Quarterly Y ELLOWSTONE
SPRING 2018
The ’88 Fires: 30 Years Later A Wolf’s First Year Yellowstone’s Universe of Hidden Infrastructure
Dear Yellowstone Forever supporters, Spring is in the air here in Yellowstone—grizzlies are emerging from their dens, accumulated snow is gradually beginning to melt, and what has been a quiet period will soon grow busy as Yellowstone’s seasonal visitors begin arriving. As we start to look ahead and plan for another busy summer in the park, I’d like to share some of our successes from the past year. Our dual mission of education and philanthropy is stronger than ever, and we’re reaching more people with our mission. Since the merger, we have raised $25 million in support of Yellowstone National Park. We are so grateful for the generosity of supporters like you who included Yellowstone National Park in their year-end giving. Our 2017 year-end appeal raised significantly more—42% more—than was raised the previous year, or from either legacy organization. We’ve also brought in 11 new foundations to support the exciting research and educational programs in Yellowstone. The close of the calendar year is also an important time for our educational retail operation, and I’m pleased to share that holiday sales from our online Park Store were up 93% over the previous year. Proceeds from our 11 Park Stores and shop.yellowstone.org directly benefit the park, and the experiences we share with our supporters and visitors lead to lasting connections with Yellowstone. Our Yellowstone Forever Institute is serving a record number of participants, particularly in our youth, college and teacher programs, where we saw a 90% increase in 2017. This summer we’re excited to launch our Yellowstone Masters Series, taught by world-class instructors such as Tom Murphy, Bob Landis, and Joanna Lambert. We’ve also been able to take the Yellowstone experience out into the world with extraordinary social media and online growth. Our social media following increased 147% in 2017, and it serves as a powerful tool for Yellowstone enthusiasts to learn about, engage with, and support Yellowstone National Park. If you don’t already, I encourage you to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter (@ynpforever), and sign up for our email list at Yellowstone.org. Yellowstone will soon see millions of visitors, and we look forward to welcoming and connecting with many of them through our Park Stores and Institute programs. There’s so much to be excited about as we head into another summer, including the first annual Plein Air Invitational in September (please visit Yellowstone.org/plein-air for more information). Looking further ahead, we are already making plans to celebrate Yellowstone National Park’s 150th anniversary in 2022, and I look forward to sharing more about this milestone with you in the coming months. Thank you for all you do for Yellowstone!
Heather White President & CEO Yellowstone Forever
CONTENTS
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06
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02 The ’88 Fires: 30 Years Later 06 A Wolf’s First Year 08 yf family Karen Thomas 09 experience Springtime Sings for Yellowstone Bird Watchers 12 Yellowstone’s Universe of Hidden Infrastructure 16 nps interview Colleen Curry 17 naturalist notes Buttercups: The Magic of Springtime! 18 flora & fauna Sandberg Bluegrass | Woodboring Beetles 19 Supporters
Contributors writers Megan Boyle Wendie Carr Stephen Camelio Chelsea DeWeese Neala Fugere Jenny Golding Barbara Lee Virginia Miller Ruffin Prevost
images / pages Stephen Abatiell Maria Bisso Bruce Fouke Doug Loneman Mark McClendon NPS/Jake Frank NPS/Jeff Henry NPS/Neal Herbert NPS/Jennifer Jerrett NPS/Jim Peaco NPS/Dan Stahler
images / pages
15 NPS/Brian Suderman 2 15, 16 Ann Skelton 15, 19 15 Karen Thomas 8 ii M. Tosh 15 15 publication staff 10, back cover 3, 5 Lauren Beltramo 9 Maria Bisso 3 Megan Boyle cover, 4 Wendie Carr 7 Paula Degen Neala Fugere
Executive Team & Board Members EXECUTIVE TEAM
Heather White President & CEO
Ken Voorhis
Chief Operations & Education Officer
Kelly Herman
Chief Development Officer
Jeff Augustin
Senior Director of Park Projects
Wendie Carr
Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Thomas Cluderay General Counsel
J.D. Davis
BOARD MEMBERS
Kay Yeager CHAIRMAN
Michael Campbell John Costello Annie Graham
Senior Director of Campaign & Special Projects
Edna Johnson VICE CHAIRMAN
Carolyn Heppel
Terry “J.R.” Hunt
John Walda
Charles Kaufmann III
Roger Keaton
Tom Detmer
Vice President of Information Technology Vice President of Finance
TREASURER
Joe Marushack
SECRETARY
Robert Mathias
Heather White
Jacqueline Rooney
PRESIDENT & CEO
Kevin Butt
Bob Rowe Doug Spencer
By Stephen Camelio
The ’88 Fires: 30 Years Later
“It was impressive.” That ultimate understatement about the 1988 fires comes from Roy Renkin, who fought fires in Yellowstone while in college before spending the last 40 years in the park as a vegetation management specialist. 2
Renkin spent much of the summer of 1988 either flying above the flames or inspecting the plants right in front of them. “I hadn’t seen anything like it and haven’t since,” he adds. Not many had. The fires in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that year that burned 1.4 million acres, including 793,880 acres of the park, were the result of a perfect storm of environmental and human factors. You name it: whatever Mother Nature needed to create a large-scale fire event was present during that summer 30 years ago. THE PAST Unusually high winds. Drought conditions. Heavy, dry, fuel accumulations. Low humidity at night. A higher-than-usual number of fires caused by lightning—39 fires compared to the average yearly total of 26—plus 6 fires caused by humans. Another 5 fires originated outside and burned into the park. With all these factors in play, it’s easy to see why it took what was at the time the largest fire fighting effort in U.S. history to battle these blazes. Appropriately, the environment that created this inferno also put it out when snow blanketed the park during the second week of September. During and shortly after the fires, as images of one of the nation’s most revered natural landscapes being burned to a crisp captivated the world, National Park Service (NPS) officials, including those at Yellowstone, were heavily criticized in the press and by politicians for basically letting nature take its course.
