“Today” show anchors Willie Geist, left, Natalie Morales, Matt Lauer and Al Roker will broadcast Tuesday from Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. (NBC photo by Peter Krame)

By Ruffin Prevost

CODY, WYO. — 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.

The production will require a crew of approximately 70 people, with extensive equipment stationed around Old Faithful. But park managers are pleased at the chance to share information about Yellowstone’s resources and issues with a viewership that includes many who might never get a chance to visit in person.

“This is a great opportunity for us to reach some people who may have a limited understanding of this iconic place, and of our ongoing efforts to keep Yellowstone special,” park spokesman Al Nash said.

Even some of those who have spent most of their lives working in or near Yellowstone would admit to having what Nash politely calls “a limited understanding” of the park’s 2.2 million acres of dynamic landscape shaped by geology, weather and wildlife.

And like many “Today” viewers, some of the show’s anchors have either never visited Yellowstone, or done so only briefly, and years ago.

“About 10 years ago, I went on a fly fishing trip there and was stunned by the beauty of the place,” said Willie Geist, who is a co-host on “Today’s” 9 a.m. hour as well as on MNSBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Willie Geist, left, kisses Al Roker during a “Today” show segment when the two co-hosts were clowning around as part of a Valentine’s Day report on flavored lip balms. (NBC photo)

Geist and “Today” co-host and weather anchor Al Roker spoke by phone Thursday to discuss their 5-day trip across the country next week to visit Yellowstone and other summer vacation destinations, including Hawaii, Chicago, Orlando, Fla. and the Jersey Shore.

Geist returned to Yellowstone earlier this month for a day to shoot a segment where he searched for grizzly bears with Casey Anderson, founder of Montana Grizzly Encounter, a Bozeman bear rescue and education facility.

“You know, part of you is hoping you won’t see a grizzly bear, but we did, so it will be much better for the piece,” which will air Tuesday, he said. “We saw three.”

Roker, who has never been to Yellowstone, said he had been keeping an eye on the weather forecast for Old Faithful, which calls for an overnight low on Monday of 27 degrees.

“It’s going to be, obviously, chilly in Yellowstone, but it’s going to be fun,” he said. “It’s going to be brisk.”

The trip schedule won’t allow for much geyser-gazing or wolf-watching, Roker said, and bringing the family is not a good idea.

“This is work. As it is, it’s going to be a major undertaking to transport the entire ‘Today’ show into five really diverse locations,” he said. “As much as it sounds like a great time, it’s kind of hard to do the show and have your kids in tow.”

“We finish, get on a plane and fly out,” Roker said.

Roker should hope his pilot pays closer attention to Yellowstone’s location on a map than he has.

The two co-hosts gamely agreed to a 5-question multiple-choice Yellowstone pop quiz, and both answered incorrectly when asked, “In which state is Yellowstone located?” Geist chose “almost entirely inside Montana,” while Roker picked “split about equally between Montana and Wyoming.” (Roughly 96 percent of Yellowstone is in Wyoming, while 3 percent is in Montana and 1 percent is in Idaho.)

Both co-hosts picked the right choice, “stand your ground,” for the most important question: “What should you do if a grizzly bear charges at you?”

“That’s a rule that sounds easy on paper,” Geist said. “But when they charge you, it becomes a little more  difficult with an 800-pound grizzly bear.”

Contact Ruffin Prevost at 307-213-9818 or ruffin@yellowstonegate.com.

Do you know more about Yellowstone National Park than Willie Geist and Al Roker?

How does your Yellowstone knowledge stack up against “Today” co-hosts Willie Geist and Al Roker? Take our quick, 5-question quiz and find out.

