Summer 2016
Celebrating 100 years of the National Park Service
Yellowstone at the Tipping Point A Century of Tourism Trends Unearthing History in Gardiner
It’s the start of another exciting summer here in Yellowstone, one that will be full of celebration as we approach the centennial of the National Park Service (NPS) on August 25, 2016. All of us here at the Yellowstone Association (YA) want wish our NPS partners a very happy 100th birthday! Last year, in an effort to help create the next generation of park stewards, the National Park Service kicked off a movement encouraging people to “Find Your Park.” Our dedicated and passionate family of employees and volunteers have certainly found “their” park—and it’s Yellowstone. As you’ll see in a photo collage in this issue, they’ve not only found their park, but they’ve made it their home. As we look forward to the next 100 years, Yellowstone is faced with the challenge of balancing the desire to accommodate increased use with the need to preserve park resources for future generations. One of the best ways to address this dilemma is through education, and our staff will continue to play a key role in helping visitors enjoy the park safely and responsibly. Toward that end, we’re proud to help Yellowstone National Park launch a new effort aimed at increasing the number of people carrying bear spray. This engaging campaign—called “A Bear Doesn’t Care”—includes posters throughout the park, advertisements in regional magazines, and images on social media. At their request, I was happy to appear in the advertisement on page 10. This is a critical time in the history of supporting of the park. We appreciate your shared passion in preserving Yellowstone for future generations as we prepare to kick off a second century of stewardship in our national parks. Sincerely,
Yellowstone Association Leadership Team Jeff Brown
Executive Director
Daniel Bierschwale Director of Retail
Wendie Carr
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Terry “J.R.” Hunt
Director of Information technology
Roger Keaton
Director of Finance
Dennis McIntosh
Director of Facilities
Kathy Nichols
Human Resources Manager
Shelly Siedlaczek
Director of Yellowstone Society
Ken Voorhis
Director of Education
Yellowstone Association Board of Directors Claire Campbell Board Chair Boulder, CO
Lou Lanwermeyer
Vice-Chair Brasstown, NC
Bob Shopneck
Treasurer Denver, CO
Tom Detmer
Assistant Treasurer Denver, CO
Patty Carocci
Secretary Arlington, VA
Michael Campbell Sarasota, FL
Executive Director Yellowstone Association
Katie Cattanach Denver, CO
Gale Davis Wilson, WY
David Donovan Lake Forest, IL
Penney Cox Hubbard Baltimore, MD
Katherine Loo
Colorado Springs, CO
Mat Millenbach Portland, OR
Bryan Morgan Boulder, CO
Yellowstone’s official nonprofit education partner
What’s on the cover and back cover? Bison and grizzly bear illustrations in pen and ink COVER FRONT/BACK Tah madsen
Alex Perez Palo Alto, CA
Alan Shaw Big Sky, MT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Yellowstone at the Tipping Point 2 Changing Tourism Trends 6 Unearthing History in Gardiner 12 NPS Q&A: Joe Regula, Landscape Architect 14 Creatures Large & Small: Yellow-Bellied Marmot 15 Saddle Up: Experience Yellowstone’s Horse-Powered History 17 Celebrating Over 100 Years of Naturalist Notes 18 YA Family: Désirée Pihl 19 Membership 20
the Tipping Point Yellowstone at
By Jenny Golding
above Early visitors arrived on horseback, traveling along rivers and ancient bridle paths. By the mid 1950s, close to 62 million people were visiting national parks annually. right One of the biggest tests facing Yellowstone is the sheer number of visitors.
2
Only 300 visitors came to Yellowstone in 1872. The first tourists visited the new national park on horseback, arriving from the north through Montana Territory and west along the Madison River. The park they saw was just beginning to be carved out of an expansive wilderness; there were no roads or towns. The visitors traveled along rivers and ancient bridle paths, carrying everything they needed with them. Had Nathaniel Langford, Yellowstone’s first superintendent, hopped in a time machine to 2015, would he be surprised to see the park bursting at the seams, with more than 4 million visits in a single year?
