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VP Pence visits Old Faithful in push for park maintenance funding

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Relying on a spectacular display of mother nature to drive his point home, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday called for additional funding for America’s national parks, saying they are “extraordinary treasures in the life of our nation.” Pence was joined in Yellowstone National Park by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly. The Vice President spoke in front of a well-timed, routine eruption from the reliable Old Faithful Geyser to push for a Congressional appropriation to address deferred maintenance in America’s national parks. The Trump administration is backing a bipartisan bill that would set aside an estimated $6.8 billion over 10 years to be spent on a $16 billion maintenance backlog at Interior. Nearly $12 billion of that is needed by the National Park Service to repair campgrounds, roads, bridges, visitor centers, trails and other infrastructure. Continue Reading →

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Youth program tackles tough projects in Grand Teton

Participants in the Grand Teton National Park Youth Conservation Program move a log during a trail project.

From fixing trails to pulling weeds, there's no end to the wide variety of thankless tasks to be done in Grand Teton National Park. But thanks to a program funded by the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, teens from across the country get to spend an unforgettable summer in the park, and visitors get to enjoy the productive labor of 20 young people working together on jobs that otherwise might not get done. Continue Reading →

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Pilgrim Creek Road Closure in Grand Teton extended through June 21

Contractors in 2009 resurface part of an 11-mile stretch of road in Yellowstone National Park between the Lewis River Bridge and the park's South Entrance. New construction after Labor Day 2014 will mean fall closures and detours in the park.

The temporary closure of Pilgrim Creek Road, located between Jackson Lake Lodge and Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton National Park, will be extended while a contractor continues to haul and stage gravel along the length of this unpaved road in preparation for an improvement project scheduled for July. Continue Reading →

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Reconstruction plan approved for historic Yellowstone bridge

A two-year project to reconstruct a historic bridge in Yellowstone National Park will move forward after a planning review concluded last month that the work would have no significant environmental impact. Reconstruction of the Isa Lake bridge, which spans a section of the road connecting West Thumb and Old Faithful, will proceed when funding becomes available through the Federal Lands Highway Program, according to a statement released by the park's public affairs office. Continue Reading →

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Hot ground prompts boardwalk shift in Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park's geyser basins see constant shifts and changes. New features heat up while others cool down. This is a normal process in the geyser basins and is monitored using a range of advanced technologies, allowing the National Park Service to take action to mitigate the situation. In the Upper Geyser Basin, a hot spring across the boardwalk from Scallop Spring (just across the bridge by Castle Geyser) has gradually expanded to the point where the heat from it now weakens the wood of the boardwalk above it. Other areas of hot ground have been detected nearby as well, and the decision was made to move the boardwalk away from this increasingly unstable ground. Continue Reading →

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Grand Teton trail improvements mean temporary closures, route changes

Beginning Monday, June 10, hikers in Grand Teton National Park using the southern portion of the popular Jenny Lake trail to Hidden Falls and Cascade Canyon will need to take an upper trail segment beyond Moose Ponds junction. This reroute will be in place for 2-4 weeks while significant restoration work is done along the more often used shoreline trail. Continue Reading →

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Yellowstone’s Black Sand Basin closed for boardwalk repairs

Access to Yellowstone National Park’s Black Sand Basin will be temporarily closed until at least the Memorial Day weekend while maintenance crews replace and reroute a section of boardwalk that has been damaged by the area’s thermal features. The closure will include the entire boardwalk around the basin as well as the associated public parking area, according to a statement released by the park's public affairs office. Trails leading into the basin will also be signed and marked to protect visitors. Continue Reading →

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