1: Which of these animals is not native to Yellowstone?
a) grizzly bear     b) wolverine     c) mountain goat     d) Yellowstone cutthroat trout
Geist: b     Roker: b     Answer: c

2: What is the combined population of the five gateway towns around Yellowstone?
a) about 2,300     b) about 23,000     c) about 230,000     d) none of the above
Geist: b     Roker: d     Answer: b

3: What should you do if a grizzly bear charges you?
a) stop, drop and roll     b) climb a tree     c) run for cover     d) stand your ground
Geist: d     Roker: d     Answer: d

4: Before the National Park Service was created in 1916, the wildlife and resources of Yellowstone were protected by:
a) U.S. Army     b) Montana Stockgrowers Association     c) Sierra Club     d) U.S. Forest Service
Geist: d     Roker: d     Answer: a

5) Which state is Yellowstone located in?
a) almost entirely inside Montana     b) almost entirely in Wyoming     c) split about equally between Montana and Wyoming     d) split about equally between Montana, Wyoming and Idaho
Geist: a     Roker: c     Answer: b

Total correct answers: Geist-2     Roker-1

“Today” show anchors Willie Geist, from left, Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Matt Lauer and Natalie Morales will broadcast Tuesday morning from Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. (NBC photo by Peter Krame)

By Ruffin Prevost

CODY, WYO. — 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.

All five anchors of the NBC show will be broadcasting from Old Faithful as “Today” goes on the road before Memorial Day to visit five great American summer vacation destinations in five days.

The trip kicks off Monday in Hawaii, before continuing to Yellowstone, Chicago, Orlando, Fla., and wrapping up Friday at the Jersey Shore.

“They are all places people will want to go this summer, and they are all iconic, each with their own personality,” “Today” executive producer Don Nash said by telephone Thursday.

Show anchors Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales and Willie Geist will all broadcast together from each of the five locations.

“We’ve never taken all five anchors on a trip this ambitious before,” Nash said. “I know they’re all excited, and the crews are excited.”

Those crews are made up of a small army of about 70 technical, artistic and support personnel required to pull off a live 3-hour broadcast from one of the most remote spots in the country.

Nash said he’s hoping for an eruption of Old Faithful near the start of the broadcast, and expects at least two eruptions from the reliable geyser over the course of the show. Crews have also been working on segments specific to Yellowstone, including ones on grizzly bears, wolves, wilderness survival and federal budget cuts known as the sequester.

One segment will look at the effects expected this summer as a result of the sequester on Yellowstone and other national parks, Nash said.

Rick Hoeninghausen, vice president for sales and marketing at Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the park’s primary lodging and activities concessioner, said the show was also planning a cooking segment featuring staff from the Snake River Grill in Jackson, Wyo., as well as a piece featuring Boy Scouts from Gardiner, Mont.

A ‘big deal’

Hoeninghausen has been working with staffers from “Today” to coordinate lodging, meals, equipment staging and other logistics around Old Faithful. The production will occupy nearly two dozen hotel rooms at Old Faithful, plus more in West Yellowstone, and will use satellite trucks, lights, generators and other equipment, he said.

“There’s going to be a lot of stuff,” he said. “This is a big deal.”

NBC’s “Today” show, hosted by Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer, generates a reported $500 million annually for the network. (NBC photo by Peter Kramer)

Crews are expected to begin staging equipment over the weekend and will set up lights and sets Monday, working overnight to be able to broadcast live at 5 a.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday, he said.

The main anchor desk will be located between the Old Faithful Visitor Center and the geyser itself. Another live broadcast spot will be outside near a stand of trees, with additional broadcast points in the Old Faithful Inn on the second floor balcony overlooking the lobby, and on the second-floor deck, Hoeninghausen said.

Curious Yellowstone fans may be able to watch workers as they set up by keeping an eye on the Old Faithful webcam, he said.

Also watching over the “Today” show production will be National Park Service staff members with Yellowstone’s permitting and public affairs offices, said park spokesman Al Nash.

“When it comes to any kind of a production, whether it’s a one- or two-person news crew that comes in locally or something the size of a three-hour live television broadcast, our basic focus is the same,” Nash said. “Our job is always to protect what is special about Yellowstone and minimize any impact to visitors.”

He said the “Today” crews have been “great to deal with” because they have experience broadcasting from remote locations and “understand our need to protect the place and to minimize the show’s impact to visitors.”

