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Thermal imaging offers high-tech look at disease among Yellowstone wolves

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Thermal imaging reveals a bright blue patch near the shoulder of a captive wolf, whose fur was shaved to simulate the effects of sarcoptic mange.

A high-tech method for detecting disease in domestic cattle is helping researchers in Yellowstone National Park learn more about how sarcoptic mange effects gray wolf survival and behavior during the park's long, cold winters. For Paul Cross, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, a moment of insight came when he learned how thermal imaging was used in the cattle industry to detect cows infected with foot-and-mouth disease. The heat-sensitive cameras can pick up on the heat caused by related inflammation in a cow's hoof within a day or two of contracting the disease. Heat-sensing videocameras could help show the metabolic costs of mange in specific wolves, Ross realized. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Research, Science & Nature, Wildlife, Yellowstone, Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, mange, paul cross, thermography

Yellowstone among 60 sites proposed for major long-term climate change study

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An image from a promotional video by the National Ecological Observatory Network shows what a sample monitoring station might look like. Yellowstone National Park has been selected as one of 60 proposed NEON sites.

A site in Yellowstone National Park has been proposed as one of 60 key monitoring stations in what is shaping up to be the largest long-term study of climate change in North America. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Ecological Observatory Network will gather a wide range of data at sites spread among 20 distinct eco-climatic domains across the United States. The project, budgeted at $60 million for the 2013 fiscal year, is designed to run for 30 years or longer in an effort to help researchers track the long-term effects of climate change across the entire continent. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Research, Science & Nature, Yellowstone, climate change, data, NEON, research

Program helps gateway area businesses give back to Yellowstone

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The Yellowstone Park Foundation is recruiting businesses across the greater Yellowstone area for a new program designed to help them give back to Yellowstone, and receive benefits in return. "Many area businesses have asked YPF how they can give back to Yellowstone, because the Park gives us all so much," said YPF President Karen Bates Kress. "When a business joins the program, their entire membership fee supports the Park, and can be directed to help a specific project." Kress will speak Monday during the Cody Club luncheon at noon at the club room of the Cody Auditorium, offering details on the program for interested local business owners. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gateway Towns, gateway businesses for the park, Yellowstone Outdoors, yellowstone park foundation

‘Geyser Gazers’ patiently wait for Yellowstone eruptions

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Self-described 'geyser gazer' Ryan Maurer takes notes after the eruptions of Lion Geyser in Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone is home to two-thirds of the world’s geysers, attracting visitors from around the world. Most catch Old Faithful and may wander the boardwalks and accidentally witness other eruptions. Some look at the schedule in the visitor’s office listing the times for the six predictable regular geysers, Great Fountain, Grand, Castle, Daisy and Riverside along with Old Faithful, and plan their day in hopes of catching those in action. But a dedicated few devote weeks, and sometimes entire summers, to waiting, watching and recording eruptions. These are geyser gazers and members of the Geyser Observation and Study Association. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Geology, People, Science & Nature, Yellowstone, geyser gazers, geysers, morning glory pool, old faithful

Yellowstone taking permit applications for self-guided snowmobile tours

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Commercial snowmobile guide John Davis leads visitors through Yellowstone National Park during a 2007 day trip.

For the first time in more than a decade, winter visitors to Yellowstone National Park will have a chance to tour the park by snowmobile without using a commercial guide. The National Park Service announced this week that it is accepting applications for non-commercially guided snowmobile trips. The program will be run as a lottery through a federal public lands website where prospective visitors may select their preferred dates and submit an online request. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Plan Your Visit, Yellowstone, self-guided, snowmobiles, winter use

Visitor crashes drone into Yellowstone’s largest hot spring

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Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. Its colors are the result of different forms of microbial life thriving in different temperature zones.

Officials are considering whether to use a manned helicopter flight to try and locate a drone that has crashed into the largest hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. Several eyewitnesses watched Saturday as a small drone aircraft crashed and sank into Grand Prismatic Spring, and the incident remains under investigation. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Yellowstone, drones, grand prismatic spring, midway geyser basin, thermal features

Yellowstone manages people instead of grizzlies during bear jams

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Yellowstone visitors would pay an additional $41 to ensure seeing roadside grizzlies, a study shows, and the attraction creates 155 jobs and more than $10 million a year for the regional economy. The $41 visitors would pay is on top of the $25-per-vehicle entrance fee. If Yellowstone no longer allowed grizzly bears to use roadside habitat — and instead chased, moved or killed them — the regional economy would lose more than $10 million a year and 155 jobs according to the paper “The economics of roadside bear viewing.” Continue Reading →

Filed under: Grand Teton, News, Research, Science & Nature, Wildlife, Yellowstone, grizzly bears, kerry gunther

Photo Gallery: Hells Angels 2006 World Run in Cody

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A Hells Angels motorcycle club member from Austria and one from Germany watch a mock gunfight at the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyo. during the group's 2006 World Run this week.

In 2006, an estimated 1,300 Hells Angels motorcycle club members and their associates gathered in Cody, Wyo. for the group's World Run. Cody Police Chief Perry Rockvam said he has been informed by federal officials that the group is planning to return to Cody this summer for its U.S. run, which could draw approximately 600 bikers from the group. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gateway Towns, Photos & Videos, cody, hells angels, photos

Yellowstone thermal features produce unexpectedly high amounts of helium

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Researchers collect gas samples form a fumarole in Yellowstone National Park as part of a study aimed at learning more about the processes at work beneath the park's thermal features.

Scenic vistas, abundant wildlife, and now, new research shows there's yet another uplifting reason to visit Yellowstone National Park. Scientists studying the thermal features in Yellowstone have found that a surprisingly high amount of helium escapes every day through vents, pools and other cracks in the earth's crust. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Yellowstone, helium, jacob lowenstern, research, thermal features, yellowstone volcano observatory

Yellowstone winter tour operators wary of new concessions contracts

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Yellowstone National Park managers passed a major milestone last week with the release of a final winter-use rule that appears to have gained widespread acceptance as a workable solution to 15 years of ongoing legal challenges over snowmobile travel in the park. But it's unlikely park planners will have much time to celebrate their success, as there is a large piece of the winter-use puzzle that remains unsolved. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gateway Towns, Yellowstone, Clyde Seely, concessions, dan wenk, david mccray, Gary Fales, snow coaches