Yellowstone Treasures Blog

There may be a serious recession, but visitation to Yellowstone was up about 17% this May over May of 2008. Reports of unexpectedly large crowds in June have surfaced, too. Of course, gas cost about a dollar more per gallon last year than this, and that… more »

I've just learned that President Obama has designated this month as National Wilderness Month. That is certainly a step in the right direction. Some years ago, having been amazed to learn that there is no designated wilderness inside Yellowstone Park, I… more »

An online forum message posted earlier this month led to an extended discussion of how public transportation around Yellowstone and the Tetons could be managed. Michael Pearlman began it, citing the propane-powered buses that shuttle visitors in Zio… more »

Born and raised in Billings, Montana, I was the second daughter of musician parents: my mother gave piano lessons for most of her life, and my father taught piano, organ, and voice until the World War II years, when he became a teller and later an office… more »

The first airing on PBS of Ken Burns’s and Dayton Duncan’s twelve-hour series has got us all thinking about the superb idea that blossomed into Yellowstone Park. The idea of preserving areas important to our country evolved later into the National Park S… more »

Doug Smith, the biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, gave an important report on the state of Yellowstone’s wolves last week In Cody, Wyoming. Speaking at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Smith mentioned that fall is “the hardest time… more »

I recently came across a blog with some interesting posts maintained by an employee of Yellowstone General Stores, who worked at Canyon during the summer and is now at Mammoth for the winter. Robyn gives us lots of information about and pictures of anima… more »

On the National Parks Traveler Web site, a former park superintendent discusses some interesting issues about the parks that were not covered in Ken Burns’s fine TV documentary aired this past fall. I agree with much of what Rick Smith says. However, he… more »

Opinions and controversy concerning the wolves near Yellowstone continue to appear in media stories. Here are two recent examples.On January 29 the state of Wyoming and a U.S. Justice Department lawyer presented arguments before a U.S. District Judge… more »

The recent flurry of media and internet excitement over this month’s earthquake swarm in Yellowstone reminded me of the interview with Professor of Geology Emeritus Bruno J. Giletti that appears at: http://www.yellowstonetreasures.com/supervolcano.htm.… more »

Visitation to Yellowstone Park set a record in 2009, despite the recession and last winter's relatively low number of snow-time vacationers. According to the Billings Gazette (disclosure: that's my hometown newspaper): "The previous record for visitat… more »

Things are off to a slow start this year, with snow cover just sufficient to open the roads to over-snow vehicles on December 15. As of Dec. 27, Old Faithful and the West Entrance had 15 inches of snow on the ground, the East Entrance had 14, and Mammoth… more »

There's not much snow yet, but the southern part of the park could get three to six inches this weekend, and visitors who want to enter on snowcoaches or snowmobiles on opening day, December 15th, may be in luck. Or they may have to go the only way allow… more »

I thought I had a pretty good passive vocabulary. Then I came across the word charrette and hadn’t a clue what it meant. Out came the Merriam-Webster, but the word wasn’t there, so I tried my nine-pound Random House. Success! “A final, intensive effort t… more »

I read this recently on an anonymous blog and was reminded of the only time in over fifty years of driving that I've ever been stopped for speeding. It was where park employees have a cross-walk from Old Faithful Village to their dorms. I was going 25 or… more »

According to the Defenders of Wildlife Web site, the judge agreed that, in delisting the bears in 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not "take into consideration the continued decline of the whitebark pine, a critical grizzly food source threat… more »

Autumn is a beautiful time to visit Yellowstone, but you need to plan your route especially carefully this year. You’ll find construction and even closed roads in a number of areas both in and approaching the park.Here are some places to avoid or plan around: more »

I just read today that both blacks and grizzlies are coming out of their dens a little early this year. It's not really surprising, since the snow pack is way below normal, and it has been relatively warm in Yellowstone. Tracks and bears have been sighte… more »

Just as the park is about to open for what is optimistically called the summer season, nature has dumped what looks like about a foot of snow on the Old Faithful area (see http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/oldfaithfulcam.htm). Winter was relatively dry t… more »

Wanting to get an idea of the larger picture of the ongoing controversy about wolves, I recently bought and read my fifth book about Yellowstone and wolves, but this one from the point of view of a journalist, Wyoming resident, and (in recent years) shee… more »

The Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review published the following figures on March 21st, gleaned from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: In addition to at least two packs each in the states of Washington and Idaho, they have counted a minimum population… more »

The day after I posted my sort-of-book-report about wolves, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition put up a very thoughtful article on the same general subject. Interested readers might take a look at the URL from the New West Blog that I'm sending here. more »

Tomorrow, April 16, the park opens to wheeled vehicles now that the roads have been (at least mostly) plowed. Better yet, if you go this weekend the $25 entrance fee is waived. Wish I could be there! more »

In case you haven't heard yet, the entrance fee for Yellowstone and the Tetons and probably all of the national parks will be waived on three weekends this summer. The dates are June 5-6, August 14-15, and the one day, September 25, which is National Pub… more »

For those of us who live too far from Yellowstone to make it practical to take bikes along when we visit, there are now bikes for rent in Old Faithful Village. The concessionaire Xanterra announces that “the bike shop at Old Faithful Snow Lodge offers hy… more »

For an amazing list of animals just sighted during a very few days in Yellowstone, click on “More” at the bottom of the post for Day Four of the South Salem, New York’s, Wolf Conservation Center trip, at: http://nywolf.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-four-in-ye… more »

Here’s a short outdoors blog by Brett French that I just have to pass on. My sentiments exactly! http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/gazoutdoors/article_aa8f5cc2-8b8a-11df-a252-001cc4c03286.html Let’s send the crowds to Hawaii—but, no, for… more »

Knowing about the current construction projects might help in planning your Yellowstone visit. There are four of them currently listed for the park. Be aware that the first one I will name includes totally closing the road between 10 pm and 8 am, so you… more »