Today, as in 1872, Yellowstone is a place of beauty and wonder. It is a symbol of wilderness—a last refuge for our nation’s native wildlife inhabitants. It is the landscape on which groundbreaking approaches to managing wild places are practiced, and discoveries like Thermus aquaticus (the microbe that enabled DNA testing) are made. It is also a place of great controversy. As Paul Schullery writes in Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness, “Yellowstone has become a sort of university...where an amazing array of human interests is tested.” One of the biggest tests facing Yellowstone today is the sheer number of visitors. For 15 years the park has experienced steady growth in visitation, while staffing and budget resources have remained relatively constant. In 2015, visitation exploded. Low gas prices, the upcoming National Park Service (NPS) centennial, and marketing campaigns like “Find Your Park” contributed to a tidal wave of visitors. The record-breaking numbers of people—a 17 percent increase over the previous year and the largest single-year increase since the 1980s— brought alarming impacts on safety, visitor experience, and park resources. At the end of the summer, park employees and gateway communities described a park pushed to the edge of what it could sustain: long lines of cars waiting to get in the West Entrance; lack of parking at popular destinations, and wildlife
jams that stretched for several miles with hundreds of people along the roadside. Emergency response events soared. Yellowstone’s workforce was spread dangerously thin. Interpretive rangers struggled for time to answer even basic questions in packed visitor centers. Warnings for things like approaching wildlife, hiking in restricted areas, and vandalism were up 19 percent. Even more visitors are expected in 2016. Many believe that the park has reached a tipping point—with the future of Yellowstone hanging in the balance. This isn’t the first time in Yellowstone’s history that visitation outpaced the park’s ability to protect the resource. In 1872 the nascent park lacked sufficient experience, funds, and manpower to protect Yellowstone from those who would exploit it. When the Northern Pacific Railway arrived just outside of present-day Gardiner, Montana, in 1883, visitation jumped from 1000 to 5000. Pressure from tourists, souvenir hunters, developers, and poachers finally grew to the point where intervention was needed, precipitating the arrival of the U.S. Army in 1886. They would stay more than 30 years—until the newly established National Park Service took on management responsibility for the park. Yellowstone faced another tipping point in the decade after World War II. By the mid 1950s, close to 62 million people were
Yellowstone Quarterly 3
“The decisions we make over the next 3-5 years are critical to the future of Yellowstone. We can’t shy away from this responsibility,” says Superintendent Wenk.
4
visiting national parks annually, outpacing staffing and budget levels that had not increased much since the 1930s. “So much of the priceless heritage which the Service must safeguard for the United States is beginning to go to hell,” wrote Bernard DeVoto in a 1953 Harper’s Magazine article. Dismayed by the deterioration of Yellowstone and other flagship parks like Grand Canyon and Yosemite, DeVoto’s article called for the closing of parks nationwide in order to protect the treasures they contained. From this crisis emerged Mission 66— a revitalization effort earmarked for the NPS 50th anniversary in 1966. On the cusp of the NPS 100th anniversary 50 years later, Yellowstone is again at a turning point. Facing a tsunami of visitation with inadequate resources, the question of how to balance visitor experience with resource protection is urgent. “We are at a crossroads in Yellowstone,” says Dan Wenk, Yellowstone superintendent. “The public desire to experience the incredible geology, thermal features, wildlife, and scenic vistas—the very reason the park was established 144 years ago—is outpacing our ability to accommodate them and provide the quality experience visitors expect in our national parks. The decisions we make over the next 3–5 years are critical to the future of Yellowstone. We can’t shy away from this responsibility.” Just as big as the challenge of accommodating so many visitors is the difficulty of untangling a complex web of human interests. “Keeping Yellowstone and other large landscape national parks relevant to new generations of visitors is not the problem. The problem is how do we continue to protect and preserve this park while improving the visitor experience?” says Wenk. New NPS social science research will begin this summer. Studies on congestion management at entrance gates, visitor
movement, demographics, motivations, greater Yellowstone area stakeholders, and more will help the park gain a deeper sense of the issues at hand. “We are at a crucial time in our history, and we need to do the research that will help us quantify the effects of visitation on both the resources of the park and visitor experience. Only when we understand the effects of visitation can we make decisions on what changes may be necessary to protect Yellowstone, unimpaired, for future generations,” says Wenk. In Yellowstone, we have the opportunity to see and be a part of something larger than ourselves, addressing a need that may be equally as important as protecting wildlife, watersheds, soundscapes, and thermal features. Whether you ever visit Yellowstone or not, the park belongs to all of us, a shared heritage and responsibility. “We say that Yellowstone National Park was established on March 1, 1872, but in fact we have never stopped establishing Yellowstone,” says Schullery in Searching for Yellowstone. “All of us participate in the search.” Jody Lyle, Yellowstone’s chief of strategic communications, emphasizes: “There are going to be some important conversations and decisions in the future, which will only be as good and robust as the number of people that get involved in them.” Like Thomas Moran’s landmark painting of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, it’s up to all of us to create a new image that reflects the natural, spiritual, and aesthetic aspects of the world’s first national park in the 21st century. What is the future we will create? 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.
Finding YOUR Yellowstone Yellowstone will astound you, whether you see Old Faithful or not. Here’s how to make the most of your visit, and let the magic of the park (not the crowds) guide you. Explore beyond the main attractions: Your chances of an intimate park experience increase if you get off roads. Take a walk on a trail, and leave the traffic and crowds behind. Find a quiet spot under a tree or on a hillside looking at the view—even just 100 yards from your vehicle—and you’ll be surprised at what unfolds before you. It’s like having your own private Yellowstone. Rise early. Your chances of spotting wildlife and avoiding the crowds increase the earlier you start. Set the example. You can help the challenges facing the park by being a good steward. Plan ahead. Pack your patience, and expect long lines, traffic, and crowds if visiting during the high season from June through September. Follow park regulations and posted signs—even if others don’t. Experience a different season. On average, only 18 percent of Yellowstone’s annual visitors come outside the months of June, July, August, and September. Consider visiting in a quieter month, or extending your experience beyond the borders of Yellowstone, where other parks, public lands, and communities in the region offer great natural, cultural, and recreational experiences. Yellowstone Quarterly 5
1870 Horsedrawn Visitors
1883 Railroad Arrives
Yellowstone’s landscapes have remained astonishingly unchanged since then. But how we experience the park has changed in ways that reflect our times.