Even President Ronald Reagan weighed in, calling what everyone dubbed the “Let It Burn” fire policy “a cockamamie idea.” Still, while the public and un-initiated were taken aback by the size of the fire, not everyone was surprised. Renowned Yellowstone naturalist Paul Schullery noted that only months before the fires of 1988, fire ecologist Dr. William Romme and NPS plant ecologist Dr. Don Despain had reported that the Yellowstone area historically “involved many small fires interspersed every 200–400 years by massive fires that swept across large portions of the park.” Romme and Despain concluded that the last major burn had happened in the 1730s, meaning Yellowstone was ready for “another major burning cycle.” It didn’t take long for the basis of the park’s fire policy, which had been in place since the early 1970s to “maintain the ecological role of fire by allowing natural processes to occur with a minimum of human influence,” to be proven right—as anyone who came to Yellowstone would soon see. “There was a lot of rhetoric about the park never being the same,” Renkin remembers. “But the people in the park who understood fire history had expectations about what would happen next.” These folks knew, as the public would soon learn, that the positive results of fire in Yellowstone include opening up the serotinous cones of the lodgepole pines, allowing for new trees to grow. Plus, fire opens up forest canopies to allow new plant communities to flourish. The burn also served to limit trees in grasslands and released nutrients from fallen trees and dead vegetation, which increased the productivity of soil. Some folks theorized that such an all-encompassing burn would create a homogenizing effect, but the landscape of
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Just as the fires continue to make a lasting impression on visitors, they also remain integral to fire management in the park. Though he came to Yellowstone long after the fires, Cataldo says he quickly got to know all about ’88 because, though the fire was 20-plus years old, it still determined how new fires were fought. “One of the first things we do when we get a new fire start is look at the fire history map of the park,” he says. “When I first got here, the fire scar left behind from the ’88 fires was treated as a really dependable, natural firebreak for us.” That is until 2016, when close to 90 percent of the 70,000 acres that burned in the park were inside the ’88 fire scar. “For us, that has huge management implications because we have almost 800,000 acres of ’88 fire scar in the park,” Cataldo says. “That’s almost a million acres of fuel that is now somewhat in play, as far as new fires go.” THE FUTURE In 2017, smoke filled the skies from Seattle south to Los Angeles and from western Montana down to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. In total, around 9.1 million acres burned in the U.S. during the calendar year, and with many places experiencing their hottest and driest summer on record, the discussion of forest fires has become intrinsically linked to conversations about climate change.
Yellowstone quickly returned to its familiar diverse makeup, and research showed that the post-fire communities were “similar in composition to nearby forests that did not burn.” It was also noted the animals in the park were largely unaffected by the flames, and many—save the moose which prefers old growth forests—benefited after the fact. The burn created new feeding opportunities for birds and grazing animals as well as the species that prey on them.
THE PRESENT In 1989, a then-record 2.7 visitors flocked to Yellowstone to learn how the fire had affected the park, and learning more about the area’s ecology actually increased the public’s interest in the park. “The ’88 fire was a reaffirmation that fire was what this landscape needed, and it was a great opportunity to get that message out,” says John Cataldo, Yellowstone’s fire management officer who came to the park in 2011 from an interagency hotshot crew in northern California. “Today, we get a more informed visitor in terms of fire ecology, and we still get a lot of good questions about keeping fire on the landscape—what it provides to the ecosystem, and how it functions in a natural environment.”
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So far, in Yellowstone, where average temperatures are higher now than they were 50 years ago, warmer weather hasn’t translated to more and larger fires. “In the seven years I’ve been here we had a 70,000-acre fire season in 2016, but we also had a year with half an acre of fire, and a year with a little less than one acre of fire,” Cataldo says. “It’s not like we can draw any direct lines right now between climate change and what’s going on with fire in Yellowstone.” But others are making the connection. In a 2016 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that the total area burned in the western United States over the past 33 years was double the size it would have been without any human-caused warming. Extrapolating from current and recent trends of warmer temperatures and longer fire seasons, Dr. Romme theorizes that the 1988 fires were perhaps the last “historical” fires in Yellowstone—meaning his and Dr. Despain’s timeline that predicted the ’88 fires 30 years ago may already be out of date. “The science shows clearly that large fires will likely be more frequent in the 21st century, which means the extensive old forests of previous centuries may be largely replaced by younger forests, or even woodlands and non-forest vegetation,” Romme says. “Yellowstone will still be a special place, with geysers and
waterfalls and wildlife, but the forests will likely not be what 20th-century visitors experienced.” For his part, Renkin also isn’t sold on the fact that warmer weather will necessarily create huge forest fires. “Weather and topography are two elements of the fire triangle that determine fire behavior, but let’s not forget about fuel,” he says. “Fuel levels are dynamic and they change, so how, when, and why these forests burn will play just as big a role as climate.” Also, there have been changes to the fire policy since 1988, with stricter limits set on when, where, and how natural fires can burn. But it remains to be seen how climate change will affect the overall management strategy the park has in place to stay out of nature’s way unless it endangers human lives or livelihoods along with cultural or historical landmarks. “So long as everyone is safe, if 80 percent of the park is covered in lodgepole pine versus 65 percent, that’s not as important as the wilderness aspect of Yellowstone,” Cataldo says. “The plants and animal communities have been adapting and evolving for a millennia to different compositions of vegetation, so as long as we keep Yellowstone wild, we’ll be doing the right thing.” Stephen Camelio is a freelance writer living in Bozeman, Montana. His work has appeared in Men’s Journal, Runner’s World, Field & Stream, and Fly Rod & Reel.
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A Wolf’s First Year By Jenny Golding
At a pullout along the road near Slough Creek, all eyes are trained on a wolf den far across the valley. It’s mid-May, and a group of wildlife watchers and researchers waits with anticipation for the first blue-eyed Yellowstone wolf pups to peek their heads out.
around them. Their aunts, uncles, older brothers, and sisters are vigilant protectors, ushering hapless bears or other animals away from the den. They are also patient playmates, tolerating the biting, pulling, and pouncing of the growing pups.
There’s one! An electric current passes through the crowd as a tiny ball of fur wobbles onto the mound of dirt at the mouth of the den. Then another, and another! At three weeks old, the pups are a sight to see: uncoordinated balls of fur, tumbling and falling all over the den area and each other, scarcely resembling the agile predators they will become.
