says that the community down at Lake will have a few dinners and gatherings throughout the winter, but mostly they enjoy the quiet and relaxation that winter offers. “After the summer circus, it’s a nice respite from the routine to catch up on reading and take long walks on the groomed trails with my dog.” The slower pace of life also means there is time for vacations, including trips to warmer climates like Central America. And the few times the Seftons “go out,” they always put a cooler on the back of their snowmobile — not to keep anything cold, but so that the fresh vegetables they bring back don’t freeze. Sefton enjoys watching to see how the buffalo survive the winter and viewing the daily mousing antics of the foxes and coyotes. But he says his favorite thing about being at Lake after everyone else is gone is the music the 136-square-mile body of water makes as it puts itself to bed. “The lake singing as it freezes up is a sound like no other,” Sefton says. “The ice tightening creates an eerie noise that is part of its cycle, and those of us who are here season after season look forward to it every year.”
The Purposeful Season “We just call winter ‘magic,’” says Bill Whetstone, south district manager of the Yellowstone Association Park Stores, who is spending his fifth winter at Old Faithful with his wife Jolene. “It’s like living in a snow globe.” The beautiful surroundings made living in the interior for a winter an easy sell to Whetstone, who is an avid photographer. “I like shooting in the park all year, but the winter is a whole different scene,” he says. “You get unique images you can’t get anywhere else or any other time of year.” Given that he also manages the bookstore in the Old Faithful Visitor Center during the summer, when hundreds of thousands of visitors might come through his doors, he too relishes the easy pace of December through March.
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Top Snowcoaches line up outside Old Faithful Snow Lodge ready to ferry guests to their destinations. Middle Scenes from Bruce and Melinda Sefton’s daily life
living in Yellowstone’s wintry interior. A team works to keep Sylvan pass safe and passable using a World War II-era howitzer. Bottom An Old Faithful employee participates in the Yellowstone Employee Winter Olympics, which started in the late 1970s. Right Snowcoach drivers pose for their end-of-season photo.
But Whetstone notes that, for him, winter isn’t about fewer interactions with customers; it’s about more meaningful ones. “It’s neat to spend more time with visitors, some of whom you get to know because they come back year after year,” he says. “Some are surprised I remember them, but it’s easy when you have time to make an impression on one another.” He also finds that the people he meets are especially attuned to the park and what it has to offer. “Obviously, you can’t just go in—a trip has to be planned way in advance,” he says. “Because of that we get what I like to call the purposeful tourists rather than accidental ones.” This strikes a chord with Whetstone, because when it comes to preparing for winter, he’s like a grizzly bear or ground squirrel that leaves nothing to chance. “We start laying in food during the summer,” he says. “I create a spreadsheet with a menu so I know exactly how much of everything I need.” This includes the ingredients for his favorite wintertime meal: Guinness beef stew. “It’s a nice warm feel-good meal,” he says, “especially when served into a bowl shaped out of mashed potatoes.” And whether it’s over a home-cooked meal or a beer at the pub, he says winter affords him a great opportunity to interact with other park employees. “We’ll get together around the holidays or St. Patrick’s day,” Whetstone says. “With a much smaller community, it’s easier to get to know people better, which is really cool.”
This Is What It’s All About Xanterra dispatcher Steve Blakeley’s 29th winter in Yellowstone is fixing to be a melancholy one, because it’s the last year the “Bombardiers,” the tank-like oversnow vehicles, will roam the park for the company. “It’s going to be sad to see the bombs go,” says the former snowcoach driver. “They opened up the park in the ‘50s, and without them it makes you wonder when, if at all, the interior would have been accessible to visitors.” Having worked winters at Old Faithful since 1986, Blakeley has seen a lot of changes. He remembers the old Snow Lodge, which was a converted employee dorm. “In those days it was hard to tell the employees from the guests because all of them were hardcore skiers,” he says. “You skied to work, to eat, to play.”
With the construction of the new Snow Lodge, which opened in 1998, Blakeley, who was the hotel’s first manager, says the clientele and workers changed. “Now the employees and visitors are more diverse,” he says. “Old Faithful has some of the best skiing around, so we still get skiers, but more people come to take photographs, walk the basin, or just for the uniqueness of the experience.” Still, some of the traditions carry on, like the Yellowstone Employee Winter Olympics, which started in the late 1970s. Complete with opening and closing ceremonies, the games feature outdoor and indoor activities, including a no-talent show, and take place at the end of the season, which is always some welcome light at the end of the tunnel. “It was started back in the days without satellite TV, when you had to make your own fun or you didn’t have fun,” says the former president of the Yellowstone Olympic Committee. It has continued because it’s a great way for employees to bond and create a sense of community. “In the 10 years I organized the winter games, it was like having two jobs,” Blakeley remembers. “But I noticed that people I hadn’t known all winter I would know on a first-name basis by the end of the games.” It’s employees like those, he says, that experience the industry, immersion, and isolation spent working in the interior during the winter, thereby developing a special connection to the park that cannot be achieved any other way. “There’s a lot of people in positions for the NPS or Xanterra who have not had the opportunity to work in the interior of Yellowstone in the winter. The park employees that have worked in the interior during any winter season certainly have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the whole picture of Yellowstone. Yellowstone in the winter is a truly magical place and I like calling Yellowstone’s interior my home year-round.” Stephen Camelio is a freelance writer living on the Montana/Wyoming border of Yellowstone National Park. His work has appeared in Men’s Journal, Runner’s World, Field & Stream, and Fly Rod & Reel.
