Road maintenance required near the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park. Reed Watson provided testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources – Subcommittee on Federal Lands on “Identifying Innovative Infrastructure Ideas for the National Park Service and Forest Service” on March 16, 2017. Introduction Chairman Bishop, Ranking Member Grijalva, and […]
[…] this constitutes progress, it will take much more to reinvigorate the crown jewels of our American landscape. Yosemite alone has more than half-a-billion dollars in unfunded projects. Yellowstone, the park’s debatably more famous sibling, requires more than $630 million in maintenance. And across the country, the Blue Ridge Parkway has $517 million in unfunded […]
[…] access. To see how far the USFS is willing to push its interest in access across private property, consider the advice from District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz ( Yellowstone Ranger District) posted on July 7, 2016, on the Facebook page of the Public Land/Water Access Association: “NEVER ask permission to access the National Forest Service […]
[…] brink. In recent decades, as it has become affordable to get bison to the dinner table, commercial herds of bison have grown to over 500,000 head. Today, Yellowstone is home to nearly 5,000 wild bison, descendants of the last free-roaming herds. In the summer months, the bison are a huge draw for tourists, even […]
Throwback Thursday: From the Vault Mammoth Hot Springs is a popular tourist destination in Yellowstone National Park. Image courtesy of Todd Cravens. This Saturday is National Public Lands Day, a day to celebrate the beauty and resources of our public lands and inspire environmental stewardship. Groups across the country are hosting work days to […]
AUDIO: Terry Anderson shares the story of entrepreneur Jay Cooke, who saw the opportunity to set Yellowstone aside as a tourist attraction.
Though beautiful, invasive knapweed is capable of taking over pastureland. Image courtesy of loriejeanne. An invasive parasite recently killed off thousands of mountain whitefish in the Yellowstone River. In response, authorities shut down the river and its tributaries, costing individual recreation outfitters tens of thousands of dollars in forgone profits. Off the Florida coast, […]
[…] during the regular season. The public trust argument has even been put forward as a solution to the recent fish kill that closed 200 miles of the Yellowstone River to recreation. Writing in the Billings Gazette, George Wuerthner contended that the low water levels and high temperatures giving rise to the parasite killing whitefish […]
[…] chance to talk with William Penn Mott, Ronald Reagan’s National Park Service director. He said, “The single most important action that conservation groups could take to advance Yellowstone wolf restoration would be to start a compensation fund. It’s economics that makes ranchers hate wolves. Pay them for their losses and the controversy will subside.” […]
North Entrance, Yellowstone National Park. Photo: NPS/Jim Peaco Originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal on August 24, 2016. As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary on Thursday, Americans should take a moment to consider how they can ensure the health of their national treasure for many generations to come. Few federal agencies […]