Historic Bus Gathering

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

.. Yellowstone's historic bus collection traveled to Bullwinkle's Restaurant in West Yellowstone today for a luncheon sponsored by Bullwinkle's Restaurant and The Wet Yellowstone Historical Society
.. More pictures and details tomorrow.

Action Jackson

BACK IN THE NEWS AGAIN

Sans Gag Order

READ IT HERE

Prescribed Fire Burns

HEAVY FUEL LOAD REDUCED

New West Entrance Station Progressing

.. The fire scheduled for today happened yesterday. It went off with little incident until the winds kicked up about 2:00 PM. The road from Norris to Canyon was closed briefly due to the smoke, and the fire-information center in the Norris Meadow parking lot got a lot of attention.
.. This was the first time that a prescribed burn was used in Yellowstone. It was designed to remove the heavy fuel concentration in the forest. A fire in this area could have threatened some historic structures, the Norris Campground, and the government housing area. By all accounts the 65 acre burn was a success. About half of the heavy fuel load that was in the area was burned. You can read a complete report in the Billings Gazette.

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.. Construction on the new West Entrance Station continues at a pace just a bit behind schedule. The narrow road and resulting congestion have not deterred visitors. The entrance traffic yesterday was as heavy as it was on the Fourth of July, (for about 1 hour the waiting traffic backed up into West Yellowstone.)
.. In addition to the new gate and entrance station there is a widened road planned and a turnaround that is already completed.

Odds & Ends

Burnt Trees

More Visitors

Armed Conflict

Bear Woes
Tom's In Town

.. The fire closure in the burned area of the Madison Arm Fire has been lifted.

Even though the lands within the closure area are now open under normal travel restrictions, the public is asked to use caution and watch for trees weakened by the fire that may fall during a wind storm. . . . Billings Gazette

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.. Visitor numbers continue to rise at Yellowstone.

Park officials reported an 11.8 percent jump in the number of recreational visitors to Yellowstone in August compared with last year. In all, 710,781 people came to the park last month. . . . Billings Gazette

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.. With the additional visitor crowding comes more strife. This is so common now that it does not even rate a press release or a note in the morning report, (although former employee arrests are noted.) Kind of like vagrancy on the National Mall.

During the initial stages of the standoff, the three men alternated between yelling obscenities and threats of violence and repeatedly entering and exiting their vehicles. One shouted that “someone is going to die tonight;” . . . Desert USA Blog

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.. With the increased Grizzly longevity and recent population growth, the trophic cascade has begun to push the black bears around. The resulting human bear conflicts have led to the euthanasia and/or relocation of several bears this year, (1,2.) This is happening all over the Northwestern United States - - look for it to continue.

Fortunately, there is a place for chubby bears outside of the Chicago offensive line or the Gay Pride parade. . . . Crosscut

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.. Growing awareness of the Y2Y concept is creeping into news sources and reports.

Nature knows no borders, and if humans want to preserve animal species that straddle two nations, they need to ensure that habitats are seamless. The wildlife-corridor concept addresses this challenge. . . . Crosscut

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.. There is a photo exhibit currently at the Burke Museum in Seattle that highlights the Y2Y concept. It's called "Freedom To Roam and will run until December 31, 2007. There is a spectacular photographic preview on the museum's web page.

The great Rocky Mountain landscapes are a treasure for the world. In them, I see what we in Europe have lost. I don't want that to happen here. — Florian Schulz, photographer

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.. Fishing with friends is newsman T. Brokaw.

The Sky Is Falling - Finally

WIDESPREAD RAINS DAMPEN FIRES

Can It Really Be September ?
winter use plans revealed

.. An article in New West by Mathew Frank details the current fires in Montana. The article also details a list of fire resources and updates for the western United States.
.. Yellowstone National Park has some fires still burning and uncontained, (see InciWeb 1 & 2,) and the park administration plans to start some more to keep company with the newly discovered backcountry fire. Illegal morel hunting should be good around Norris next year.

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.. A YNP press release lets us know that the Winter Use Planning Documents have been released. All current Winter Use Technical Documents are POSTED HERE.

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The new documents are:

-- Natural Soundscape Monitoring draft report (PDF),

"Although on average snowmobiles were audible for more time than snowcoaches, snowcoaches in general had higher sound levels, especially at higher speeds."

-- Final Air Quality Modeling Report (PDF)

"the earlier modeling scenarios only included in-bound traffic within Yellowstone and did not include traffic exiting the park (i.e., return trips were not “counted” by the previous modeling as traveling on road segments a second time). Since this potentially excluded a substantial amount of traffic, this was corrected in the update and the latest travel factor spreadsheets include both in-bound and out-bound trips for all alternatives."

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-- Winter Air Quality Study from this past season (PDF),

"The winter of 2006-2007 had CO values that were nearly the same as the last few years. The maximum hourly CO at the West Entrance was slightly higher but the longer averages of 8-hours and for the season were down."

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.. A complete review of the air quality can also be found at the NPS site NATURE & SCIENCE.
-- Bison & Plowed Roads (PDF - 2005)

"Collaboration is necessary to define what is acceptable;
science is necessary to define what is possible;
organizing people to use knowledge to design and implement
management in the face of uncertainty is fundamental."

.. The battle of the electronic postcard is being won by opponents of snowmobiles! - reported by Scott McMillion in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.