Wolf mating and denning seasons set in motion fundamental changes to the behavior and physiology of a wolf pack. In February, wolf howls echo across the frozen landscape as alpha pairs (and other interlopers) initiate the next generation of wolves. As the alpha female settles on a den site in April—excavated in a steep hillside, under tree roots, or in a rock cave—she gives birth to four to five wolf pups. The hormone prolactin (the same hormone that helps bond human parents to their newborn) increases in each pack member, preparing them for the rigors of rearing pups.
Most dens are tucked far out of sight—wolves prefer to den several miles from people, and other packs. But sometimes in the wide-open expanses of Yellowstone, a den is visible from the road, giving visitors the rare opportunity to view wild wolf pups and the adults who care for them.
Once pups arrive, wolf life centers around the den. The once-abundant howls give way to a conspicuous silence: the wolves vocalize less often, in part to keep the location of the den hidden from rival wolf packs who might attack and kill the newborns.
Some 100 wolves roam Yellowstone National Park, thanks to successful efforts to restore the population in 1995. The raising of pups is an important part of the wolf lifecycle, and critical to the long term survival of a pack.
Making it to adulthood as a wolf in Yellowstone isn’t easy. On average three pups, or 55–65 percent of those born, survive their first year. In years where disease strikes, or rival wolf packs attack, pup survival can be as low as 10–20 percent.
Although the pups still nurse exclusively and sleep in the den, within a few weeks they begin to explore the world 6
The 8-Mile Pack wolf pups in the summer of 2013.
Successfully raising pups is of critical concern to the pack. “Wolves live in a hyper competitive world—they need soldiers,” says Doug Smith, senior wildlife biologist for Yellowstone. “Keeping and holding territory is all about pack size.” The fewer pups, the fewer future hunters and defenders, making it difficult for a pack to sustain itself.
“when they will occasionally follow adults on longer trips to a carcass where they will set up a new, shortterm rendezvous.” As the fall colors peak and snow returns to the mountains in October, wolf pups travel with the adults full time. Although they only weigh 50–60 pounds at this point (adult wolves weigh between 90 and 120 pounds), they are less distinguishable from adults in appearance. Through the winter they will learn how to hunt, defend from other packs, and navigate territory.
In June, when the pups are five to six weeks old, the world is changing around them. The hills are cloaked with green, and the rivers swell with snowmelt. The pups’ eye color begins to change, and they start eating meat brought to them by others in the pack. When an adult returns to the den from hunting, the pups—who now resemble miniature wolves—bound up to them, tails wagging, and lick their mouths, triggering them to regurgitate a meal. Soon the pups are ready for a grand adventure. By July, the three-month-old wolves have outgrown the den, and many packs move to a “rendezvous site,” an above-ground den a few miles away. It’s the first time they’ve traveled any distance from the den, and the journey across hills, valleys, rivers, and sometimes roads is filled with new sights, sounds, and…danger. They’ll spend the summer here, chasing grasshoppers, voles, and each other while the adults are out hunting. “The pups won’t travel with the adults until early September,” says Yellowstone Forever research associate Kira Cassidy,
“Late fall is a great time to see the role of elders to the success of the pack,” says Cassidy. “One of the important factors in pup survival is having an older wolf in the pack, helping them in successful fights against rivals.” The mentoring and protection from older wolves gives a pup a greater chance of living to four or five years old, the average age of wolves in Yellowstone. Those that do survive their first year become the older brothers and sisters helping rear a new litter of pups next April, passing on their own knowledge and experience, and stewarding the next generation of wolves. Jenny Golding is a former director of education for Yellowstone Forever. She currently runs the website A Yellowstone Life, and writes from her home in Gardiner, Montana, on the border of Yellowstone National Park.
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Y F FA M I LY
Karen Thomas
Senior Director of Annual Fund Karen Thomas, Yellowstone Forever’s new senior director of Annual Fund, caught the “fundraising bug” as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer after college. The New York City native went on to cultivate an 18-year career in philanthropy, most recently with Make A Wish America and Make A Wish Arizona. In that time, Karen has grown especially passionate about annual fund programs, and she’s delighted to now lead the program at Yellowstone Forever.
being a part of the Yellowstone Forever supporter program. Aside from making a gift, she encourages supporters to take an active role by participating in an educational program or volunteering. “Even if you can’t be here on a daily basis, you can stay connected to the park by becoming a social media fan or subscribing to the Yellowstone Forever email list,” she says. Karen and her team also find great value in hearing stories from the community about their connection to Yellowstone. “There are people who have never been to Yellowstone, but it still holds this mystique for them. We love hearing stories of how Yellowstone has transformed our supporters on a personal level, and it’s important to share these stories with our community.”
“I love getting into the nuts and bolts of what motivates people to give,” she says. “And I love helping provide as many channels as possible for people to support what’s important to them.” Passionate about conservation and public lands, preserving Yellowstone for future generations is of the utmost importance for Karen—and private support is a critical piece to this puzzle, she says. “Public lands are our nation’s gift to the people,” she explains. “I think it’s crucial for people to give back to Yellowstone—to invest in conservation. It’s something we all have to take an active role in.” Giving back to Yellowstone is also critical for future generations and cultivating park stewards, she says.
No matter how they choose to get involved, Karen is excited to be a part of the Yellowstone Forever community herself. “This park inspires awe and wonder in so many people,” she says. “Yellowstone Forever is an amazing ensemble of talented professionals, and I’m thrilled to be on board.” Supporters can share their stories with the Yellowstone Forever community by sending an email to supporters@yellowstone.org. Follow Yellowstone Forever on social media at @ynpforever and subscribe to the Yellowstone Forever email list at Yellowstone.org.
