{"id":9332,"date":"2014-01-17T11:44:06","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T18:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332"},"modified":"2014-01-18T07:48:31","modified_gmt":"2014-01-18T14:48:31","slug":"yellowstone-asks-wyoming-to-adopt-orphan-beartooth-highway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332","title":{"rendered":"Yellowstone asks Wyoming to adopt &#8216;orphan&#8217; Beartooth Highway"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_9335\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9335\" style=\"width: 771px\" class=\"wp-caption right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9335\" alt=\"The Beartooth Highway is a high-altitude scenic byway that snakes along the Montana-Wyoming border and tops out at nearly 11,000 feet. \" src=\"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass-771x505.jpg\" width=\"771\" height=\"505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass-771x505.jpg 771w, https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass-336x220.jpg 336w, https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass-768x503.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass-400x262.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9335\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Beartooth Highway is a high-altitude scenic byway that snakes along the Montana-Wyoming border and tops out at nearly 11,000 feet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk traveled to Cheyenne on Thursday to ask Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and state transportation officials to participate in a unique adopt-a-highway program.<\/p>\n<p>Wenk wasn&#8217;t looking for volunteers to clean up roadside litter. Instead, he asked Wyoming to take ownership of an &#8220;orphan&#8221; stretch of the <a href=\"http:\/\/beartoothhighway.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Beartooth Highway<\/a>. The soaring, scenic byway connects the Montana towns of Cooke City and Red Lodge, but it also passes through nearly 35 miles of high country just inside Wyoming&#8217;s northern boundary.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Mead nor members of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dot.state.wy.us\/home\/administration\/transportation_commission.default.html\" target=\"_blank\">Wyoming Transportation Commission<\/a>\u2014which governs the state&#8217;s Department of Transportation\u2014appear eager to take on the massive financial burden that would come with assuming ownership of the road.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h4>Beartooth Highway<br \/>\nAt a Glance<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h5>68 miles long, requires up to 3 hours to drive.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>Highest point is Beartooth Pass at 10, 947 ft.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>First opened to autos June 14, 1936.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>Passes through 3 National Forests.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>Connects Montana&#8217;s Cooke City and Red Lodge.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>Generates $45 million in annual tourism spending.<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The question of who should pay to maintain the Beartooth Highway has been a political football almost since the road&#8217;s completion in 1936. The issue has resurfaced after Congressional budget battles last year brought deep spending cuts under Sequestration to kick off Yellowstone&#8217;s summer. The season ended with a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/2013\/11\/federal-budget-battles-leave-lingering-scars-on-parks-gateway-towns\/\" target=\"_blank\">two-week closure of all national parks<\/a> under a partial federal government shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>The National Park Service has assumed responsibility for most of the highway since the 1940s. But Wenk told Commission members that Yellowstone&#8217;s newly reduced budget is now stretched too thin to make the Beartooth a prime concern.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The work we do on the Beartooth Highway will always be secondary to the work we do in the park,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m telling you it can&#8217;t be our highest priority.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Beartooth Highway is the only project funded and completed through the federal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cflhd.gov\/projects\/archive\/wy\/beartooth\/routeHistory.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Park Approach Act of 1931<\/a>, according to records from the Central Federal Lands Highway Division. A 1982 Interior Department legal opinion determined that, until a state or other entity assumes ownership of a segment, the Park Service has &#8220;the responsibility for the usual maintenance actions such as repaving, filling potholes, striping and even reconstruction of the road.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Changing travel trends<\/h2>\n<p>A 2006 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fhwa.dot.gov\/publications\/publicroads\/06jul\/03.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">report by the Federal Highway Administration<\/a> states that &#8220;in the early years, Wyoming was never expected or formally asked to maintain&#8221; its portion of the road, which primarily serves Red Lodge, Cooke City and Yellowstone.