Yellowstone Experience Endures Amidst Changing Tourism Trends By Ruffin Prevost
A century ago, tourism in Yellowstone National Park was changing in ways more sweeping and profound than any time since the arrival of the railroad in 1883. The first confirmed human fatality from a bear in Yellowstone occurred in 1916; that year a new policy restricted camping to specific areas. That was the first full year of automobile and motorized bus travel, bringing a pivotal change in how people toured Yellowstone. Most importantly, on August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act, passed by Congress to establish the National Park Service (NPS). 6
Though Yellowstone was established as a national park in 1872, it wasn’t until the 1880s that more than about 500 people visited each year, said Yellowstone historian Lee Whittlesey. Those early visitors were typically wealthy and adventurous hunters and explorers, or regional residents hardy and curious enough to make the trip. The current figure-eight road system was completed by 1880, Whittlesey said, and as the railroad brought more people, concessioners built more hotels, lodges, and campsites. From about 1880 until the 1920s, the “Grand Tour” was the preferred way to see the park. The five-day Grand Tour followed the Grand Loop Road, with various package deals available for differing budgets. Tourists were sharply divided by income, rarely fraternizing across classes, said M. Mark Miller, author of Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales. Budget-minded “sagebrushers” used their own tents and horses, camping almost wherever they pleased, dining and traveling on their own schedule. “When my grandmother went through Yellowstone in 1909, she was in the park for almost three weeks traveling with a team and wagon,” Miller said. Middle-class visitors often toured with a permit camping company, staying in permanent tent camps like those established in the 1890s by William Wallace Wylie.
1890s "Grand Tour" Is the Preferred Tour
Well-heeled East Coast tourists, by contrast, saw the park in grand style, even dining on haute cuisine. A 1915 dinner menu from the Old Faithful Inn offered a starter of consommé princesse—a strong, clarified soup made with diced chicken breast, peas, asparagus tips, and barley. Among the entrées was trout meunière, caught in nearby Shoshone Lake and served in the classic French style. Alas, before a dessert of pineapple ice cream or assorted cakes, the menu notes: “finger bowls are served only upon request.” Those wealthiest visitors enjoyed the luxury of grand accommodations like Lake Hotel, celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, said Leslie Quinn, an interpretive specialist for Yellowstone National Park Lodges, Yellowstone’s main concessioner. Quinn also is the guide for Ghost Hotels of Yellowstone, a popular two-day Yellowstone Association Institute Field Seminar that explores historic sites like Fountain Hotel, one of dozens of former park structures no longer standing. Patterned after Lake Hotel and opened in 1891, Fountain Hotel stood near Fountain Geyser. It was the first of several sites in the park where tourists gathered to watch bears feed on kitchen scraps. Such close encounters with bears continued into the 1960s, as rangers routinely turned a blind eye to tourists feeding bears along the roadside. “At one point, on average, over 60 people per year were being injured by bears,” Quinn said. Bear management has greatly improved since then, he said, along with the quality of interpretation offered by concessioners.
1915 First Cars in Yellowstone
Early commercial guides often told outlandish tales and made up fanciful answers to tourists’ questions. But visitors have always relied on NPS staffers for solid information, Quinn said. Rangerled programs and visitor centers have been key resources since a major portion of visitors began driving themselves through Yellowstone, starting after the end of World War II. “1946 set all kinds of new visitation records, and 1948 was the first year the park got 1 million visitors,” Whittlesey said. “That was when people brought their own cars in great numbers for the first time.” In 1966, the NPS marked its 50th anniversary with the culmination of Mission 66, a decade-long program to expand and modernize visitor facilities, roads, and employee housing. Canyon Village, the country’s first Mission 66 project, opened in 1957. A Canyon Village dining room menu from that era offers a dry martini for 60 cents, a broiled center cut ham steak with Hawaiian pineapple for $3, and a South African lobster tail for $4. Fifty years later, Canyon is changing again, with newly completed lodges opening, and a focus on serving healthy meals quickly to accommodate the growing crowds. With a mandate from the NPS to offer more local and sustainable food, restaurants provide diners more options, like farm-raised Montana trout or Wyoming beef. To serve the increasing numbers of Asian visitors, the menu at the Grant Village Lakehouse has been revamped this summer to include banh mi sandwiches, coconut tofu, and pho bowls. Such a specialized menu is a risk, said Lu Harlow, director of food Continued on page 11 Yellowstone Quarterly 7
8
Yellowstone Quarterly 9
10
2015 Over 4 Million Visits—Highest Yet
Continued from page 7 and beverage operations for Yellowstone National Park Lodges. But so was the decision more than a decade ago to begin offering commercially farmed game like bison and elk, she said. Hunters and trappers, who were among the park’s earliest white visitors, ate wild game as they passed through, following trails established by wildlife. Today, some of the park’s winding mountain roads still follow those original game trails, Whittlesey said. That poses challenges for the 50-passenger tour buses and family cars that transport some 4 million people through Yellowstone each year. Managing the flow of all those autos could eventually mean limiting the total number of vehicles, Miller said. But whether future Yellowstone tourists arrive in a self-driving car or hover-bus, their initial experiences of amazement and wonder are likely to mirror those of current and past visitors. “I think my grandchildren’s grandchildren will laugh when they see the paint pots burble—just as I did. I think they will stretch their necks skyward, looking for the peak of Old Faithful in full eruptions—just as I did. I think they will stare at Yellowstone Canyon in awe—just as I did,” Miller said. “I certainly hope so.” Ruffin Prevost is founding editor of Yellowstone Gate, an online publication offering community news and inside views about Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
Save the Date! Member registration for 2016–2017 winter Institute Field Seminars begins Wednesday, July 6 at 8:00 AM Mountain Standard Time. General registration begins one week later.