Nash said the broadcast is a rare chance to reach millions of viewers who will learn about key Yellowstone topics directly from park staffers, including grizzly bear biologist Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone Wolf Project leader Doug Smith and geologist Hank Heasler.

News business

Federal laws require the Park Service to charge a fee for commercial productions shot in Yellowstone, Nash said. While news agencies covering breaking events are typically exempt from permitting and fees, NBC will be assessed a fee because of the scope of the production and the demands on staff time, he said.

“But we certainly don’t treat this NBC news-produced program like we would a Hollywood film,” he said.

Whatever the fees turn out to be, NBC probably has room in the show’s budget.

According to New York Times media reporter Brian Stetler’s book “Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV,” the “Today” show generates an estimated $500 million in annual revenue for NBC, allowing the network to pay Matt Lauer a reported $25 million per year. Stetler writes that “Today” is the most lucrative property at NBC News, and effectively subsidizes programs like “Meet the Press” and “NBC Nightly News.”

Executive producer Don Nash took one of his first trips as a “Today” producer in 1995, when Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric hosted from Old Faithful. It was around that time that “Today” began an incredible streak of more than 16 years atop the morning show ratings.

But Nash, the producer, said the trip to Yellowstone wasn’t a ratings stunt, despite “Today”finally breaking its streak last year and falling behind “Good Morning America” after the tumultuous firing of co-host Ann Curry.

The “Today” show will broadcast live from 5-8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 21 from Old Faithful. Producers have invited members of the public to turn out in person to watch the production.

Perhaps not coincidental, though, is the timing of the Nielsen ratings sweeps period—a month-long interval that measures ratings for key demographics, and that can mean millions for a lucrative show like “Today.” The May sweeps period ends Wednesday, one day after “Today’s” broadcast from Yellowstone.

The production schedule won’t leave much time for sightseeing, as crews will rush after the broadcast wraps to pack up and fly off to Chicago, but Nash said he is still looking forward to seeing Yellowstone again.

“That park is one of my favorite places in the world,” he said.

Contact Ruffin Prevost at 307-213-9818 or ruffin@yellowstonegate.com.

A Buffalo Bill Cody impersonator waves to the crowd in the town named for him during the 2012 Stampede Parade in Cody, Wyo. (Yellowstone Gate/Ruffin Prevost)

By Ruffin Prevost

CODY, WYO. — As part of its marketing campaign to attract visitors to Cody, Wyo. and the surrounding area, the Park County Travel Council is promoting William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody as “the real Most Interesting Man in the World,” playing on the popularity of a fictitious hero form a series of beer commercials.

“Visit the town he created and land he loved,” says the Buffalo Bill travel ad running in publications read by likely visitors to Yellowstone National Park, including Yellowstone Gate.

After more than a century, the identity of the town and the legend of the man remain intertwined, and are repackaged and presented to visitors and residents as a mix of history and heritage, myth and marketing.

But a historian overseeing an exhaustive research project into Buffalo Bill’s papers says the real story of how the town came to be is more nuanced and complex than most people might think.

“History is complicated, and often there are not black-and-white answers to the questions of our shared past,” said Jeremy Johnston, managing editor of the Papers of William F. Cody at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

Johnston spoke Wednesday about the conflicting historical perspectives of Cody and his partner, George T. Beck, in the establishment of the town of Cody.

While the town is named after Cody, who is most widely credited as founding it, some historians argue that co-founder and partner Beck deserves as much or more credit, Johnston said.

Beck and a Sheridan, Wyo. banker, Horace Alger, had been looking into business ventures based on irrigation in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin.

Carey Act

The federal Carey Act of 1894, sponsored by Wyoming Sen. Joseph Carey, allowed private developers to create irrigation systems in the semi-arid West and sell the water rights to settlers.

The history of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody is intertwined with that of the Yellowstone National Park gateway town that bears his name. (Photo courtesy of Buffalo Bill Center of the West)

Cody was probably recruited into a plan to do just that by Alger. Beck, Cody, Alger and others founded the Shoshone Land and Irrigation Co. in 1895, Johnston said, in a bid to cash in under the Carey Act, selling water rights in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin.