Yellowstone Quarterly 5
By Jenny Golding
IN 1995 the first wolf howls in 69 years echoed through northern Yellowstone. As the story of wolf recovery unfolded, scientists began observing big changes. Elk populations declined. Wolf-killed carcasses provided food for other animals, including coyotes, ravens, eagles, and insects. Willow, which had been greatly reduced from years of browsing by elk in the absence of natural predators, began to grow taller and thicker. Songbirds and other animals, such as beaver, began returning. The words “trophic cascade” entered the consciousness of a nation fascinated with the recovery of a top carnivore in Yellowstone. Trophic cascades describe the way in which a predator impacts an ecosystem through the animals it eats—a trickle-down relationship from predators to plants. In what Doug Smith, senior wildlife biologist for Yellowstone, calls a “Holy Grail” of ecology, predators affect the behavior or abundance of their prey, which in turn affects the abundance of the primary producers the prey eats, usually plants. Well studied in aquatic ecosystems, the chance to observe trophic cascades in a “restored” terrestrial system—Yellowstone National Park—has spawned myriad studies and great scientific debate. Smith describes a northern range in the late 1800s and early 1900s that was largely riparian; sinuous streams with abundant willow, cottonwood, and aspen, native carnivores (wolves, cougars, grizzly, and black bears), elk and other ungulates, abundant songbirds, and beaver. But by the mid 1900s Yellowstone had lost most of its large carnivores. The last wolf was killed in 1926; cougars were extirpated, and bear numbers were low.
From Wolves
Studying Trophic Cascades
Without the “top layer” of carnivores in Yellowstone, the elk population soared. More elk browsed on woody plants, like willow and aspen, in turn reducing the ability of those plants to regenerate. Without the woody vegetation they depended on for food, beavers moved out, no longer creating the winding backwaters and moist mineral soils that create perfect habitat for willow, aspen, and cottonwood. Streams became deeper and straighter, and habitat for songbirds and beavers disappeared. The natural trophic system of the northern range was disrupted, leading to what Smith describes as a full-scale ecological shift from a riparian system to an elk-grassland system. Fast forward to the late 1990s, when scientists noticed a rebirth of willows on the northern range that seemed to be correlated with wolf recovery. The popular story in Yellowstone became this: wolves reduced the elk population, which caused elk to browse less on willows, which helped willows to regenerate, providing habitat for songbirds and other animals. It seemed like clear evidence of a classic trophic cascade, and many rejoiced: wolves were “saving” the northern range. Some would go so far as to say that the ecosystem was now “fixed.” But Yellowstone is complex. Now, 20 years after the reintroduction of wolves and scores of studies later, it appears the picture is not so simple. Smith, who authored a recent scientific review with Rolf Peterson, John Vucetich, and Joseph Bump, feels that some
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scientists have overestimated the role of wolves in the trophic cascade, citing many studies that paint a more complicated picture. One point of scientific debate is the role wolves play in elk population numbers, which declined after reintroduction as many scientists predicted. As Smith points out, however, parallel to wolf recovery was a resurgence of both cougars and grizzly bears. “It’s not just wolves that have recovered. There has been a major recovery of that top trophic level from... almost nothing to fully restored.” The grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem increased from just 136 in 1975 to between 600 and 800 today. According to Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone bear management biologist, a recent study indicates that bears (grizzly and black) may be taking upwards of 40 percent of newborn elk calves. Other studies indicate that human hunting and drought also had significant impacts on elk numbers following wolf reintroduction. If anything is clear, it is that elk decline appears to be multi-causal. The resurgence in willows poses another scientific challenge. Is it related to the number of elk? Fewer elk browsing means a greater chance that willow can regenerate. Or does it have to do with elk behavior: Are they changing the way they move and browse as influenced by fear of wolves? Or, is it more closely related to soil and water availability? While willow and aspen are growing thicker and taller, it’s not a true restoration. Willows are not expanding in range. As scientists delve deeper into these questions, it has become difficult to point to linear, causal relationships that fit the traditional idea of a trophic cascade.
to Willows:
on the Northern Range
Outside of Yellowstone, where the northern range provides a remarkable opportunity to observe landscape-level ecological process in action, the opportunity to observe trophic cascades in a naturally functioning, healthy ecosystem is very rare. Aside from a fascinating scientific debate, what are scientists learning about the role of predators in an ecosystem? The relatively simplistic idea of trophic cascades has become a jumping off point into a deep pool of interconnected relationships, where scientists are finding that interactions on a landscape like Yellowstone are indeed multi-causal. It takes the back-and-forth of scientific inquiry to form an understanding of the processes at play. Teasing out the intricacies is necessary to understanding the population dynamics of interdependent species, and the role of predators in an ecosystem. “Trophic cascades exist. When you peel back all the layers...they’re [researchers] essentially arguing about how trophic cascades work, not if they exist or not.” says Smith. Jenny Golding is a former director of education for the Yellowstone Association. She currently writes from her home in Gardiner, Montana, on the border of Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone Quarterly 7
The Yellowstone Naturalist Series If you love observing nature and learning about Yellowstone, expand your knowledge through the Yellowstone Naturalist series! Seven short courses on key Yellowstone topics are designed to broaden your understanding of the ecology, plants, geology, wildlife, and history of the park. A selection of these courses will be offered each year and certification may be completed over time. The 2016 Yellowstone Naturalist series courses are: June 11– 13 NATURALIST SERIES: BIRDING June 13 – 15 NATURALIST SERIES: WILDLIFE June 16 – 17 NATURALIST SERIES: Mastering Your Skills August 26 – 27 NATURALIST SERIES: Cultural History August 27 – 29 NATURALIST SERIES: Thermal Geology and Biology
The seven courses in The Yellowstone Naturalist Series are also pre-approved for credit from the University of Montana Western. Through our membership program, the Yellowstone Association is proud to provide financial aid for teachers who wish to take one of our in-depth Field Seminars. Our summer 2016 catalog will be available in December!