Make this winter unforgettable by learning to ski in Wonderland, searching for wolves on a Lamar Valley Wolf Week— or spending the holidays at Lamar! Register for Lodging & Learning programs, Private Tours, and Youth & College programs at any time. Please call 406.848.2400 or visit YellowstoneAssociation.org for more information.
Yellowstone Quarterly 11
By Barbara Lee
Unearthing History in Gardiner, Montana: Accidental Artifacts in Yellowstone’s Oldest Gateway Town
During the 1890s, the legendary Calamity Jane was a familiar figure in Yellowstone National Park and the gateway town of Gardiner, Montana. The frontier entertainer and icon had fallen on hard times, and sometimes traveled into the park to peddle her autobiography for a dime a copy. Gardiner offered cheap rooms to rent by the night, and plenty of whiskey at the town’s many saloons, bars, and bordellos. Calamity was notorious in towns across Montana for drinking and fighting, and Gardiner was no exception. Many people saw her as a rowdy nuisance. She died far from Gardiner, but her death was front-page news in the local paper. The headline read: “Calamity Jane Finally Does the Proper Thing.” In Calamity Jane’s day, Park Street was the hub of activity in Gardiner. Here you always had a front-row view of the town’s stream of visitors and the residents’ daily lives. Park Street was also where Calamity and others passed by to board the stagecoach into Yellowstone. In 1903, W.A. Hall constructed a large store advertising “We Sell Everything.” That same year, the Gardiner train station and Roosevelt Arch were completed, each just a stone’s throw from Park Street’s west end. This area contains enough bits and pieces of history to fill a museum, and some of them lay hidden underground—right beneath your feet. During Phase 1 of the “Gardiner Gateway Project,” Park Street was rebuilt to accommodate increased numbers of Yellowstone visitors. According to Yellowstone National Park Archeologist Staffan Peterson, archeological evaluations of the project area both inside and outside the park were conducted before work began, and it was determined that no significant sites would be impacted. But, as Peterson points 12
out, construction in towns and cities often uncovers scattered fragments of history—unintentional time capsules, in effect. Accidental artifacts can be a lot more fun than a museum exhibit; they require detective work, and you don’t know ahead of time where that will lead. Dennis McIntosh, director of facilities for the Yellowstone Association, is a long-time community resident and history buff who participated in the planning of the Gateway Project. McIntosh states that “uncovering surprises, especially objects that were part of everyday life, gives us a glimpse into Gardiner’s rough-and-tumble past. This town was very remote and surrounded by a lot of wilderness. It still is. The people here have always been tough and resourceful.” Those familiar with horse tack and supplies might recognize the 2-inch, metal rings that were unearthed during work on Park Street. Several of these were found; they are very old “ring snaffles” that attached to each side of a horse’s bridle and bit. A photograph of Gardiner taken in 1913 shows a team of four horses pulling a heavily loaded wagon on Park Street. The wagon is shuttling visitors’ luggage into Yellowstone while the people travel by stagecoach. A close look at the horses reveals that their bits and bridles are fastened by simple rings. In 1917, Yellowstone allowed motor vehicles into the park for the first time, and horse-drawn wagons and stagecoaches for visitors were soon replaced by touring cars and buses. Scattered fragments of old glass were discovered not far from the snaffle rings. The glass most likely belonged to practical objects that were part of daily life in Gardiner’s first decades, objects such as drinking glasses, medicine bottles, food jars, and, of course, whiskey bottles.
Accidental artifacts unearthed include “ring snaffles” that attached to each side of a horse’s bridle and bit; fragments of old glass; wooden pipe; a coin and bullet; a door hinge and length of chain; and a single little girl’s shoe.