Popular legend has Buffalo Bill creating the town of Cody 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.

Most of the early stories Cody told about the town and irrigation project’s initial days ignored the difficult work involved, and “instead focused on the scenic Bighorn Basin and its healthy environs in an effort to recruit settlers,” Johnston said.

Cody told a theatrical and compelling tale of the first time he saw the Bighorn Basin, Johnston said, after an eye infection had left him unable to see clearly.

“While visiting Deadwood (S.D.), a doctor prescribed a whiskey bath for his eyes. He didn’t follow through with that prescription for good reason,” Johnston said.

Cody then set out on a trip for the Bighorn Mountains with bandages over his eyes. Upon reaching the summit, he removed the bandages and looked out over the valley toward what would become the Cody town site. His vision began to return, and Cody later recalled that “no one looked upon a happier or more beautiful valley.”

Dueling hot springs

Buffalo Bill claimed it was water from DeMaris Hot Springs, at the original Cody town site, that healed his afflicted eyes. A later account in a Thermopolis, Wyo. newspaper credited the Big Spring in that town, Johnston said.

Eventually, the irrigation project had to be scaled back, and the town of Cody struggled at times to attract settlers, but it survived and continued to grow.

“Cody was one of the few success stories under the Carey Act,” Johnston said.

“Building a new community is tough. Wyoming is full of ghost towns,” he said.

While Cody and Beck had an adversarial business relationship—Cody doubted Beck’s competence and even sometimes questioned his honesty—the two men had complementary skills. Beck was able to mange the day-to-day details of the project, while Cody had money to invest and unprecedented global fame to promote their new settlement.

The town of Cody probably would have survived if Beck had teamed up with a less famous partner, Johnston said, but it would today be similar to other decidedly less famous Wyoming towns near irrigation projects, like Lovell or Wheatland.

Ultimately, it may be Cody’s fame and continuing status as a mythic Western figure that has meant the most to the town.

“The town probably would have made it, but I don’t think it would be the community we have now,” he said. “We certainly wouldn’t have the spirit of the West that we have today without Buffalo Bill Cody.”

Contact Ruffin Prevost at 307-213-9818 or ruffin@yellowstonegate.com.

The Today show will be visiting Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday.

By Ruffin Prevost

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.

Here are some suggestions with great photographs that viewers contributed via the Twitter social network using the hashtag “#TODAYinYellowstone.” Feel free to share your own ideas in our comments section or using the same hashtag.

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A commercial tour boat cruises Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. (Yellowstone Gate/Ruffin Prevost)

From Staff Reports

In order to more thoroughly protect the waters of Yellowstone National Park, all watercraft entering the park’s lakes must first pass an Aquatic Invasive Species inspection as part of the boat-permitting process.

National Park Service staff will also conduct daily required inspections, seven days per week this summer, for all boats that launch from Bridge Bay, Grant Village and Lewis Lake boat ramps, according to a statement released by the park’s public affairs office.

Aquatic invasive species are non-native plants and animals that can have significant negative ecological and economic effects on the park’s natural resources. Examples of destructive species that have become established in park waters over the past several years include New Zealand mudsnails, whirling disease and lake trout in Yellowstone Lake.

These species not only damage Yellowstone waters, but they may also harm the delicate balance of the entire ecosystem. They also require a great deal of time and money in personnel and equipment required to study them and remove them from park waters; in many cases, removal is not feasible.

Since 2009, Yellowstone’s AIS program staff has had contact with more than 7,000 park boaters and performed more than 3,000 watercraft inspections, which resulted in more than 120 affected boats being cleaned with the use of a non-chemical AIS decontamination treatment.

Motorized boating is allowed on Yellowstone and Lewis lakes.  Only non-motorized boating is allowed on most other park lakes, and permits are required for all boats and float tubes.