As Yellowstone looks ahead to another busy summer season, Karen has bright hopes for the future of park— and for the Yellowstone Forever supporter community. Thanks to the program’s benefits and services, one of the best ways to enhance a trip to the park, she says, is by
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EXPERIENCE
Springtime Sings for Yellowstone Bird Watchers By Chelsea DeWeese
BIRDER’S TOOL KIT Duffy, who focuses mostly on raptors, suggests adding the following items to a bird-watching tool kit: binoculars, spotting scope (with tripod), bird checklist, and field guide. She mentions online resources, such as a free app called Merlin, that includes bird calls—but she reminds that using avian or any other wildlife call in Yellowstone is illegal, causing the creatures to stress and waste energy. Here are some ideas on where to look for birds based on the season:
T
he o-ka-lee of a red-winged blackbird fills the air as dawn turns to daybreak on Yellowstone’s Floating Island Lake. Soon, the cruck cruck of the American coot joins the chorus, followed by the sputtering of a male ruddy duck in courtship.
Floating Island Lake is one of many birding hotspots throughout Yellowstone where visitors peer through binoculars and spotting scopes, watching the birds’ behavior and identifying them with field guides. Some carry checklists they will later convey to the National Park Service. These bird watchers range in age and, when asked why they watch, cite reasons ranging from fun, to intellectual challenge, to pursuing an elusive species. As economical or expensive a sport as participants desire, birding has something to offer just about anyone willing to look and listen. Springtime is particularly good for bird watching in Yellowstone. “Migration brings many birds back to the park from their winter journeys south; other birds are passing through to more northern nesting areas,” notes the NPS website. “Songbirds are singing to establish and defend their territories; and many ducks are in their colorful breeding plumages, which makes identification easier.” But bird watching transcends identification. Joshua Theurer, a lead instructor with Yellowstone Forever who teaches Field Seminars on birds and habitat, offers this advice to those considering bird watching as a pastime: “The most important thing for someone who is wanting to start birding is to simply get out there and enjoy the beginners’ mind,” he says. “Start making close observations and relishing the bird’s life.” Yellowstone Forever field instructor and former NPS naturalist Katy Duffy agrees. “Have fun and enjoy the birds! Don’t worry about the ones that get away, ones you can’t identify. A bird’s name is just a box to put all the cool things you learn about the bird in.”
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• In spring look for mountain bluebirds and western meadowlarks throughout the park’s northern range. Find ducks, blackbirds, and sandhill cranes near wetlands. • In summer look for (but don’t disturb) nesting birds, including pelicans, gulls, and cormorants on the islands and shoreline of Yellowstone Lake. Swallows inhabit the greater Old Faithful area. • In fall find killdeer and songbirds in the park’s hydrothermal basins. Watch migrating raptors, including red-tailed and sharp-shinned hawks flying over Lamar and Hayden valleys. • In winter look for an influx of trumpeter swans on open waterways in Yellowstone’s interior. Colorful Bohemian waxwings can be sighted in Gardner River Canyon. To learn more or sign up for a Yellowstone Forever Field Seminar, please visit Yellowstone.org/experience. Chelsea DeWeese is a field instructor with Yellowstone Forever and a journalist who writes from her hometown of Gardiner, Montana, the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
E XPERIENCE | PRE SERVE
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By Ruffin Prevost
OUTHOUSES TO SOLAR PANELS:
Yellowstone’s Universe of Hidden Infrastructure
310 miles OF MAINTAINED PAVED ROADS • 156 miles OF MAINTAINED UNPAVED ROADS • 191,897 gallons OF DIESEL FUEL USED • 130,371 gallons OF UNLEADED FUEL USED • 15 miles OF MAINTAINED BOARDWALK • 114,978 gallons OF HEATING FUEL USED • 297,931 gallons OF PROPANE USED • 11,251 centum cubic FEET OF NATURAL GAS USED• 18,312,476 kilowatt hours OF ELECTRICITY USED• 283,219,093 gallons OF POTABLE WATER PRODUCED• 227,378,490 gallons OF WASTEWATER TREATED • 227,378,490 gallons OF SEWAGE PRODUCED • 2,754 tons OF RECYCLABLE WASTE TRANSFERRED • 3,115 tons OF SOLID WASTE TRANSFERRED • 7,560 gallons OF HAND SANITIZER •
SOURCE : NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 2017 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
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Yellowstone National Park visitors flock to Old Faithful because they take for granted the geyser will erupt on a predictable schedule. On the busiest summer days, Old Faithful’s eruptions are soon followed by a different—but equally predictable— flow, as the boardwalks empty and the restrooms fill. The water plant at Old Faithful (also taken for granted) produces nearly 50 million gallons of drinking water annually—more than 300,000 gallons daily at peak times. All that water has to come from somewhere and end up somewhere else, and it must meet the same federal standards as any municipal water system. Yet most park visitors have no idea Old Faithful is home to one of seven water and sewer plants in Yellowstone, said Patrick Kenney, the park’s deputy superintendent. That’s because the National Park Service works to site sewage lagoons, vehicle garages, and other infrastructure in less visible locations, Kenney said. In fact, there’s an amazing universe of hidden infrastructure throughout Yellowstone that most visitors never see. A 27-year National Park Service veteran, Kenney previously served as planning branch chief at the NPS Denver Service Center. During a recent vacation to national parks in Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado with wife Dyanne, Kenney kept an eye out for hidden infrastructure. “I was wondering where the sewage plants and salvage yards were, and my wife said I was sometimes more interested in the outhouses than the overlooks,” he joked.
Kenney is quick to point out that Yellowstone has 123 vault toilets and 299 restroom stalls, where visitors use more than 32,000 miles of toilet paper annually—more than enough to circle the globe. “It’s somewhat staggering,” Kenney said of the infrastructure demands in Yellowstone, which hosts a peak daily summer population that would rank as the third-largest city in Wyoming. Lynn Chan, Yellowstone’s sustainability coordinator, said the National Park Service tries to stay within existing “footprints” for infrastructure projects. That means building or renovating within established development envelopes, while using the same or less water or power. That’s especially challenging when working with historic buildings originally designed to accommodate far fewer visitors, or a scenic road system meant for stagecoaches. Road and bridge improvements around Fishing Bridge, for instance, become much more costly and complex in Yellowstone than if they were in a nearby town. Fishing Bridge won’t be removed, but it must be significantly rehabilitated to historic standards. A nearby bridge over Pelican Creek will be redesigned to allow for improved water flow through the surrounding wetlands. Those improvements, set to begin this year, will cost more than $40 million.
like the Gardiner Gateway makeover and improvements at Inspiration Point and Uncle Tom’s Trail. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone work continues this year, part of a $13-million project that will relieve congestion and improve visitor experiences. But McIntosh said he’s just as proud of Yellowstone Forever efforts in less visible areas like workforce housing, which Kenney said has “become a real critical issue for the park, both internally and externally.” Much of that work is on small projects, McIntosh said, often in places where the public will never see the results. “When they were looking to build housing for their employees at Norris, we partnered with the National Park Service and were able to turn their four-plex into a six-plex,” McIntosh said. Other Yellowstone Forever partnerships are more high-profile, like the new Youth Campus planned for a site south of Mammoth Hot Springs that will house up to 140 students. McIntosh and Yellowstone Forever colleagues worked with park officials and outside designers to jump-start the planning process for a project that Superintendent Dan Wenk hopes will be ready as a showcase for Yellowstone’s 150th birthday in 2022.