The lavender-colored pieces were almost certainly produced between 1880 and 1914. We know this because during those years, magnesium was imported from Germany to manufacture clear glass. As the glass was exposed to ultraviolet light, the magnesium turned a lavender color. With the onset of World War I in 1914, imports from Germany ended and American bottle makers could no longer acquire magnesium. In addition to small objects like glass and bridle rings, the reconstruction of Park Street revealed a few larger unintentional artifacts. A section of old wooden pipe, used to carry water, was uncovered: 8 inches in diameter, 3 feet long, and weighing approximately 10 pounds. In 1903, Gardiner’s newspaper reported that the town already had a below-surface water delivery system. The system used wood stave pipes, which were constructed of slats held tightly together by metal bands. Water flowing through the pipes caused the wood to swell and stop the seams from leaking. Because wooden water pipes have no resale value and are not easy to remove, some sections remained hidden underground in Gardiner, providing a rare look at a technology that has all but vanished in this country. Sometimes historical cast-offs have a very personal feel. A Gardiner business owner found a relic dating back more than a century under the floorboards of her Park Street business. It’s a single little girl’s shoe, perhaps one of a pair that was purchased a block away at the W.A. Hall store, which advertised “shoes of the best quality.” We can guess that the tiny shoe was accidentally left behind, lost, or maybe discarded when the girl was too big to wear it. It holds so many secrets—pieces
of the story of the child’s life and what it was like growing up in the town of Gardiner long ago. Just as an object like this can help us to understand a child’s daily life more than a century ago, cast-offs from our lives today may help future generations to better understand us. Barbara Lee is a freelance writer and Yellowstone Association seasonal volunteer. In addition to Yellowstone Quarterly, her stories have appeared in Montana Outdoors, Northwest Travel, Outside Bozeman, and Timberline Review, among other publications.
“Archeology can give voice to past peoples and events passed over by recorded history. The National Park Service has conducted many archeological investigations within Yellowstone that reveal much about the early history of the park and environs. We continue to preserve, protect, and interpret all park resources as part of our mission. Federal law protects artifacts and sites within Yellowstone and all other federal lands. Good stewardship of such resources includes working with professionals from state and local organizations when artifacts are found on private property to help understand the meaning and stories these records of past lives have to tell.” Staffan Peterson, Ph.D., archeologist, Yellowstone National Park Heritage and Research Center, Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone Quarterly 13
Q&A Joe Regula landscape architect
Growing up on a dairy farm in Ohio, the son of a mathteacher-turned-farmer father and an art teacher mother, Joe Regula developed drawing and arithmetic skills to go along with a love of the outdoors—all of which led him to his chosen profession. One of Yellowstone’s landscape architects since 2001 and veteran of the Gardiner Gateway Project since 2008, Regula oversees both the upkeep of national historic structures and the creation of new structures that represent National Park Service preservation and recreation values.
HOW DID YOU END UP IN YELLOWSTONE?
Studying at Ohio State University, I wasn’t interested in the development and subdivision-based architecture we were learning about. Then I took a class with Jot Carpenter about the history of landscape architecture that included the development of our national parks and forest service lands, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do.” Professor Carpenter told me that I should contact Yellowstone. I cold-called the park and started as a seasonal in the summer of 1997, and continued to work in Yellowstone as a student co-op in the NPS career development program. Then, after I graduated, I landed my first full-time job in Grand Teton in 1999.
The amount of effort put forth by the park, federal organizations, the Gardiner community, the state of Montana, and Park County has been incredible. It’s really been an amazing experience to see how everything and everyone have come together. Furthermore, the combination of public/private funding has enabled this project to not only meet our infrastructure goals but also to preserve the integrity of cultural resources like the Roosevelt Arch and achieve a margin of excellence in terms of public health and safety, design details, and community planning. ANY JOBS YOU’VE WORKED ON STAND OUT TO YOU?
WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT WORKING IN THE PARKS?
The National Park Service relies on a design concept called context-sensitive design, which basically means lying lightly on the land. Like the rustic-style architecture you see in the parks, we don’t try to dominate a landscape but fit into it. Other landscape architects in the park did this with the construction from Norris to Golden Gate—where the road was rerouted to avoid a sensitive thermal area—and the pedestrian zone created around Old Faithful. Both strike a balance between preserving natural and historic elements of the park while allowing for visitor use. WHAT’S MADE THE GARDINER GATEWAY PROJECT SO SUCCESSFUL?
In one word: partnerships. When the park identified the problems that needed to be fixed in terms of traffic flow and safety at the northern entrance and on Park Street, we quickly realized that we would have to work with the local community to achieve our goals.
14
Reclaiming the lower platform and rehabbing the upper platform at Artist Point was special, not only because we made it universally accessible so everyone could enjoy it and because we got to work on masonry, steps, and boulders that had been painstakingly set 80 years ago. It was also a neat experience to just spend a month on the platform, seeing the changing weather, the canyon’s colors shift from day to day, or showing up in the morning excited to see what animal had made tracks along the edge of the canyon the night before. TO YOU, WHAT’S SO INCREDIBLE ABOUT YELLOWSTONE’S LANDSCAPE?
In comparison to a place like the Tetons, there is something subtle about Yellowstone. It grows on you without you knowing it at the time. There is a depth here. That, coupled with what the land stands for, still inspires me and helps me put everything I do here in an amazing context of how lucky we are to live and work here.
SHOP The National Parks: An Illustrated History #2869
Member: $42.50 Regular: $50.00 By Kim Heacox. An inspired tribute to the astonishing beauty and cultural treasures of America's National Parks, this volume is a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
NPS Centennial Patch #2690
Member: $5.09 Regular: $5.99 Celebrate 100 years of the National Park Service with the official centennial collector’s patch.
NPS Centennial Pin #2773
Member: $4.24 Regular: $4.99 Honor a second century of national park stewardship with the official National Park Service centennial collector’s pin.