The park’s South Entrance, Grant Village Backcountry Office and Bridge Bay Ranger Station sell boat permits, while the Mammoth Backcountry Office, Lewis Lake Campground and West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center sell only non-motorized permits. The Northeast Entrance, Bechler Ranger Station and Canyon and Old Faithful backcountry offices sell only float tube permits.

Watercraft owners must pass an AIS inspection or have their affected watercraft treated prior to being issued a permit.

Information on boating and boat permitting in Yellowstone can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/boating.htm.

Information on AIS can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/fishingexotics.htm.

Male sage grouse perform elaborate courtship displayes to attract a mate, and are among the rare birds visitors can expect to see this week during the Spring Into Yellowstone birding and wildlife festival. (click to enlarge)

By Ruffin Prevost

CODY, WYO. — Locals across the greater Yellowstone area know that spring is a great time to see birds and wildlife before the crowds of summer visitors arrive, and warmer temperatures push the animals to higher elevations.

Now, a new birding and wildlife festival starting in Cody, Wyo. this week aims to attract visitors to experience the early season, while reminding residents of the rich and diverse range of resources just outside Yellowstone National Park’s eastern boundary.

Spring Into Yellowstone runs May 15-19, and includes a trade show, film screenings, art events and an impressive line-up of field tours to see birds, wildlife and natural landscapes across a vast expanse of varying terrain.

Early response to the festival itinerary has been good, with many attendees saying they are surprised at how many events are on the schedule, said Jill Osiecki Gleich, events coordinator for the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce.

“In some ways, they’re overwhelmed. It’s really hard to explain how much is going on until you’ve looked at the schedule of events,” she said.

Nearly three dozen events are planned between Wednesday and Sunday, including a trade show, art instruction, photography workshops, film screenings and several guided tours and hikes.

While Yellowstone is a key draw for many visitors, much of the festival focuses on landscapes located east of the park, around Cody and the Bighorn Basin.

“We have so much more to offer beyond Yellowstone here in area, so this is a great way to give those places some exposure,” Gleich said.

A number of festival partners are cooperating in an effort to showcase resources with specific connections to their particular organizations.

For instance, biologists from the Shoshone National Forest will lead tours to spot grizzly bears along the North Fork of the Shoshone River, between Cody and Yellowstone; recreation planners from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will lead a nature hike on Bald Ridge; Wyoming Game and Fish Department staff members will lead a trip through the 19,424-acre Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area near Lovell; and the nonprofit Friends of a Legacy group will guide visitors through the McCullough Peaks Wild Horse Management Area.

Other partners for the festival include the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the Meadowlark Audubon Society and the National Park Service.

For more information, including a complete schedule of all events, visit springintoyellowstone.com.

Gleich said those who have booked early tickets include hardcore bird-watchers out to see elusive species like a sage grouse, but also visitors interested in art, geology and wildlife.

Many festival events, including several tours and field trips, are free. Space is still available for most events, although some are beginning to fill up, including a sold-out field trip on Saturday to view birds and other wildlife in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley with Park Service raptor biologist Lisa Baril.

Contact Ruffin Prevost at 307-213-9818 or ruffin@yellowstonegate.com.

The National Park Service is seeking comments on a plan to upgrade eletrical power infrastructure in Yellowstone National Park, including at power stations like this one at Lake.

From Staff Reports

The National Park Service is seeking public comment regarding a capital improvement plan proposed by the utility company that provides electrical service to Yellowstone National Park.

The Park Service is planning an environmental assessment to analyze impacts associated with a proposal by NorthWestern Energy to construct new radio towers in Yellowstone and make upgrades to the park’s electrical grid, according to a statement released by the park’s public affairs office.

NorthWestern Energy wants to build seven new 60-foot towers, small equipment buildings, back-up power generators, and propane fuel tanks at seven existing substation sites inside the park.

These infrastructure improvements are being proposed to provide remote computer monitoring and control of the electrical distribution system and to replace an obsolete radio communications system utility crews need when working inside Yellowstone.