For more information or to request a catalog please visit
YellowstoneAssociation.org or call 406.848.2400
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Join Our Family in Yellowstone! Volunteer Your Time
As a volunteer with the Yellowstone Association, you can be sure your efforts are making a difference for Yellowstone National Park. And, you’ll be working and living in one of the most beautiful places on Earth! Volunteers spend the season working in and around Yellowstone National Park and play an integral role in our organization. Housing is provided for most positions. Opportunities include program assistants, campus caretakers, park hosts, and information assistants. Work as a Sales Associate
Our sales associates work at our educational Park Stores in and around Yellowstone National Park. They assist visitors with purchases of educational products, recruit Yellowstone Association members, and help answer visitor questions about Yellowstone National Park. These are paid positions of approximately 20 to 40 hours per week. Applicants must be able to work from the middle of May through mid-October. Many sales associates live in their own RV’s inside the park.
For position descriptions, please visit
YellowstoneAssociation.org/jobs Yellowstone Quarterly 9
Q&A DESPITE YOUR TITLE, DOESN’T YOUR JOB INVOLVE MORE THAN JUST WOLVES?
Yes, as a wildlife biologist for the Yellowstone Center for Resources, I have a number of duties. Chiefly I help and oversee research and management of the park’s wolves. I am also the leader for Yellowstone Cougar Project, and help manage the park’s elk research and monitoring program. Finally, I’m also the park’s threatened and endangered species coordinator, making sure any projects in the park mitigate any impact to species like grizzlies, lynx, and wolves. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR VARIED RESEARCH FIELDS?
That on a main level, everything is very closely integrated. When studying wolves you have to understand their competitors, the scavenger community, their prey, and so on. I try not to think of myself as a wolf or cougar biologist but an ecologist trying to understand that dynamic interaction of all species on the landscape. WHAT’S ON THE DOCKET THIS YEAR FOR THE WINTER WOLF STUDY?
We’re working on a large, multi-author book project that will synthesize our version of the Yellowstone wolf story, our scientific studies, and what we’ve learned over the past 20 years in a way that’s accessible to the lay audience. Otherwise, we’ll continue our research to shape one of the premier, long-term studies on a carnivore species anywhere in the world. We’re proud of that, and it’s great to have the support of the public and the park administration in that endeavor, which is kind of rare. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF YOUR JOB?
I’m deeply passionate about preservation of wild nature and, as a scientist, the role of science in its conservation and protection. I think our wildlife heritage is a really valuable part of human society, be it cultural, spiritual, or economical. And because our relationship with wildlife is so complex, our role working in places like Yellowstone is to serve as a voice for species that face a lot of big challenges in a world dominated by our species. WHAT’S IT LIKE RAISING A YOUNG SON IN YELLOWSTONE?
The fact that our children can be outside and see wild, freeroaming wildlife like elk, bison, and wolves is truly unique. As a parent, the most important thing for me is to make sure he has a close connection to nature, especially as technology and the pace of society make that more challenging. That’s what makes growing up in Yellowstone—which is as wild as it has ever been in 150 years—and other natural places so important for children. I hope being here helps my wife, who also works for the wolf project, and me instill the inspiration we get from natural places in our son.
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Daniel Stahler Chief Project Biologist of Yellowstone Wolf Project
Growing up on a dairy farm in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom—one of the few places on the East Coast that rivals Yellowstone in its remoteness—Dan Stahler knew he wanted to work with animals. “I thought about being a veterinarian, but decided on wildlife biology instead.” There is no doubt Stahler made the right choice. As chief project biologist for the Yellowstone Wolf Program, his job not only connects him to wolves but also to countless other animals that call the park home.
By Chelsea DeWeese
Winter in Yellowstone’s Interior: Old Faithful Snow Lodge Droplets travel through the air as Old Faithful Geyser surrenders into a hiss of steam and mist. In the distance, coyotes yelp gratitude for a successful hunt. Stars twinkle in the chilly twilight. It’s you, the wildlife, and the most famous collection of geysers on the planet. Normally a bustle with excited Yellowstone National Park visitors, tonight Old Faithful Geyser Basin is quiet because you chose to visit Yellowstone during winter and stay at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Getting there is half the adventure. Snowcoaches—tracked or big-tired oversnow vehicles— and snowmobiles are the only options in the winter, unless you chose to travel by car along the North and Northeast Entrance roads, the only route plowed for travel. Otherwise, oversnow vehicles into the park’s interior leave the North, South, West, and East entrances daily starting in mid-December through early March. Most are commercially guided, but visitors can also apply for a private snowmobile permit.