Supplemental funding from Yellowstone Forever and others can mean the difference between a project that’s “good enough” and one that’s truly worthy of the world’s first national park, said Dennis McIntosh, Yellowstone Forever director of sustainability and facilities.
The Youth Campus will be built under the Living Building Challenge, an environmental standard requiring a year of proven performance in areas like water and energy use, including a net-zero energy consumption goal met through efficient design and renewable energy. Fortunately, Yellowstone Forever has some experience in that area, having partnered with the park to develop solar and small-scale hydroelectric power projects at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, McIntosh said.
Yellowstone Forever has made major contributions toward recent projects,
The Lamar Buffalo Ranch is a microcosm of Yellowstone’s hidden YQ | 13
infrastructure, McIntosh said, as well as the kind of partnerships where Yellowstone Forever can leverage its funding to best serve the park, visitors, and Yellowstone staff. With a collection of historic buildings dating to 1915, the ranch is home to year-round law enforcement personnel, horse corrals, a barn, a weather station, and overnight housing for Yellowstone Forever Institute program participants. It operates entirely on power generated on-site, including hydro, solar, and propane. “The whole thing is its own little off-grid micro-world, and its own sustainability science project,” McIntosh said. “And most people just drive past it with no idea of what’s there or what it takes to make it all happen.” Ruffin Prevost is founding editor of Yellowstone Gate, an online publication offering community news and inside views about Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
SHOP
Gear up for warmer weather or find a favorite park keepsake at Yellowstone’s Official Park Store! Our Park Stores are the #1 source of information on Yellowstone, and sale proceeds directly benefit park priority projects. To order, visit Shop.Yellowstone.org. The Year Yellowstone Burned
Grayl® Water Purifier Cartridge
SUPPORTER: $21.21 REGULAR: $24.95 #2639 The 1988 fires consumed nearly 800,000 acres—36 percent of Yellowstone. In this look back, written for the 25th anniversary of the fires, author Jeff Henry recalls the summer of 1988 and the years of healing that followed. Softcover. 296 pages. 8.5" X 10.8"
SUPPORTER: $21.21 REGULAR: $24.95 #3238 Replacement cartridge filter for the Grayl® water purifier bottle. Weighs 2.8 oz. Measures 2.7"X 2.9"
Yellowstone National Park Puzzle SUPPORTER: $15.29 REGULAR: 17.99 #3057 Made-in-the-USA, 1000-piece Yellowstone map puzzle features a custom, intricate illustration by artist Chris Robitaille. Chipboard made of recycled material. Ages 13 and up. 19.25" X 26.75"
Yellowstone Hiking Patch and Medallion SUPPORTER: $4.24 (Patch) $5.09 (Medallion) REGULAR: $4.99 (Patch) $5.99 (Medallion) #2952, #3047 Encompassing nearly 2.2 million acres and 900-plus miles of trails, Yellowstone is a hiker’s paradise! This hiking patch (#2952) and medallion (#3047) make great keepsakes for remembering your adventures on the trails.
Grizzly Country DVD SUPPORTER: $16.96 REGULAR: $19.95 #3151 Informative documentary reveals some of the most fascinating grizzly bear behavior, recorded over a 10-year period in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Produced by Bob Landis and Dale Johnson. 52 minutes.
Grayl® Water Purifier Bottle SUPPORTER: $50.99 REGULAR: $59.99 #3240 This purifying water bottle makes safe, clean drinking water in less than 15 seconds by removing 99.99% of viruses and bacteria. Antimicrobial, chemical-free, and BPA-free. Capacity: 16 oz. 2.9" X 9.6"
SHOP.YELLOWSTONE.ORG 14
We have seen firsthand the exceptional impact Yellowstone Forever has had on the future of the park. Our passion for Yellowstone and the continuing efforts of Yellowstone Forever convinced us that a planned gift was one of the ways we could support the park in the years ahead.
— Ann and Mike Skelton
Help Yellowstone Last Forever
For a lasting gift to the world’s first national park, consider including Yellowstone Forever in your estate plans. A planned gift is a simple and flexible way to meet your own estate and financial goals, while providing an ongoing commitment to Yellowstone. For more information, please call J.D. Davis or Roger Keaton at 406.586.6303.
YELLOWSTONE
Introducing the
Masters Series
Don’t miss this special opportunity to experience Yellowstone alongside experts whose work has changed our way of seeing and understanding the world. Join world-renowned professionals Tom Murphy, Bruce Fouke, Bob Landis, and others for Field Seminars on topics ranging from photography to natural history to scientific research. All the seminars in this new series include fully catered meals and private cabins at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch.
Tom Murphy
Bruce Fouke
Bob Landis
Theo Lipfert
Joanna Lambert
To learn more and register, visit Yellowstone.org/masters
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Joshua Theurer
NPS INTERVIE W
Colleen Curry Museum Curator
What is your favorite item in the collection?
Colleen Curry, museum curator for the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center (HRC), got her start cataloging Civil War artifacts at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Now in her 15th year at Yellowstone, we recently sat down with her to learn more about her role maintaining one of the “largest museum collections in the National Park Service.”