Park officials said the improvements are intended to reduce the number and duration of power outages in the park, which impact the visitor experience, park operations, and visitor and employee safety, and to improve safe communications for utility crews during repair operations.

The first step in preparing an environmental assessment is to ask the public to help identify issues or concerns that park staff should consider. This process, known as public scoping, is now open and runs through June 13, 2013.

The public is encouraged to attend one of the following public meetings to learn more about the proposal:

• Tuesday, May 21 in Cody, Wyo.: Park County Library Grizzly Hall, 1500 Heart Mountain Street
• Wednesday, May 22 in Bozeman, Mont.:  Holiday Inn, 5 Baxter Lane East

Both open house-style meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and are scheduled to conclude by 7:45 p.m.

Additional information on the proposal along with instructions on how to submit comments online at the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/NWEPlan.

Respondents are encouraged to submit their comments through the PEPC website. Comments may also be mailed to the National Park Service, Compliance Office, Attn: NorthWestern Energy Communication and Automation Plan, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190. Comments may also be hand-delivered during normal business hours to the Mailroom in the park’s Administration Building in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming.

This project will be developed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and other applicable laws, regulations, and policies.

Comments will not be accepted by fax, e-mail, or in any other way than those specified above. Bulk comments in any format (hard copy or electronic) submitted on behalf of others will not be accepted. Comments must be received by midnight MDT, June 13, 2013.

A museum at the Colter Bay Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park tells the story of native peoples of the region and the surrounding intermountain West. (Ruffin Prevost/Yellowstone Gate)

From Staff Reports

Each year, Grand Teton National Park sponsors a program that brings American Indian artists to the Colter Bay Visitor Center. For the past 38 years, artisans from diverse tribes have demonstrated their traditional and contemporary art forms, providing visitors a chance to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of Indian cultures that are alive and active across North America.

Participating artists share the cultural traditions of their tribes through demonstrated art forms such as painting, weaving, pottery, beadwork, and musical instruments.

Guest artists exhibit daily from Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., adjacent to the Grand Teton Association bookstore at the visitor center. Artists also offer their finished items for purchase. The schedule for the 2013 season includes:

 

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, left, shakes hands with Cody Country Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Scott Balyo as Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk looks on. The men were among those attending a luncheon Friday at Old Faithful Lodge to mark the end of National Travel and Tourism Week and the successulf cooperative effort to plow park roads. (Ruffin Prevost/Yellowstone Gate)

By Ruffin Prevost

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, 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.

Last week, the East Entrance from Cody, Wyo. opened on schedule as well, after tourism leaders and public officials in both communities led fund-raising campaigns to help cover the cost of snow removal along roads into the park.

So Old Faithful was perhaps a fitting location, as dozens of state, local and federal dignitaries gathered to mark the end of National Travel and Tourism Week, as well as the opening of all major roads within Yellowstone. Only Dunraven Pass, between Canyon and Tower, remains closed, and it is typically the last point in the park to be plowed.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead joined Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk and others for a luncheon to celebrate a cooperative snow-plowing effort that reversed what would have been the most visible effect of federal budget cuts in Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk, left, shakes hands with Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Friday during a luncheon at Old Faithful Lodge to mark the end of National Travel and Tourism Week and the successulf cooperative effort to plow park roads. (Ruffin Prevost/Yellowstone Gate)

Mead approved a plan in March that allowed roughly $125,000 in mostly private money to pay for Wyoming Department of Transportation plows and workers to clear portions of the east entrance road from Cody and the south entrance road from Jackson. Public lodging tax funds from Jackson and general fund dollars from Cody and Park County also helped pay for the effort.

Wenk said that most July and August visitors won’t know or necessarily care that roads were plowed on time in May, but the local funding helped the park open on time without requiring other “ripple-effect” cuts. He called the local funding for plowing “a great gift to the American public.”

Mead said that local leaders “should be very proud of what your communities have done in coming together,” and called the effort “a great Wyoming success story.”

Local leaders feared that a late start to the summer tourist season would result in lingering misperceptions nationwide that the parks were either closed or operating on a limited basis.