Centennial Bottle #2695
Member: $20.36 Regular: $23.95 Made-in-the-U.S.A water bottle features iconic images of the world’s first national park. Made from recycled aluminum. Hand-wash only.
Centennial Hike Shirt (on models)
W: #2761-2765 / M: #2766-2770 Member: $19.54 Regular: $22.99 Show your pride in our national parks by sporting this long-sleeve shirt on your next hiking adventure. Features the NPS centennial logo on the front and “Yellowstone National Park” on one sleeve. 100% cotton. Women’s sizes come in yellow; men’s sizes come in sandstone.
CREATURES Large & Small
Yellowstone’s Yellow-Bellied Marmot By
Barbara Lee
Clay Sculpture Maria
Bisso
John Muir described the yellowbellied marmot as a different sort of mountaineer, one that relishes “a sunbath on some favorite flattopped boulder…eats heartily like a cow in clover until comfortably swollen, then goes a-visiting, and plays and loves and fights.” On summer days, watch for this cat-sized, brown-and-golden-furred rodent in Yellowstone’s alpine meadows and forest edges, and listen for the chirps and whistles that inspired its nickname “whistle pig.”
Our Park Stores are the #1 source of information on Yellowstone, and proceeds directly benefit Yellowstone National Park. Call 406.848.2400 or visit YellowstoneAssociation.org
In the fall, the yellow-bellied marmot grows noticeably plumper— in Muir’s words, “fairly bloated at times by hearty indulgences in the lush pastures of his airy home.” This is an important adaptation that enhances its ability to survive hibernation in an underground burrow during Yellowstone’s long months of cold weather. Yellowstone Quarterly 15
“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” — Henry David Thoreau
Make a Difference for Yellowstone National Park—
Join the Yellowstone Society! The Yellowstone Society is our premier circle of philanthropic members who annually give an unrestricted gift of $1,000 or more. Benefits include recognition on the Old Faithful Honor Wall, as well as exclusive invitations to national park excursions with other like-minded Society members, local experts, and guest speakers. You can also join the Yellowstone Society by giving $84 or more monthly and spreading out your support over the year.
Join Yellowstone Society today by calling Shelly Siedlaczek at 406.848.2853.
Join Us for a
Winter Wolf Expedition! Yellowstone is one of the few places where you can experience wolves in the wild, and winter is one of the best times to come see and learn about this fascinating keystone species. Delve into the world of wolf behavior and ecology with the experts during this in-depth program. Search for wolves and enjoy snowshoeing along the park’s northern range, including the Lamar Valley. Sessions fill fast, so plan now for a new way to see Yellowstone. Start dates DEC 19, 20, 26, 27 JAN 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31 FEB 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21 This 4-day program is based out of Gardiner, Montana. Program price: $595 (does not include lodging) Call 406.848.2400 or visit YellowstoneAssociation.org for more information.
16
Saddle Up:
Experience Yellowstone’s Horse-Powered History By Chelsea DeWeese
Perhaps nothing harkens the olden days like a horse-powered exploration of Yellowstone National Park. Originally the primary way to tour the area, horseback and horse-drawn stagecoach rides give today’s visitors a glimpse into how early explorers experienced the park’s natural wonders. Until approximately 1917, most visitors arrived at Yellowstone’s doorstep by train and then boarded a stagecoach. The typical five-day adventure took them to Norris, Old Faithful Geyser basin, Yellowstone Lake, and Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon. Today’s visitors can explore Canyon via horseback and also see portions of Yellowstone’s northern range on short rides and stagecoach outings starting at Roosevelt Lodge. Riders can experience areas not accessible by vehicle and rich in stagecoach-era history. “We can expose a high number of visitors to a taste of the park’s roadless beauty in a safe, comfortable, one- to two-hour riding venue,” says Jerry Thomas, horse department manager for Yellowstone National Park Lodges, Yellowstone’s primary concessioner. “I feel the backcountry of Yellowstone is viewed by less than one percent of our overall visitors. Our horse operations are a vehicle for more of the world to recognize the beauty and importance of preserving large, roadless ecosystems for all to enjoy.” Stagecoach rides can be paired with an “Old West Dinner Cookout” featuring cowboy coffee, steaks, sides, dessert, and live music—all combined with the larger-than-life personalities of drivers and horse handlers. Although today’s interpreters do their best to provide accurate information to visitors, this wasn’t always the case, according to Leslie Quinn, the interpretive specialist for Yellowstone National Park Lodges. “Being interpreters wasn’t really part of their training,” Quinn says. “Heck, telling the truth was considered second to telling the guests things that were fun and kept them entertained!” Because the stagecoach dinner takes place at dusk, the ride out is an ideal time to look for wildlife along Yellowstone’s sagebrush-steppe. Visitors may see bison, elk, deer, or even and Rescue teamPark members For more information aboutSearch Yellowstone National Lodge’s horseback and stagecoach rides visit: training in Yellowstone YellowstoneNationalParkLodges.com
For additional information on NPS-authorized horseback and llama outfitters visit: nps.gov/yell