Among my favorite items are the travertine-coated specimens that were made in the early days of the park at Mammoth Hot Springs. People on a stagecoach tour could buy a souvenir and put it on coating racks, and after five days the object would be completely coated in travertine. I think those are really interesting because they show something we never would have allowed today, but represent a link to how things used to be. It also shows the amazing rate of deposition at the Mammoth Terraces!
What is the purpose of the HRC?
The HRC is a collection, storage, and research center for Yellowstone—one of the only depositories of its kind. Our mission is threefold: We’re here to document the park’s natural resources, preserve the resources, and make them accessible to the public. It serves as an invaluable resource for National Park Service staff, researchers, school groups, and the general public.
How does Yellowstone Forever help support the HRC?
When you work in a large park competing with natural resources like wolves and grizzlies, it can be hard to obtain funding through government channels. Without the support of Yellowstone Forever, we wouldn’t be here. We were able to get the funds to build the HRC but not finish it, so Yellowstone Forever helped furnish the interior, from the museum exhibit cases to our desks. Yellowstone Forever funds our research library, which includes paying for the salaries of two full-time librarians. They’ve supported preservation projects like rehousing the natural history specimens and digitizing the collections so the public can access them remotely. Throughout the years they’ve also purchased museum items—such as a couple of paintings by very early artists.
What is your role at the HRC?
As museum curator, I oversee the museum collections, the archives, and the research library. I also serve as the facility manager for the building. My day-to-day duties might involve researching items in the collection—sort of like detective work—or giving tours of the facility. I create reports that show how much cataloging we completed throughout the year, for example, or how many researchers accessed the collections. We also rely heavily on our volunteers here, and I work with them on a variety of projects.
Describe the archives collection and the library. What might someone find there?
How can the general public visit the HRC?
The building itself is open to the public Monday through Friday. People can come and look at the exhibits and access the materials in the research library, though the museum collection is available by appointment only. We also provide public tours Memorial Day through Labor Day that give a behind-the-scenes look at the facility—including the original Moran sketches and the wolf skulls. The tours typically run on Wednesdays, but you can find the most up-to-date information in the park newspaper and on our website.
The archives have everything from early superintendent reports to army records, things like soldier station logs and civilian scout diaries—all of which offer valuable information about the early days of the park. The museum collections encompass over 700,000 objects. This includes 21 of Thomas Moran’s field sketches from the 1871 expedition, and 150 wolf skulls from the wolves that were reintroduced in ’95 and ’96. The research library contains information on almost anything you’d want to know about Yellowstone, like dissertations, scientific articles, newspaper clippings, and digital materials.
To learn more about the Heritage and Research Center, including volunteer opportunities, contact Colleen at colleen_curry@nps.gov or visit nps.gov/yell. 16
N AT U R A L I S T N OT E S
Buttercups:
The Magic of Springtime! By Virginia Miller, Lead Instructor
As the time between each snowfall gets longer, and animals and human travelers return to the park, thoughts of wildflowers are still months away in the high country of Yellowstone. But the sagebrush buttercup is already waking up, having produced its flower buds the previous fall. It waits under the snow throughout winter while wolves howl and bison “snowplow” to get down to dry winter graze; and this bright yellow flower is peeking out to remind us that spring is on its way when humans still don snowshoes for early spring travel.
It might be easy to miss these tiny flowers amidst the business of the seasonal change. The calling of sandhill cranes and the spark of color from a mountain bluebird might grab the attention of most visitors. Little Ranunculus glaberrimus stays fairly close to the ground, only growing an average of four inches tall. Seeing its yellow petals emerging in March, or even as early as February, can come as quite a shock, though! Flowers and snowpack? What magic is this? The Ranunculus family gets its name from the Latin word for “little frog,” referring to the aquatic habitat of many buttercup species. These flowers lay dormant through cold
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winters and are usually the first to appear throughout their range. The colder the winter and deeper the snowpack, the later sagebrush buttercup will bloom. As temperatures begin to rise in March or April, the buds burst out of the snow. Hooved creatures, grouse, and small mammals take advantage of this early treat, grazing on the sagebrush buttercup early in the season before it becomes less palatable. By summer, these flowers disappear, and a multitude of other colors clamor for our attention. But that first glimpse of new growth each year is reserved by the little golden sagebrush buttercup, here to remind us that the cold beauty of winter can turn into the magic of springtime.
F L O R A & FAU N A
NEW! JUL 29 –AUG 2
Woodboring
Beetles Sandberg
Bluegrass BY BARBARA LEE ART LAUREN BELTRAMO
Just a few inches higher than your hiking socks, but a superstar in Yellowstone’s ecosystem, Poa secunda (Sandberg bluegrass) “greens up” early and is especially important in the spring-season diet of bison and other wildlife. It thrives in burned areas and poor soil, boosts revegetation and erosion control, and can even compete with the invasive cheat grass that fills your socks with stickers. Look for this 8- to 14-inch-tall native in the park’s sagebrush and open grasslands.
Come to Camp Yellowstone!
BY BARBARA LEE ART LAUREN BELTRAMO
Major fires, like those that swept through Yellowstone in 1988, create a new habitat for a tiny Yellowstone species. Woodboring beetles, primarily in the families Cerambycidae and Buprestidae, hone in on the fire’s lingering smoke, finding a perfect home in dead or dying trees. After burrowing in the weakened trees, beetles lay their eggs. The larvae becomes food for birds like the black-backed woodpecker, which are dependent on these post-fire landscapes. Beetles, woodpeckers, blackened dead trees—all part of a natural fireshaped ecosystem.
FOR UPCOMING 5TH AND 6TH GRADERS New this summer! Join us for five days of exploration and learning in the world’s first national park. Each day campers will head out with well-trained guides to uncover the mysteries of Yellowstone while participating in hands-on activities, like scientific investigations and nature art. Camp is based at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch in the park’s northeast corner. Pick-up locations are offered in Bozeman and Livingston, Montana. Kid-friendly meals included!
