When NBC’s “Today” broadcasts a live, 3-hour morning show from Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, millions of viewers around the country will get a chance to learn about grizzly bears and geysers, gray wolves and wilderness survival. But like many “Today” viewers, some of the show’s anchors have either never visited Yellowstone, or done so only briefly, and years ago.
As many as 3.5 million visitors typically pass through Yellowstone National Park over the course of a busy year. On Tuesday morning, more than 5 million “Today” show viewers are expected to enjoy the sights and sounds of Yellowstone with their morning coffee.
Popular legend has William F. “Buffalo Bill” creating the town of Cody, Wyo. as a tourist oasis to help share the wonder of Yellowstone with the world. But the truth is that Cody was founded at the site of a canyon that proved ideal for building a dam that was key to Buffalo Bill’s ambitious plan to irrigate 400,000 acres between the Shoshone River and the Bighorn Mountains.
The Today show, NBC’s morning news and information program, will be visiting Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, May 21. The stop is one of five next week the show’s anchors will be making in spots across the country to highlight America’s best summer vacation destinations. In preparation, Today show producers asked viewers to share their suggestions for what to see and do in Yellowstone, and what topics to cover during their Tuesday broadcast.
The Spring Into Yellowstone Festival May 15-19 offers guided tours to see birds and wildlife in a wide range of landscapes near Cody, Wyo.
Old Faithful Geyser wasn’t the only thing in Yellowstone National Park operating according to a predictable schedule Friday, as the park’s South Entrance from Jackson, Wyo. opened for the season on time, despite a previous threat of delay due to federal budget cuts.
The decline in Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake has meant that anglers in Yellowstone National Park must release any of the native fish that are caught. Unfortunately, for the park’s osprey, catch-and-release fishing is not an option.
For a recovered cancer patient from Mississippi, local efforts to plow roads in Yellowstone National Park helped fulfill his dream vacation. But for many others visiting Yellowstone on Friday, the politics and economics of snow plowing took a back seat to the animals, including a grizzly sow and her cub spotted between Sedge Bay and Lake Butte Overlook.
Despite a series of budget cuts that delayed National Park Service snowplows and a round of spring snow that moved through the region early this week, the East Gate to Yellowstone National Park is set to open Friday.
Wyoming communities in Cody and Jackson chipped in to cover the cost of snow removal along much of the park’s south and east entrance roads, ensuring on-time openings for those gates.
State and federal road crews plowing snow in Yellowstone National Park met Wednesday along the East Entrance Road, completing a job that was funded with help from Wyoming businesses and residents.
Snow plows from the Wyoming Department of Transportation pushing into the park from the East Entrance met up before noon with National Park Service plows moving east from Fishing Bridge, according to WYDOT spokesman Cody Beers.
Monday, May 20, 2013
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