the occasional coyote, bear, or fox. The stagecoaches are canvas covered, with padded bench seats, and drawn by two horses. The ride to dinner takes 30 to 45 minutes. It’s a perfect opportunity to see the park slowly, quietly, and while imagining the horse-drawn adventures of visitors in a bygone era. There are also opportunities for horsepowered adventures into Yellowstone’s backcountry besides those provided by Yellowstone National Park Lodges. Outfitters offer horse, mule, and llama pack trips ranging from half-day excursions to remote overnight adventures lasting up to a week. These outings allow access to world-class fishing, unparalleled views of Yellowstone’s high country, quiet contemplations on remote shorelines, and interactions with animals not typically available when viewing roadside. Watching a cow elk and calf traverse a hillside, seeing birds of prey swoop out of the sky to catch unsuspecting fish or rodents, or witnessing bighorn sheep scaling cliffs in search of solitude are just some of the experiences that can happen on these excursions. The packages offered are as varied as the outfitters and are worth researching. Many companies offer pack trips that include a full camp kitchen and a cook who prepares hot dinners and breakfasts. Meals and activities are generally catered to clients’ interests. Some online exploration will yield information about what each company offers, be it fishing, stargazing, or sharing funny stories around the evening campfire. No matter whom you chose, this time-tested means of experiencing Yellowstone is worth trying for first-time and return visitors alike. Chelsea DeWeese is a guide, YA Institute instructor, and environmental educator who writes from her hometown of Gardiner, Montana, the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone Quarterly 17
Celebrating Over 100 Years of Naturalist notes compiled by Neala Fugere For centuries, the writings of naturalists have offered a glimpse into a specific place and time in the natural world — and they are often still relevant today. From the iconic John Muir to a former chief ranger naturalist for Yellowstone National Park, here’s a look back on some of the timeless notes from Yellowstone.
YELLOW STONE QU
AR TERLY
The Yellowstone National Park John Muir, naturalist
Our National Parks, 1901 The wildest geysers in the world, in bright, triumphant bands, are dancing and singing in it amid thousands of boiling springs, beautiful and awful, their basins arrayed in gorgeous colors like gigantic flowers; and hot paint-pots, mud springs, mud volcanoes, mush and broth caldrons whose contents are of every color and consistency, plash and heave and roar in bewildering abundance.
Some Yellowstone Park Birds
4 S PR I NG 201 Heritage Hydrothermal Yellowstone’s Plowing logists Roads: Spring owstone’s Geo Opening the orowski, Yell and Cheryl Jaw Hank Heasler
Dr. H.S. Conrad, former chief ranger naturalist
Ranger Naturalist Manual of Yellowstone National Park, 1927 The largest birds in the park are the white pelican, Canada geese, and the eagles, golden and bald. At Mammoth you see the Cassin purple finch, a sparrow-like bird with a rich red head. The bird you are all wanting me to mention is the western tanager. It is rather larger than sparrow size, but the face is bright red and glossy….
Yellowstone Moose
Gene Ball, former director of the Yellowstone Association
Yellowstone Discovery, 1987
Why moose move out of the same lower elevations sought by other ungulates and up to more difficult areas in which to winter is unknown. For one thing, though somewhat tolerant of other species moose do seem to seek solitude. It is also possible that moving to deeper snow worked well in the past as protection from predators.
Hibernation
Carolyn Harwood, Yellowstone Institute resident instructor
Yellowstone Quarterly, Spring 2014
In Yellowstone, most black and grizzly bears hibernate four to five months during winter. During that time, the bear’s heart rate drops from a summer rate of 40 to 50 beats per minute to as low as 8 to 12 beats per minute. Respirations come at a rate of one breath every 45 seconds. Body temperature, however, remains within 12°F of the bear’s summertime body temperature of 100–101°F. 18
Désirée Pihl, membership coordinator for the Yellowstone Association (YA), has been breaking trail in Yellowstone National Park since 1974—both as a woman and a National Park Service employee. After several seasons in the maintenance division, Désirée became the first female employee on Yellowstone’s backcountry trail crew, where she forged a connection to the park that would last a lifetime. “We’d stay out in the backcountry for two months at a time,” she remembers. “I saw country I’ll probably never see again.”
ya family
Désirée Pihl
After two seasons in the backcountry in and around Lake, Canyon, and the South Entrance, Désirée moved north of the park with her husband to Paradise Valley, Montana. She continued backcountry trail work for the U.S. Forest Service for several years before settling in at nearby Arrowhead School, where she worked for 18 years in positions ranging from office manager to physical education teacher. In 2012, Désirée returned for another season in the park—this time at Canyon cleaning the visitor education center. It wasn’t long before she heard about the membership assistant opportunity with YA. “I got to know the people in the YA Park Store, heard about the position, and applied,” she says. “I was lucky enough to get it.” As membership assistant and later membership coordinator, Désirée handles an array of duties in support of YA’s extensive membership program. Whether it’s responding to member inquiries or managing the membership renewal process, her favorite part of her job is engaging with YA members. “I love connecting with our members and knowing I’ve been a good source of information for them,” she explains. After a long career both as a park employee and an educator, Désirée is grateful for the chance YA has given her to meld both her love of the natural world and education. “My first love as an adult was Yellowstone National Park,” she explains. “Reconnecting to the park this many years later has allowed me to combine all points of my career.”