REGISTER TODAY 18
406.848.2400
BECOME A GUARDIAN of Yellowstone The Yellowstone Guardian Program is the most convenient and efficient way to support the park you love. Join this special group of supporters who make monthly, automatic contributions from their account of choice. For as little as $10 per month, you can increase the value of your donation by reducing printing and mailing costs, ensuring more of your contribution goes directly to priority projects and education initiatives in Yellowstone. Please visit us at Yellowstone.org/guardians or call 406.848.2400 to join today. YQ |  19
SUPPORTERS
MANY THANKS! We wish to acknowledge those who contributed to Yellowstone Forever between October 1 – December 31, 2017. Because of space constraints, the following list includes contributions of $1,000 or more. Your support — regardless of size — plays a critical role in connecting people to Yellowstone. YELLOWSTONE SOCIETY
$25,000 AND ABOVE
Laurel and Robert Graham Debra and Albon Head* Richard Stokes Kay and Frank Yeager
$10,000 – $24,999
Ginny and Mike Campbell Judith and Stanley Dempsey Karen Kuehneman Sandy and Pat LaPointe Jean and Robert Morgan The Nokes Family Evelyn and William Reed Elizabeth and Carl Webb
$5,000 – $9,999
Sue and Mike Arneson Tracy Arthur* Catherine Aves Joellyn and James Barton Mary and Len Beavis Stella Bentley Paul Bertelli Linda Bozung Susan and Douglas Brengle Cindy and James Briggs Katherine Cattanach and David Charles* Constance and Tom Dotzenrod Lee-Ann and Andrew Edwards Lisa and Harold Eisenacher Judith and William Hiltz George and Elisabeth Ireland Edward Murphy Brenda and Jack Nixon Shery and Jan Packwood Geni Miller and Stephens Parker Jean Phelps Joy and Jordan Renner Elizabeth and Alfred Richter Dawn and Bruce Tecklenburg
$2,500 – $4,999
Delores and John Adams Paul Adams
Candace Allen and Robert Woodward Jocelyn Allen Karen and Richard Allen Kay and Keith Anderson Fred Auch Eric Bagelmann Carol Baker and Mark Stein Natalie and Warren Bergholz* Kelly and Timothy Biltz Nancy Brennan David Burday* Rhonda and Steven Caldwell Joy Carlough* Chris and John Cavanaugh* Karen and Kent Cochran Shirley W. Cooper David Culver Lisa and Jim Cummings* Ken Duell Melissa and Lindel Eakman Debbie and John Edgcomb Sandy and David Epstein Lynn Evans* Brooke Feister and Richard O’Brien Frederick Fox Barbara Francis and Robert Musser Ellen Halter Helen and James Hamilton Dabney Hart Debby and Joel Hendrickson Dianne and Cline Hickok Michelle Hillery* Susan and John Jackson Elizabeth Jones* DeeAnn and Barry Judd Zona Kreidle Elizabeth and John Leonard Julia and Richard Llewellyn Jerome Mage* Dana and David Martin Darlene and Joseph Marushack Patricia and Charles McKernan Robin Merlino
Due to the overwhelming support of Yellowstone Forever’s donors at the end of 2017, we are unable to list all donors who made gifts between October 1 - December 31, 2017 in this issue. Please look forward to our summer issue for a listing of generous donors who made honor and memorial gifts during this timeframe. Beginning this fall, donors making gifts of $1,000 or more or honor and memorial gifts will only be recognized annually in Yellowstone Forever’s annual report.
Cara and Adam Mika Jane and Bill Mosakowski Kaye and Mark Nickell Elizabeth and Robert Noble Carolyn and Jerry O’Connell Donna and Jim Onstott Carolyn and David Oxenford Jane and Frederick Poole Katharine and Kurt Rice Peggy and Chris Rice* Patricia and Tony Richards Sigridlinda Rivington* Carolyn Rosin* Roberta and William Scherer Diane and Leland Selby* Gerry Smith and David Syfert Jean Spears and William Kropp Lillian Stephens Kathy and David Titley Sandra Carrell Tremblay and Dale Tremblay Leann and John Washabaugh Heather White and David Diamond* Anita and Gerald Wiseman
$1,000 – $2,499
Cookie and Agnus Agnew Mary and John Alda Anne and John Allen Linda and Barry Allen Diana Allison Ann and Donald Alsted Edward Amrhein Beth Averbeck Charlie Avis Genevieve Bancroft Julie and Bruce Barrick Marcia Bartlett* Teresa and Jeffrey Bastin Michelle Bergeron and Patrick Gaunt Susan and Steven Bergin Alexander Bernhardt Pamela Bertram and David Laing Doug Bickerstaff* Jenny and Chuck Bilyeu
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Brock Binford* Judy Biscan Katherine Bishop Sherry Black Nina and John Bottomley Dorothy and James Bowers Kenneth Bowling Cheri Brennan and Thomas Horsley Melissa and Jeffrey Brodsky Wendy and Jeff Brown* Debra and William Brownlie Barbara and Leslie Buckland Anna and John Buckley Eileen Buckley Cheryl Budzinski Kathy Burkholder Kevin Butt Beth Byron-Reasoner and Samuel Reasoner Debbie and Raymond Carlin* George Cero* Teresa and Shain Chappell Janet Chapple Trudy Chester Amy and John Cholnoky Kathryn Clancy Joseph Clark Grace and John Cogan* Ginny Coleman and Paul Allshouse Jeanne and Dave Collins* David Conway Barbara Corlett Linda and William Cornell Kathy and Royal Coulter Christine and James Cowden Leslie and Thomas Croyle* Kristin and Jeff Dahl* Dorothy and Jack Daniels* Joseph Davenport Elzie and Martha Davis Chris and Timothy Davis Robert Dawkins Betsy De Leiris* Jerry Devault Joan and Steven Dinardo