The purpose is the same: to see Yellowstone’s world-famous thermal features in all their frosty wonder and to watch wildlife transition into their most challenging season. “The enjoyment of Yellowstone and its unique resources during the wintertime has drawn deep and passionate interest in the park,” according to the Yellowstone National Park website. The website offers information on winter travel and facilities available during the season. The nearest available facility is the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, one of two Yellowstone hotels open during winter (the other is in Mammoth Hot Springs). Opened in the 1990s, the Snow Lodge is among the most recent additions to Yellowstone National Park’s hotels and has a lot to offer: cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, photographing wildlife, and geyser gazing rank among the most popular activities. The lodge—consisting of hotel rooms and nearby cabins— also houses a restaurant, grill, gift shop, ice-skating rink, and evening entertainment. The goal is a “warm, casual, relaxing but engaging winter experience,” says Rick Hoeninghausen, director of sales and marketing for Yellowstone National Park Lodges, which operates the location. “We offer lessons for beginners—both ski and snowshoe. We also offer ski drops, guided tours, and services for those who want to explore further.” One such visitor is Rosemary Burbank. Like many, she experienced Yellowstone during winter and found herself enamored. After meeting her husband, Blake, on a Yellowstone trip in 1983, the couple has returned nine and eight times, respectively, many times leading groups with the Colorado Mountain Club or organizing friends. “We love to cross-country ski in the backcountry, and Yellowstone is the jewel in the crown,” Rosemary says. For more information on winter visitation go to NPS.gov/yell. Reservations for Old Faithful Snow Lodge can be made at YellowstoneNationalParkLodges.com.
The Yellowstone Association Institute offers multi-day Lodging & Learning programs that include a winter stay at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. For more information, or to register for Yellowstone on Skis, Old Faithful Winter Expedition, or Winter in Wonderland, please call 406.848.2400 or visit YellowstoneAssociation.org.
Chelsea DeWeese is an environmental journalist, field educator, and outdoor guide who writes from her hometown of Gardiner, Montana, the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone Quarterly 11
By Ruffin Prevost
Yellowstone Winter Travel Plan Advances and Adapts Any trip to Yellowstone National Park can provide numerous reminders of how wonderfully well-adapted the park’s plants and animals are to a unique and often unforgiving environment. But such reminders are profoundly more conspicuous during winter. We stand in awe, bracing against the chilly air, as bison swing their heads purposefully through mounds of snow to graze, indifferent to the cold in their thick, wooly coats. River otters glide like serpentine torpedoes through icy waters, prowling for a meal before hopping out to roll in snow and fluff their oily fur. Moose skim effortlessly over deep snowdrifts, moving with a grace that is never apparent in their gangly summer sprints. To tour Yellowstone in the winter is to see an entirely different park. Yet most visitors never experience Yellowstone in the winter — the season accounts for less than 6 percent of total annual visitation. That may change, however, as a new winter use plan and new travel options make a snowy trip through Yellowstone easier than it has been in years. An adaptive management policy will allow the National Park Service to fine-tune aspects of winter travel—like speed limits or new snowcoach tires—while still soliciting regular, ongoing public feedback and continually monitoring noise, pollution, and wildlife disturbances. After a first successful year under the new plan, park managers are making a few small adaptations of their own, based on data gathered last year and in prior winter seasons. “We have made a commitment to monitoring conditions as part of our adaptive management program, and we will likely continue that into the foreseeable future,” said Wade Vagias, a former management assistant in Yellowstone who was instrumental in crafting the winter use plan that went into effect in 2014–15. Snowmobile Travel Bert Miller, a snowmobile enthusiast from Cody, Wyoming, was one of the first people to take advantage of a new pilot program last year that allowed up to five snowmobiles led by a non-commercial guide to depart daily from each gate. “It was a beautiful trip through a real winter wonderland,” said Miller, president of the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association, a group that advocates for access to public lands. Miller and his wife toured the park with their two adult children, who had never before visited the park on snowmobiles. “It was a completely new experience for my children, and I had always wanted to get them to go through the park that way,” he said. “We have such wonderful views between the East Gate
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and Canyon, with the frozen waterfalls; it’s the most beautiful side of the park in the winter.” That self-guided snowmobile program will continue this year, with an additional focus on reminding sledders that they must use best-available technology (BAT) snowmobiles. That reminder is even more important as new BAT standards for snowmobiles go into effect this year, Vagias said. Snowcoaches must adopt best-available technology by the 2016–17 winter. Snowcoach Studies Some snowcoaches in Yellowstone have already begun trying out a new technology—or a new spin on an old technology—by replacing metal treads and rubber tracks with low-pressure tires. Over the past few winters, a handful of Yellowstone’s snowcoaches have been equipped with oversized tires, similar to those on a tractor or monster truck. Inflating the huge tires to a low pressure allows for more surface area and better grip on the snow. But the tires also offer some surprising benefits over tracks or treads. Fuel efficiency has doubled or even tripled, Vagias said, while the tire-equipped coaches are three or four times quieter than the same vehicle on tracks. Yellowstone National Park Lodges participated in the early low-pressure tire trials and will be among the concessioners this winter operating a total of up to 20 snowcoaches using the big tires. So far, the company sees great promise in the change. “Besides the increased gas mileage, from what I have heard, they are quieter, a smoother ride, and a lot less expensive,” said Rick Hoeninghausen, director of sales and marketing for Yellowstone National Park Lodges. That means cheaper fuel, but also less cost to initially set up, as well as maintain. “So it sounds like this could turn out to be something that provides visitors with a better experience at a reduced cost,” Hoeninghausen said. “That could be a real silver bullet for winter in the park.” Unanswered questions about low-pressure tire snowcoaches include how well they perform in deep snow, and their effect on groomed roads. Park researchers will examine those questions when they work this winter with a team of engineers from Montana State University to “take a deep dive into the issue of deteriorating snow roads,” Vagias said.