Yellowstone Quarterly 19
Sarah Jackson
Sarah Jackson of Pocatello, Idaho, took her winter issue of YQ diving in Cozumel, Mexico. A member of eight years, she says, “I love taking underwater photos almost as much as I love visiting Yellowstone and participating in day hiking Field Seminars with YA.”
Honor Someone Special This Year Karen and Greg Picoult
Eight-year members Karen and Greg Picoult from Sagamore Hills, Ohio, brought their summer 2015 issue of YQ with them all the way to the “End of the Road” in Denali National Park.
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
Members of YA should submit photo(s) to beyondyellowstone@ yellowstoneassociation.org. For a complete list of submission guidelines, visit our website or contact us at the email address above.
20
The splendor and majesty of Yellowstone National Park leaves lasting impressions on generations of people. A tribute gift to the Yellowstone Association in memory or in honor of a loved one is a thoughtful way to celebrate someone whose life has been touched by the world’s first national park. Make a memorial or tribute gift of $25 or more by July 15, 2016, and receive a special Old Faithful metal bookmark as a meaningful reminder of your contribution. Your gift directly supports education and research in Yellowstone and will be acknowledged in our member publication, Yellowstone Quarterly. To honor that someone special and receive your bookmark, please reference TRIBUTE16 when calling 406.848.2400 or in the comments field at YellowstoneAssociation.org/memorial-donate
PHOTOS NPS: TOC, PGS 2-4, 6-7, 10-11; MARIA BISSO: PGS 11, 2-15, 18; JESS HAAS: PG 16; STEVE HINCH: PG 16; XANTERRA: PG 17; DÉSIRÉE PIHL: PG 19; KAREN WITHROW: PG 20; YA: PG 21
MEMBER S HI P THANK YOU! We wish to acknowledge those who contributed to the Yellowstone Association between January 1, 2016 and March 31, 2016. 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 FALLS $10,000 – $24,999 Ginny and Mike Campbell Gale and Shelby Davis Margie and Earl Holland* Natalie and Kevin Nolan BECHLER $5,000 – $9,999 Claire Campbell and Brian Makare Mary Chisholm and John Schuldt Susan and Richard Sweet GALLATIN $2,500 – $ 4,999 The Bydale Foundation Joy Carlough* Barbara Francis and Robert Musser Shery and Jan Packwood LAMAR $1,000 – $2,499 Muriel and Don Ableson Cookie Agnew Tracy Arthur* Natalie and Warren Bergholz* Nancy and Theodore Berndt Rhonda Boggess and Mike Rogers* Tammy and James Bonds* Wendy and Jeff Brown* Jennifer and Chad Carlson Amy and John Cholnoky Richard Civita Grace and John Cogan* Leslie and Thomas Croyle* Betsy de Leiris* Ken Duell Gloria and Ross Edwards Marion Heide Fera and Nick Fera* Tanya and Jerry Gee*
Erin Gibson and Matthew Wallace* Barbara and Richard Gordon Maurie and William Gray* Debra and Albon Head* Gail and William Hutchinson Amy and David Johnston* Julie and Roger Keaton* Susan and Peter Klock* Katherine Korba and Ray Laible* Marian Labeck and James Petts* Carlene Lebous and Harris Haston Carol Lee-Roark Nanci and Paul Limbach* Pamela Little and Howard Anderson* Denise and Alton McKnight* Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Merlin* Linda and Mathew Millenbach* Jerene Mortenson Sandy and Terry Netzley* John O’Hara* Doreen and Lee Packila* Lollie Plank Deborah Pope* Peggy D. Ray* Esperanza Rebollar* Darren Rhinehart Evelyn Rose and Sharon Nadeau* Hazel and Jay Stevens* Pamela and Russ Thomas* Martha Thompson* Rita Vasquez-Myers and Brys Myers Victoria Weaver* Dee and Jay Welch* Norma and Kirk Westervelt* Jonna and Doug Whitman
EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT Unless otherwise noted, planned gifts, memorials, and honor gifts will support our educational endowment.
Anonymous – $150,000 SPECIAL TRIBUTE DONORS The following donors made a contribution to the Yellowstone Association as a tribute to someone or something special in their lives.
In Honor of Jo Arney Betsy Morgan In Memory of Robert L. Currie, Jr. Emily and Terry Smith In Memory of Margit Henry Rebecca Berryhill and Michael Brock In Honor of Michael Hinsley Alvita Taylor In Memory of Lynda Roehl Tim Roehl In Memory of Jerry W. Steelman Tami and Tim Dobbs In Memory of Ed Stilwill Amy and John Cholnoky In Honor of Patricia Walker Mary Knieriemen In Memory of Irving “Chick” Waltman Esther Frank 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.
*Yellowstone Guardian – our sustainable monthly giving program
To learn more about the different ways you can support Yellowstone through education, please contact members@yellowstoneassociation.org. Yellowstone Quarterly 21
406.848.2400
Stay Connected — Join the Community! Whether you’re 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.