Stella and Alphonso Dipasqua Susan Donohue-Ferguson and Michael Ferguson Rory Dooley Joseph Dopilka Janet and Jim Dulin Michal Dusza* Jo Ann and Bert Eder John Engelbart Sally Fall Charlotte and William Fecht Cynthia and Joel Fedder Patti Felton Greg Ferguson Cheryl and Roger Fiery Marlene and Patrick Foard Linda Forshee Osborn Foster Sarah and Tom Foster Jim Frank Barbara and Donald Fuhrmann Diane and Tom Gallegos John Gardner Beverly and Richard Garnet Tanya and Jerry Gee* Erin Gibson and Matthew Wallace* Jo Giese and Ed Warren Susan and William Gillilan Liberty Godshall Brian Goeckel Maurie and William Gray* Judith and Daniel Gresham Kathleen and William Grubbs* Barbara and Christian Gunther Julie Haight-Curran* Eleanor and Barry Hall Betty Hallowell Vicki and Jim Hanna Susan and W. Reese Harada Sharon Hargrave Rebecca and Curtis Harris Kathryn Hayes and Victor Tortorelli Deborah and Thomas Heau Jean and Joseph Hedrick* Kathleen and Alan Heibein Amy and Robert Heinrich Rachelle and Zach Heitz JoAnne and Donald Heltner Barbara Henon and Richard Shilling Scarlett and Don Hibner Steven Hickman Marcia and Edward Hogan Nora and Christian Hohenlohe Janice and Robert Huie Connie and Larry Hyndman Shelly, Bob and Bethany James Betty and John Jarman Jane and Jay Jennings Joan and Robert Jensen Kim and Ken Johnson Sandy and Scott Johnson Marydell Joyner
Sherry and Dave Kapes* Barbara and Kenneth Kaufman Norma and Steven Kearsley Julie and Roger Keaton* Harriett Kesler Celia Kiela and Jay Schad Ellen Kirch Susan and Peter Klock* Pamela and Charles Koob Katherine Korba and Ray Laible* Dale and Elizabeth Kostelny Kellie and Joel La Follette Deborah and John Lahey Karrie and Christopher Lang* Onelia Lazzari Theodora Lengowski Elizabeth and Leon LeVan Nanci and Paul Limbach* Pamela Little and Howard Anderson* Catherine and David Loevner Katherine Loo and Jim Raughton Helen Lord and Raymond Taylor Randy Luing Gail and Jay Lund Ben Lunsky* Sarah Maca and Alex Alimanestianu Marilyn and Alexander Macgregor Nancy and Erwin Maddrey Shirley and Robert Mahoney* Mary Lou and Ben Marchello Donna and Ivan Marcotte David Marks Reba and Richard Martin Margie and Jon Masterson Susan and George Matelich Beth Maxwell Ferrell and Chi McClean Laura and Robert McCoy Susan McCuaig Elizabeth and James McDonald Barbara and Donald McFarland Mark McGrath Yvette Meftah Paul Mensch* Ellen and Daniel Meyer Robyn Meyer* David Miller* Nelson Miller Polly and Nick Miller Therese and Scott Miller Kathy and Robert Millwee Iris Model Mariko and Dennis Molodowitch Yvette Montiel and Richard Schafer* Cristina Moody* Judith and James Moroney Rose Muldowney and Matthew McDowell Lynn and William Murphy Ken Mutell* Jeanne and Jonathan Nauman*
Sandy and Terry Netzley* John Nichols Blair and Dennis Nickle K. E. Niedner* Lisa and Ricky Novak Elaine and William Obernesser Dianna O’Brien Linda and Timothy O’Connor Gregory O’Neal Teresa Orlick and Joseph Pokorski Holly and Carlos Ortiz* David Ottolino Doreen and Lee Packila* Paulette Pallazzolo and Robert Flora Wendy Palmer and Richard Ruh Yvonne and Edwin Parish Kathleen Parrish and Doug Spencer Jocelyn Perry and Daniel Samelson Sondra Perry David Pfeffer Leslie and Roger Piscitella Martha Pittard and Allan Krapfs Norma and Robert Placensia* Barbara and Michael Polemis Deborah and Dale Pope* Karen Powell Patty and William Powell Wendi and James Proffitt* Lori and Thomas Prokop Margaret Purves S.M. and Jeffrey Rarich Gregory Ratterman Lynn Richardson Tia and Jim Roddy Lois and John Rogers Terry and Bert Romberg Celeste and Mike Rooney Evelyn Rose and Sharon Nadeau* Michael Rosenberg Richard Rowe Lynne Ruess and Christopher Deryck Carol and Robert Scallan Sharon and Richard Schaefer Mary and Brett Schat-Beimers* Janet and Walter Schuchmann Michael Semmler Susan Sewell* Sandra Shapiro Martha and James Shaw Harnek Singh and Ishinder Kaur* Ann and Michael Skelton Andrea Slattery Julie Slocum Erna Smeets and Bill Simkins* Christine and Brian Smith Jerry Smith Judith and Richard Smith La Dean and Randy Smith Cheri and William Sowter Karen and John Springthorpe
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Alan Stabler Richelle and Eric Stafne Hazel and Jay Stevens* Nancy Stovall* Sidney Suggs Jane and Steve Sutton Mary Swanson and Peter Murray Anne Symchych Catherine Symchych Christopher Tan* Robin Tawney-Nichols and William Nichols Patty and Mark Tedesco Martha Thompson* Jane and Russell Thorpe Betty Tichich and Fred Bunch Dottie and Mike Tillotson* Rita Tracy Kelly and Len Trout Elizabeth Trowbridge Emily and Jonas Van Aken* Jennifer and Timothy Van Roekel Marty Vaughan Carol S. Vaughn and Ken Brewer Megan and Mark Veldee Jennifer and Ken Voorhis* Dianne and Steve Wagner Diana and Mallory Walker Kevin Wallace Janet Walsh Naomi and Robert Warchol Rebecca Ward and Mark Shull Betty and Wallace Warmack Nancy and Dennis Warren Annette and Kelley Waters Kim Waters and Larry Rogers* Kimberly and John Wathey-Patterson Alecia Wawrzynski Laura and Henry Weil Dee and Jay Welch* Nancy and Richard Welch* Norma and Kirk Westervelt* Alice Whitacre Jill and Lewis Wilks* Marc Williams Marsha and Ronald Williamson* Virginia Wolfe* Suzanne and David Worley* Janet Wrestler and Randall Eckhoff* Barbara Wunderlich William Wynne Anne Young and James Nielson John Youngblood Barbara and Donald Zucker Karin Zuckerman *Yellowstone Guardian— our sustainable monthly giving program 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.
PO Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190 406 | 848 | 2400 Yellowstone.org
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