Yellowstone Treasures Blog

Those of us who watch Yellowstone closely—although sometimes from afar— will be keeping our collective eye on the news next month. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy will hear arguments June 15 in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups over the 2008 action removing wolves from the endangered species list.

Meanwhile, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s final rule re-listing the grizzly bear as threatened in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem became final in the March 26, 2010, Federal Register. Thus, the court countermanded the bear’s 2007 de-listing, feeling that conservation plaintiffs’ arguments had merit. These included complaints that regulatory mechanisms to protect the grizzly were inadequate and that grizzlies are suffering from climate change’s impact on whitebark pine nuts, a primary late-season food source.

In spite of considerable spring snow falling throughout Yellowstone in the past few weeks, the East Entrance opened as scheduled on Friday, May 7th. Here is an entertaining look at what it’s like to live in a Yellowstone gateway town: http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2010/05/05/opinion/doc4be1dcfea2a5f962839144.txt.