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9339\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9339\" style=\"width: 336px\" class=\"wp-caption right\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9339\" alt=\"Danyel Straight-Chitwood photographs a scenic view from a bus during a 2010 trip along the Beartooth Highway.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth01-336x196.jpg\" width=\"336\" height=\"196\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9339\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Danyel Straight-Chitwood photographs a scenic view from a bus during a 2010 trip along the Beartooth Highway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But commissioners were reminded that automobile travel and tourism patterns have changed over the decades, and the route connects with Wyoming&#8217;s Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, bringing an estimated $20 million in annual tourist spending to the gateway town of Cody.<\/p>\n<p>Montana began maintaining 15 miles of the eastern section of the road in 1965, but most of the highway remains unclaimed by either state, according to FHA records. That includes a nearly 10-mile Montana segment\u2014from Yellowstone&#8217;s Northeast Gate through Cooke City to the Wyoming line\u2014that is still maintained by the Park Service.<\/p>\n<p>Portions of the highway are in poor condition, and neither state has wanted to assume the long-term costs of plowing, maintenance and reconstruction.<\/p>\n<p>WYDOT chief engineer Del McOmie told the Commission that fixing outstanding issues on Wyoming sections of the highway would cost &#8220;many tens of millions of dollars,&#8221; and estimated annual maintenance expenses at $480,000 or more.<\/p>\n<p>The Beartooth has been nominated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, and McOmie said that the highway&#8217;s designation as a historical route could complicate and raise the cost of future design and repair work. He also stated that Wyoming already has a $64 million shortfall in maintaining existing roads.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce McCormack, editor and publisher of the Cody Enterprise, is one of seven Transportation Commission members representing three- and four-county regions across Wyoming. He said after the meeting that the Commission is &#8220;obviously concerned about the high and uncertain construction and maintenance costs,&#8221; as well as the highway&#8217;s pending historic designation.<\/p>\n<p>Allowing Wyoming to plow its segment of the Beartooth Highway is an idea some Cody business leaders have raised as a way to free up funds in Yellowstone&#8217;s budget for plowing park entrances on time, while also ensuring the Beartooth is open by Memorial Day weekend each year.<\/p>\n<p>McOmie said a state statute typically prohibits WYDOT employees from working on roads that aren&#8217;t part of Wyoming&#8217;s highway system, which the Beartooth is not.<\/p>\n<h2>More cooperation possible<\/h2>\n<p>Kim Capron, project coordinator for <a href=\"http:\/\/beartoothhighway.com\/beartooth-highway-friends\/\" target=\"_blank\">Friends of the Beartooth All-American Road<\/a>, said a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/2013\/05\/feds-locals-celebrate-cooperative-plowing-effort-as-yellowstone-south-gate-opens\/\" target=\"_blank\">cooperative effort last spring between WYDOT and the Park Service to plow Yellowstone roads leading to Cody<\/a> and Jackson, Wyo. proved that the state could work out a similar agreement for the Beartooth.<\/p>\n<p>The Park Approach Act gave the Park Service authority to contract for maintenance of the road, but it never established a funding mechanism for maintaining the highway.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9345\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9345\" style=\"width: 336px\" class=\"wp-caption right\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/mead-balyo-handshake-lo-res1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9345\" alt=\"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 May 2013 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)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/mead-balyo-handshake-lo-res1-336x221.jpg\" width=\"336\" height=\"221\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9345\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">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 May 2013 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)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;That road is a national treasure, but we can never get to the point where someone cares enough to fund it properly,&#8221; Capron said.<\/p>\n<p>She praised the creative funding approaches WYDOT has adopted in recent years in seeking federal grants for the highway, as well as how the agency has cooperated closely with Montana and federal agencies to rehabilitate small sections of the road as money becomes available.<\/p>\n<p>WYDOT officials have long said they would only consider adopting the road if it is brought up to the state&#8217;s maintenance standards. Even if that happened, there appears to be little upside for Wyoming in taking over the road.<\/p>\n<p>While it might free up money in Yellowstone&#8217;s budget to ensure that spring plowing inside the park stays on schedule, many Wyoming officials are quick to point out that is already part of the Park Service&#8217;s job.