CREATURES Large & Small
Snowshoe Hare By Barbara Lee Illustration by Maria Bisso A new winter use plan and travel options make a snowy trip through Yellowstone easier than it has been in years.
Visitor Usage Finding good snow isn’t usually a problem for Marty Stannard, a long-time skier who has also coached the Cody High School nordic ski team. Stannard likes to ski through the East Gate up to Sylvan Pass, a stretch of road that receives ample snow and light snowmobile traffic. He likes the solitude and splendor of the park in winter, but he also likes “to know I can still challenge myself and skate to the top of the pass,” an 8-mile trip that climbs more than 1500 feet in elevation. “I guess I don’t really track all the issues over snowmobiles or how many vehicles go in,” Stannard said. “That’s not really how I get into the park.” Learning more about how Stannard and others use the park in the winter will be a new focus for park managers, Vagias said. “For years we’ve studied wildlife, sound, and air quality, but we know less about the visitor experience,” he said. “It is an experience unlike almost any other in the National Park Service, and asking questions that define that experience should be one of our priorities.” Ruffin Prevost is founding editor of Yellowstone Gate, an online publication offering community news and inside views about Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
Yellowstone’s snowshoe hares are a prized meal for lynx and other predators. To evade their enemies, these handsome non-hibernators rely on speed, keen eyesight and hearing, and camouflage — changing from brown to winter white during the snowy months. Research indicates that the snowshoe’s transition to white is not triggered by snow, but by autumn’s shorter daylight hours. With scientists predicting that climate change will increase the number of snowless days, the species may be threatened by more days of “color mismatch,” when the animal is white and stands out in a snow-free habitat. Look for snowshoes in mixed conifer forests, especially at dusk. How to tell the difference between a snowshoe hare and a rabbit? If it has long, high hind legs, it’s a hare. If it’s white or between colors, it’s a hare, since rabbits don’t change color. Strikingly large feet? Well, that’s easy. That’s how snowshoe hares got their name.
Yellowstone Quarterly 13
e Winter’s Elusiv
s l w O ent Inst enberg, Resid By David Lauf r ke Ba e Juliann Illustration by
ructor
cosystem. Yellowstone E er at re G e th le to make of any animal ab winter forests e to th d in ar w ts re ai a w e as an d ell A quiet fortitu ize on just such of sound, as w al s it es p n ca ft to so a ed s it g su chful rin idden, and wat state. Owls are Recent snow b h d t, li ie so u q y, er ay d st ow its p ls do well to (dogs), use of water in as our canids mer months, ow ch m su su y, g in te n ra ve st E fall out ies’ opportunity. e what might om other spec se fr to er e iff d ap sc ey d h n T and e la for movement. erally ambush e and shake th en g ov m ls e ow th , s) on at (c stay our felids which tend to d, more akin to ea st In y. re p al r presence. as potenti es priv y to thei om unity ec b y re p e life, our comm n ia strike befor av of ty si orld ’s iver some of the w nown for its d k om l fr el e w g n ot ra n ls is ow area ecies. Our might find Although this array of owl sp ith a keen eye w ch e ri n a r eo fo m t so os , h le ore diurnal amp does play g one of our m largest. For ex n e ti h th g of si e y b m s so race om tip smallest to Mammoth Ter (6.75 inches fr l e w th O d yn m ou yg ar i P n er and reward in a sk ek out the old ily: the Norther se m fa to ae ed id rr fe ig tr re S e eking rs p largest owl se members of th her hand, skie ot t’s e en th n ti n on , co If r ). of tail might spot ou of beak to tip inches). lver Gate, they Si d n ou Gray Owl (27 ar s at st re re G fo e r th ke r: ar fi d glas ignation), e in an old Dou taxonomic des is th a day’s repriev in e ar s of other bird h a cacophony class Aves (all g u e ro th th of s is er it b mem l. Oftentimes is referred to As with many The behavior to detect an ow . rs ce n ea s se e’ re p on l’s se ow nce (or any it’s best to u e aware of an an owl’s prese om t ec ec b et n d s ca e rd w bi aller song s the area. bird calls that occurs when sm until it vacate it it d s as an ,” ar g h n to bi e as “mob and continu iews r that matter) lead to great v n ca d an e other raptor fo ap sc e process ce on the land e discovery, th il the disturban h e w it u th q or is w g y in h an around in This sort of th recluse. As wit ork muddling g w in d m an su e as m n ti u e ends a bit of of an other wis of curiosity, sp ot sp a st ju h it begins w reward. d finishes with an , le d id m e th
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Thank you
for your membership!
Holiday Offer
Send an additional membership gift of $25 or more* by December 31, 2015, and receive this sustainably harvested, made in the U.S.A., wood Yellowstone National Park holiday ornament as our way of saying “Thank You.” Please use the envelope provided, visit our website, or call 406.848.2400 to take advantage of the special holiday offer. Reference offer code YQYE16 in the comments field online or when calling to receive your gift. *This membership gift will not be applied to your renewal or extend your expiration date. International members are asked to contribute $50 due to shipping and handling fees. This offer is not available in our Park Stores.
