Yellowstone Gate (https://www.yellowstonegate.com/tag/trending/page/4/)
Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials are seeking information about the illegal killing of two gray wolves in the Gros Ventre area near Jackson, Wyo., east of Grand Teton National Park. Two wolves shot in separate incidents in December were both poached—killed in a way that doesn't comply with the state's wildlife and hunting laws—officials said in a statement released Tuesday. Continue Reading →
Most of the earliest Yellowstone National Park tourists came from Montana because that’s where the access rivers ran. The north entrance via the Yellowstone River was 60 miles from the farm town of Bozeman, and the west entrance via the Madison was 90 miles from the gold rush town of Virginia City. Both rivers flow through rugged canyons that made travel difficult. In fact, the Madison Canyon was so bad that early travelers chose to cross the continental divide twice to avoid it. But that was a small sacrifice. Passage over the Raynolds and Targhee Passes was relatively easy. Besides, traveling this route provided the reward of a stop at Henry’s Lake. Continue Reading →
Cave Falls in the southwestern corner of Yellowstone National Park is only about 20 feet tall, but what it lacks in height, it makes up for in width. At 250 feet wide, there is no wider waterfall in the park, and it's a short and easy hike from the parking area to view Cave Falls. The Bechler area of Yellowstone is a remote section that most folks have never heard of, much less visited. Unlike the five major entrances to the park, the vehicle entrance at Bechler gets you just inside Yellowstone's boundaries, but not much further. Continue Reading →
As another winter season in Yellowstone National Park begins, it might be understandable if some local residents are pessimistic about resolving long-standing disputes over snowmobiles in the park and other related winter-use issues. Local tourism workers and environmental advocates have had front-row seats to more than a decade of public debate and court challenges over the effects of snowmobiles in the park, as well as whether to maintain access over Sylvan Pass, at the park's East Entrance. But surprisingly, gateway community business leaders are expressing optimism—even satisfaction—with the direction park managers are taking on winter use. And not just because the most recent draft plan calls for continued snowmobile access and keeping Sylvan Pass open. Continue Reading →
Yellowstone National Park managers have decided against establishing new backcountry use restrictions in the Hayden Valley after an extensive review of grizzly bear attacks throughout the park over the last four decades. A range of potential restrictions on hikers in the Hayden Valley were up for consideration in response to two separate fatal bear attacks there in summer 2011. Park officials will instead focus on improving safety messages for day hikers. Continue Reading →
A Texas woman is rejoicing after a stranger returned a ring she lost nearly a year ago in Grand Teton National Park. Toni Leigh Chandler said her faith in humanity was restored after she opened a package containing her Texas A&M University graduation ring, which she lost just before Christmas on a vacation to the Tetons. Continue Reading →
Researchers are continuing to find new and unique properties in the thermal features of Yellowstone National Park, with a recent study suggesting that novel microbes found in the Norris Geyser Basin might someday help in unlocking more environmentally friendly forms of energy. Detailed and complex genetic analyses carried out by scientists from Montana State University and other laboratories have yielded what appears to be a new phylum of archaea — a new branch on the tree of life that could lead to new methods of carbon sequestration or producing biofuels. Continue Reading →
A report by a Yellowstone National Park bear specialist allaying misplaced concerns that menstruating women might be at greater risk of bear attack has been drawing headlines this month, perhaps as much for its unusual subject matter as for its findings. The report states that "there is no evidence that grizzly and black bears are overly attracted to menstrual odors more than any other odor." Continue Reading →
It's no secret to even casual naturalists that the age of a tree can be determined by counting the rings in its cross-section. But researchers in the greater Yellowstone area are building on that technique and expanding the field of dendrochronology to learn new secrets about how landscapes were affected decades or centuries ago by people, climate and fire. "We're interested in learning as much as we can from the wood, in finding out what stories trees tell," said Marcy Reiser, a dendrochronologist with the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado. Continue Reading →
One of the busiest and most heavily used areas in Grand Teton National Park will be revitalized and overhauled under a long-term plan to improve trails and facilities that have suffered under high visitor traffic. Grand Teton Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott announced Friday that the park is seeking public input for an improvement plan for the Jenny Lake area, according to a statement released by the park's public affairs office. Continue Reading →