<\/p>\n<p>Mead spokesman Renny MacKay said the governor believes &#8220;the Park Service should prepare a budget that provides for plowing its roads, opening on time and otherwise meeting its management responsibilities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash characterized the meeting between Wenk and Mead as &#8220;cordial,&#8221; and said they also discussed winter use, bison management and other issues.<\/p>\n<p>Both MacKay and McCormack said Thursday&#8217;s meetings were informative, and are likely to be followed by additional discussions and further consideration. But no immediate action from Wyoming is planned in response to Wenk&#8217;s request.<\/p>\n<p>Studies have shown that children are typically less likely to be adopted as they get older. Based on the cautious initial reactions to Wenk&#8217;s request, the adoption prospects don&#8217;t seem bright for the 78-year-old orphan that is the Beartooth Highway.<\/p>\n<p><i>Contact Ruffin Prevost at 307-213-9818 or <\/i><a href=\"mailto:ruffin@yellowstonegate.com\"><i>ruffin@yellowstonegate.com<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk traveled to Cheyenne on Thursday to ask Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and state transportation officials to participate in a unique adopt-a-highway program.<\/p>\n<p>Wenk wasn&#8217;t looking for volunteers to clean up roadside litter. Instead, he asked Wyoming to take ownership of an &#8220;orphan&#8221; stretch of the Beartooth Highway. The soaring, scenic byway connects the Montana towns of Cooke City and Red Lodge, but it also passes through nearly 35 miles of high country just inside Wyoming&#8217;s northern boundary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[621,550,172,529,131,930],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yellowstone asks Wyoming to adopt &#039;orphan&#039; Beartooth Highway - Yellowstone Gate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yellowstone asks Wyoming to adopt &#039;orphan&#039; Beartooth Highway - Yellowstone Gate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk traveled to Cheyenne on Thursday to ask Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and state transportation officials to participate in a unique adopt-a-highway program.  Wenk wasn&#039;t looking for volunteers to clean up roadside litter. Instead, he asked Wyoming to take ownership of an &quot;orphan&quot; stretch of the Beartooth Highway. The soaring, scenic byway connects the Montana towns of Cooke City and Red Lodge, but it also passes through nearly 35 miles of high country just inside Wyoming&#039;s northern boundary.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Yellowstone Gate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-17T18:44:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-18T14:48:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ruffin Prevost\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/ruffinprevost\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ruffin Prevost\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ruffin Prevost\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1a1f8e053cac2fd776df966853da767b\"},\"headline\":\"Yellowstone asks Wyoming to adopt &#8216;orphan&#8217; 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The soaring, scenic byway connects the Montana towns of Cooke City and Red Lodge, but it also passes through nearly 35 miles of high country just inside Wyoming's northern boundary.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332","og_site_name":"Yellowstone Gate","article_published_time":"2014-01-17T18:44:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-01-18T14:48:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":590,"url":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/beartooth-pass.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ruffin Prevost","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/ruffinprevost","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ruffin Prevost","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?p=9332"},"author":{"name":"Ruffin Prevost","@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1a1f8e053cac2fd776df966853da767b"},"headline":"Yellowstone asks Wyoming to adopt &#8216;orphan&#8217; 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Beartooth Highway"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/","name":"Yellowstone Gate","description":"Yellowstone and Grand Teton community news &amp; inside views","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#organization","name":"Yellowstone Gate","url":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/yellowstone-gate-logo-horiz.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/yellowstone-gate-logo-horiz.png","width":764,"height":152,"caption":"Yellowstone Gate"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1a1f8e053cac2fd776df966853da767b","name":"Ruffin Prevost","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.yellowstonegate.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d0e481cc4687c8e4bfe58eda8e58f83?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d0e481cc4687c8e4bfe58eda8e58f83?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ruffin Prevost"},"description":"Ruffin Prevost is founding editor of Yellowstone Gate, an independent, online news service about Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks and their gateway communities. 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