At this time of giving, we hope you consider increasing your tax-deductible membership contribution to the Yellowstone Association. Every dollar counts, and we are proud to say that 89 cents of every dollar we spend goes directly back to education and research in Yellowstone. With your help, we will continue to reach new audiences through educational programs, exhibits, and publications, while providing even greater support to Yellowstone National Park.
YA Family Maria Bisso Creative Manager
to take my career to the next level,” Maria recalls, “and after being in New York City for 18 years I was ready for a change. I had visited the park two years before the job came open, and joked with the boss that I might not return.”
Have you ever been on a Field Seminar with the Yellowstone Association Institute and heard a rapid click click click filling the air around you? It could be the chattering of a chipmunk— but chances are you’re hearing the camera of Maria Bisso, creative manager at the Yellowstone Association. The Georgia native’s background is an unusual blend of theater, education, and design. After working as assistant dean of students at a boarding school in upstate New York, she attended Portfolio Center, a school of design in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon completion of the program in 2006, she spent six years as a graphic designer with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. In 2013, she successfully applied for the creative manager position at the Yellowstone Association. “I decided it was time
As creative manager in YA’s marketing department, Maria puts her love for national parks, education, and creative design to use. “I’m part of a team of three, and we’re essentially the brand managers of YA,” she explains. “Everything that leaves our department—whether it’s a sign for a Park Store or a photo on our website—is designed to connect people to Yellowstone.” Maria especially loves the connection she feels to the park this time of year, when the crowds have thinned and temperatures have dropped. “There’s beauty in the harshness of winter here,” she says. “It really puts you in your place as a human being.” With a family full of educators, Maria feels a close affinity to the educational component of YA’s mission. “There’s always a moment of inspiration here,” she says, and sees this firsthand when she photographs youth programs. “I’ve heard kids say that this is the greatest thing they’ve ever done in their lives. I hope they take this experience home with them and find the same beauty in their own backyards.” Yellowstone Quarterly 15
In celebration of the National Park Service centennial this calendar highlights significant events in Yellowstone’s history.
FebruarY Old Faithful appears to release billowing clouds into the sky on this winter’s day in the Upper Geyer Basin as it unleashes a torrent of steam and water that can sometimes extend up to 180 feet high. During the winter months, when freezing temperatures clash with the superheated water, the interplay of fire and ice generates spectacular displays. Most people visit Yellowstone in the summer months, but can still witness the impressive winter eruptions on the National Park Service’s live webcam of Old Faithful at www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
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March
“O bluebird, welcome back again/Thy azure coat and ruddy vest/Are hues that April loveth best...” wrote John Burroughs in his poem “The Bluebird.” Numerous birds flock to Yellowstone in spring, but none announce the impending end — or at least near end — of winter with such flourish as the mountain bluebird. Every year thousands of mountain bluebirds arrive in Yellowstone from a journey that likely started in Mexico or the Southwest. Their breeding ground ranges from Arizona to Alaska; most bluebirds flock to Yellowstone from March to April, but some “early” birds arrive in the park in late February.
A bull elk curiously regards his avian passenger, a brown-headed cowbird. Originally nicknamed “buffalo birds” they typically followed bison on the open plains and feasted on the insects the large herds stirred up as they traveled. Today they thrive in a variety of environments, and no doubt trail elk herds in hopes of a meal as well. A thick and velvety skin covers the still forming antlers on this bull elk, and once the growing period finishes — usually 140 days for a mature male — he’ll begin rubbing and scraping the velvet off, grinding and sharpening his antlers in preparation for the annual battle for mating rights during the rut.
January “The anonymity of the bobcat is a basic part of its nature,” observed Joe Van Wormer in his book The World of the Bobcat, and the animal’s reclusive ways make it a seldom seen resident of Yellowstone. The solitary cat wanders between sunrise and sunset in the conifer forests and rocky areas of the park, typically hunting small game such as squirrels, rabbits, voles, mice, sparrows and grouse, although it can kill larger prey such as deer or pronghorn. Named for its short “bobbed” tail, the bobcat ranks as the most abundant wildcat in North America.
February MAy A young bison rests his head on a rock in springtime, perhaps relishing the end to a long and difficult winter. Temperatures in Yellowstone plummet to below zero and snow covers much of the landscape during the winter season. To allow them to survive these harsh conditions, bison have developed unique adaptions such as a shaggy fur coat and thick skin that can keep them well insulated from the cold. The animals’ distinctive shoulder humps contain strong muscles that allow them to use their heads to “snow plow” in order to forage for food, and they can detect the scent of vegetation under two feet of snow.
May August “Do not underestimate the power of wolf odor communications,” advises naturalist Dr. James Halfpenny. Wolves actually “see” with their noses as well as their eyes and possess a sense of smell one hundred times more powerful than humans, enabling them to detect prey over a mile away. This heightened ability also plays an important role in social behavior, as wolves urinate frequently to declare boundaries and advertise for a mate, and their paws also possess scent glands that mark their territory while they travel. A wolf’s olfactory skills are so powerful they can determine from smell the gender, reproductive status, position in social hierarchy, and the time lapsed since a fellow wolf left their scent.
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“Cherish sunsets, wild creatures and wild places. Have a love affair with the wonder and beauty of the earth,” advised former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. This spectacular sunset transformed the Yellowstone River into a golden spectacle of light, the rays of fading sunshine still yielding enough power to set the landscape aflame.