But quick action by tourism boosters and public officials helped spread the word about the local plowing effort, supplemented by online fundraising and a strong public relations campaign.

The effort seems to be working, with vacation planners getting the message that both parks are open for business as usual with only minimal cuts in services, said said Rick Hoeninghausen, vice president for sales and marketing at Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the park’s primary lodging and activities concessioner.

So far, advance bookings for Yellowstone are up over last year, he said.

Mead and others who spoke Friday noted that both parks are important to local residents and visitors for reasons that go beyond dollars and cents.

“Besides the economic end of it, there are also the people who plan their vacations around those dates,” said Jerry Fritz, a Cody City Council member who is also a Wyoming Department of Transportation worker who helped plow roads in Yellowstone.

The across-the-board spending cuts required under the sequester has meant reductions in services in other national parks across the country, including at neighboring Grand Teton National Park. An effort there to trim $700,000 from the last half of the fiscal year’s operating budget will mean closed campsites, toilets and other facilities, as well as reduced hours at visitor centers.

But as in Yellowstone, local groups have stepped in to help. Private charities and Grand Teton friends groups have allocated grant money to help fund operations at visitor centers there.

Fritz said the plowing went a little easier than expected, and Wyoming crews finished work ahead of schedule and under budget. A final accounting from WYDOT is expected sometime next week, said Jackson Mayor Mark Barron.

“There were so many people who contributed to this cooperative and successful effort,” said Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash. “That shouldn’t be so remarkable, but in this case, it is.”

A few in attendance noted that the luncheon was an elaborate exercise to celebrate what should be a routine function of government, with the most pointed criticism reserved for Congress, which failed to resolve the deadlock over the sequester.

Mead said the Washington, D.C. approach to such issues was one of placing blame, rather than resolving problems.

“But this ain’t D.C.,” he said with a broad smile before signing a proclamation supporting National Travel and Tourism Week. “This is Wyoming.”

Contact Ruffin Prevost at 307-213-9818 or ruffin@yellowstonegate.com.

Tower Falls in Yellowstone National Park as photographed by William Henry Jackson in 1871.

By M. Mark Miller

In 1870, the now-famous Washburn Expedition explored the remote area that became Yellowstone National Park. While the explorers always had to be alert for the dangers of Indians, wild animals, and strange geothermal features, they also found ways to have fun. Here’s Nathaniel P. Langford’s description of  one of the pranks they played on each other.

Tower Falls

At the outset of our journey we had agreed that we would not give to any object of interest that we might discover the name of any of our party nor of our friends. This rule was to be religiously observed.

While in camp on Sunday, August 28th, on the bank of this creek, it was suggested that we select a name for the creek and fall. Walter Trumbull suggested “Minaret Creek” and “Minaret Fall.” Mr. Hauser suggested “Tower Creek” and “Tower Fall.” After some discussion a vote was taken, and by a small majority, the name “Minaret” was decided upon.

During the following evening Mr. Hauser stated with great seriousness that we had violated the agreement made relative to naming objects for our friends. He said that the well known Southern family—the Rhetts—lived in St. Louis, and that they had a most charming and accomplished daughter named “Minnie.” He said that this daughter was a sweetheart of Trumbull, who had proposed the name, her name, “Minnie Rhett” — and that we had unwittingly given to the fall and creek the name of this sweetheart of Mr. Trumbull.

Mr. Trumbull indignantly denied the truth of Hauser’s statement, and Hauser as determinedly insisted that it was the truth. The vote was therefore reconsidered, and by a substantial majority it was decided to substitute the name “Tower” for “Minaret.” Later, and when it was too late to recall or reverse the action of our party, it was surmised that Hauser himself had a sweetheart in St. Louis — a Miss Tower.

Read more tales of early travel in Yellowstone like this excerpt from N. P. Langford’s The Discovery of Yellowstone Park, in M. Mark Miller’s Adventures in Yellowstone: Early Travelers Tell Their Tales.