Norris Geyser Basin, the most dynamic and hottest of Yellowstone’s thermal areas, hosts an array of wonders, such as mighty Steamboat Geyser, the tallest in the world, and mischievous Echinus Geyser, the largest acidic geyser on the planet. Yet Porcelain Basin, with its hundreds of constantly changing thermal features, stands out among Norris’s marvels. A distinctive stark and barren landscape with a notable lack of vegetation, the waters of Porcelain Basin are extremely acidic and unable to support plant life. Those same waters, however, have sculpted a dazzling white and polished surface that showcases the area’s hot springs. Called siliceous sinter or geyserite, these milky colored minerals deposited by the flowing waters also inspired the basin’s name.
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Water tumbles down the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, depositing the mineral building blocks that form these grand staircases. This display of nature’s handiwork impressed an early visitor to the park, who remarked, “No human architect ever designed such intricate fountains as these. The water trickles over the edges from one to another, blending them together with the effect of a frozen waterfall.” Rain and snow from the surrounding mountains fill the underground well where the water is heated — at any moment in time, scientists estimate 90% of the water at Mammoth Hot Springs remains below the earth.
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower,” wrote Albert Camus and these aspen trees nestled along the Gneiss Creek Trail in Yellowstone prove no exception — their green leaves have transformed into fiery gold blossoms. The most widely dispersed tree in North America, it’s also referred to as a quaking aspen as their flexible and flattened leaves tremble in the breeze. The parchment-like white bark also characteristic of this tree performs an important function — it carries out photosynthesis so even when its leaves die in winter, an aspen continues to produce sugar for energy. This winter activity doesn’t only provide food for the tree, as deer, elk, moose and other critters often make a meal of the bark.
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August NOvember “Yellowstone is blessed with many powerful symbols, both natural and cultural, but none of them resonate more richly in our collective imagination than the grizzly bear,” observed former Yellowstone superintendent Suzanne Lewis. Indeed, when what naturalist Enos A. Mills called “the most impressive animal on the continent” makes an appearance in the park, a bear jam (Yellowstone’s version of a traffic jam) inevitably follows from eager onlookers stopping their automobiles to capture a photo. Approximately 150 grizzly bears inhabit Yellowstone, but with a home range for males of up to 900 square miles, animals often travel beyond park boundaries.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
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October 2017 Happy new year
December
Lower Geyser Basin, the largest geyser basin in Yellowstone, stretches 18 square miles and houses an impressive collection of thermal features: mudpots, geysers, hot springs and fumaroles. The basin also holds the park record for total water discharge, with the hydrothermal activity accounting for an approximate 15,300 gallons per minute! Pink Cone Geyser (pictured), named by members of the Hayden survey for its “beautiful rose-tinted cone,” derives its brownish-pink hues from traces of manganese oxide. PHOTOGRAPHER Pat Snyder
Yellowstone’s Firehole River flows from its source just south of Old Faithful on the Continental Divide, and travels twenty-one miles to join the Gibbon River at Madison Junction. Also known as a mecca for anglers, the river’s combination of an abundance of trout and sublime scenery have caused many a fisherman to extol its virtues, such as the author of Fly Fishing in Wonderland in 1910: “The Fire hole is a companionable river. Notwithstanding its forbidding name, it is pre-eminently a stream for the angler, and always does its best to put him at his ease. Like some hospitable manorial lord, it comes straight down the highway for a league to greet the stranger and to offer him the freedom of its estate.”
1871–81
The Slaughter of Animals The slaughter of over thirty million bison that once roamed north america is well known. Less known is the simultaneous butchery of many large mammals in Yellowstone national Park and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from 1871–1881. Bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep, and most predators were over-hunted for sport and commercial hide-production to the point by 1883, when the railroad reached Yellowstone, animals were difficult to see along the regular tourist routes. PHOTOGRAPHERS TOP CINDY GOEDDEL; LEFT TO RIGHT MaRk MILLER, NPS
November
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January 2017 ITEM #2550 PRICE: $13.95
YELLOWSTONE ASSOCIATION Connecting visitors to Yellowstone since 1933 Proceeds from your purchase of this calendar support educational and scientific programs in Yellowstone National Park.
YELLOWSTONE 2016 YellowstoneAssociation.org
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2 for the price of 1 calendars
Six-year-old Owen Costello Thorp of Chicago, Illinois, holds his spring issue of YQ during a family trip in the West Fjords of Iceland. The son of four-year members Virginia Costello and Tom Thorp, Owen has already been to Yellowstone many times during his young life, and his dad partners with the YA Institute to bring students out from Chicago each year. LEFT
Your holiday purchase with YA helps support research and education in Yellowstone! See insert for details.
Thomas Krieger, a 10-year member, enjoys reading his summer 2015 issue beside his backyard BBQ hut in Moers, Germany, complete with a NPS arrowhead door. He is planning his family’s next annual adventure to the park he loves!
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Yellowstone Association 2014 ANNUAL REPORT
Exhibits and Interpretive Media This funding supports a multi-year project to plan, design, fabricate, and install approximately 2,000 square feet of exhibits for the Albright Visitor Center in Mammoth. Scheduled for completion prior to summer 2015, the project includes the development of videos and podcasts interpreting the park’s history and wildlife; interactive, large-screen orientation exhibits; interactive outdoor exhibits for the Fort Yellowstone self-guided tour route; and new exhibits for the Backcountry Permit Office. 7
ABOVE Sixteen-year member and YA employee John Hooker of Seeley Lake, Montana, and the Hooker-Whitman-Ankron family sport six different issues of YQ at Doubleday Park in Cooperstown, New York, where they attended the 2015 National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Send us a photo of yourself or a fellow member holding a copy of Yellowstone Quarterly and you could be featured in an upcoming issue! Submission Guidelines Submit photo(s) to beyondyellowstone@yellowstoneassociation.org. For a complete list of submission guidelines please visit our website or contact us at the email address above.
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Our 2014 Annual Report is now available! Please call 406.848.2400 for a copy, or visit YellowstoneAssociation.org to view the report online.
PHOTOS Janet Tangney: TOC; NEAL HERBERT: PG 3; LISA CULPEPPER: PG. 4; BRUCE & MELINDA SEFTON: PG 4; JIM PEACO/NPS: PG 4; WENDIE CARR: PG 4; MARIA BISSO: PGS 6–9, 14, 15; RONAN DONOVAN/NGS: PG 10; courtesy of Xanterra Parks & Resorts®: PG 11; DANIELLE OYLER: PG 11; STEPHEN CAMELIO: PG 13; KATHY LICHTENDAHL; KAREN WITHROW: PG 17
M E M B ER S H I P THANK YOU! We wish to acknowledge those who contributed to the Yellowstone Association between July 1, 2015, and September 30, 2015. Because of space constraints, the following list includes membership contributions of $1,000 or more and Special Tribute gifts. Your support — regardless of size — plays a critical role in the Association’s mission to connect people to Yellowstone through education.
YELLOWSTONE SOCIETY
John Harvey
Lois Gambill
Charlotte and Joe Hawkins
Jack Hartle
FALLS $10,000 - $25,000
Gail and Robert Jacobs
Mary Holmes
Kathy and Ed Fronheiser
Sue and Roger Lang
Lenore James
Barbara Martin
Novalee Klein Mary Miller
BECHLER $5,000 - $9,999
Diana Blank
Maryanne and Timothy Mayeda
Marguerite and Tom Detmer
Laura and Robert McCoy
Mary Olson
Jo Ann and Bert Eder
Marjorie and Rodney Miller
Jacqueline Ryan
Barb and Lou Lanwermeyer
Barbara and John Nau
James Schluck
Cathy and Bill Osborn
Mary Beth and Charlie O’Reilly
Yvonne Selcer
Jocelyn Perry and Daniel Samelson
In Memory of Brian A. Connolly and BConnolly Books, LLC
GALLATIN $2,500 - $4,999
Sandy and David Burner Lucy and Rick Fredrickson Helen and James Hamilton Dabney Hart Jacqueline and Jay Lauderdale Jane and Bill Mosakowski Carolyn Rosin LAMAR $1,000 - $2,499
Edward Amrhein Ken Bowling Cheri Brennan and Thomas Horsley Marilyn Brown and Doug Morton Jean Butcher and Tom DeLoughery Patricia Carocci Meryl Charles
Sondra Perry Elizabeth Plevney Daria and Tony Pori Lynette and Mark Sodja Clare and Christopher Tayback Kelly and Len Trout Jennifer and Tim Van Roekel Sandra and Roy Walters Rebecca Ward and Mark Shull Annette and Kelley Waters
SPECIAL TRIBUTE DONORS
In Memory of James Estrada
Lorena Curtis
In Memory of Midge Freeman
Lorena Curtis
In Memory of David Gressler
Cheryl and John Gressler In Memory of Mark Hines
Janet Hines
In Memory of Donald and Marilyn Hisey
Thomas Hisey
In Memory of Sharon Kincaid
Anil Mehta
In Honor of Julianne Baker, Nan Dudek, Carlin Mercer, Wayne Phillips, and Staff at LBR
Larry Dittman
Mike Kenyon
Cynthia and Kevin Devine
In Memory of Gary Bergt
Bari and Peter Dreissigacker
In Memory of Dennis Dunn
Tom Dotzenrod
The following donors made a contribution to the Yellowstone Association as a tribute to someone special in their lives.
Jerry DeVault Penny and Sandy Dodge
Heather Connolly
Larry Bowling
In Memory of Mary Bredeson
Debbie Eddlemon
Robert Barnes
Sharlene and Michael Evans
Diane Bredeson
Frederick Fox
Larry Bredeson
Jim Frank
Judi Brown
Janet and Churchill Franklin
Bonita Casber
John Gardner
Tom Davis
Susan and David Gentile
Myrna Dixon
Erin Gibson and Matthew Wallace
Robin Dunn
Judith and Daniel Gresham
Mary Eichorn-Hicks
In Memory of William Matzek In Honor of Wynelle and Chuck Middlebrooks
Sharon Smoke
In Honor of Bonnie Quinn and the Lamar Buffalo Ranch
Kathy Russell
In Memory of Michael Sample
Sara Finger
In Memory of Carl Underwood
Lorena Curtis
Every effort has been made to ensure that this list is accurate and complete. We apologize if your name has been omitted or otherwise improperly reported. Please contact us at 406.848.2400 if you feel this is the case so we can correct our records.
To learn more about the different ways you can support Yellowstone through education, please contact members@yellowstoneassociation.org. Yellowstone Quarterly 17
406.848.2400
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Whether you are in the park or at home, we can help you stay connected to Yellowstone. Visit our website for current reports from the field or a live view from our Roosevelt Arch webcam. Subscribe to our monthly E-Newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily park updates.
A visitor captures Fairy Falls in winter.