THE ROAR OF SILENCE

As Goes Yellowstone So Goes The NPS

.. Get right over to National Parks Traveler. Read the post. Read, also: 17 year silence spoke volumes, and Snow Job.
.. The health of the National Parks is at stake. Then, with an open and honest mind, review the noise at places like the Grand Canyon, and other "summer" parks that attract motorcycle riders.
.. The rationalization of cyclists are just the same as sledheads. Perhaps it's time to remove all recreational transportation from our parks. Public transportation should expand in "Winter's Yellowstone." Also in the summer. And too, at the Grand Canyon. And, for that matter, all national parks.
.. Remember, the health of the parks and their employees is at stake!

Of Wolves And Railroads

ARE GERMAN WOLVES

LIKE AMERICAN WOLVES?

ARE CANADIAN WOLVES

LIKE AMERICAN WOLVES?

What's Going On At The Grand Canyon?

Are They Red Or Are They Not?

Yellowstone's "Buddy Boulders"

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.. Thanks to Stephen Bodio's Querencia, we were directed to an L.A. Times article about wolves in Saxony and their behaviors, that are similar to those in Yellowstone. The behaviors and attitudes of their human neighbors are also similar.
.. Wolves are excellent at making a living, as are dogs, and cats and coyotes and cougars. If it's smaller &/or weaker it is potentially food. And if it's available to a pack, it's just plain food.
.. In the more densely populated German countryside the wolves are both hunter and scavenger. They enter the villages, they roam the pastures, and they make a living on the bounty of the land. They have become habituated to humans. Germany also has a social & economic system that recompenses farmers and ranchers for lost livestock similar to the one in the United States.
.. This year because of climatic and other environmental circumstances the wolves are taking a lot of elk calves in Yellowstone. The early winter elk survey shows that there are fewer bulls and more calves, and with the lack of snow cover it's just easier to make a living off of tender meat.
.. We all know about Little Red Riding Hood. We all know about the 3 little pigs. These ancient stories have meaning and truth to them, as do most parables. We all know how the wolves have been vilified in ancient tales and nursery rhymes. But what we seldom hear about are the contemporary tales of wolves attacking people. The attacks are rare and usually due to special circumstances, but they do occur.
.. Last September King's Outdoor World Blog posted a note about an unusual wolf attack. The attack was by a lone wolf, that proved to be in poor health. It was just trying to make a living in a Canadian provincial park. The wolf was just trying to make a living off of tender meat in the easiest way possible.
.. Six people were injured, from ages 3 to 14. The attack was in daylight and among a small crowd of people enjoying a holiday outing at the beach.
.. Are these "foreign" wolves like American wolves? They are. And, as the area around Yellowstone National Park becomes more densely populated, we can expect to have incidents and encounters with wolves. As time passes wolves will discover the easy meals; the tender meat. And, as the American Gentry move to the country there will be more encounters.
.. The discussion forum at King's Outdoor World Blog has a string of factual and other tales that help illustrate an overriding concern of ours. Will we lose all of our Poodles, Dachshunds and Jack Russel Terriers to wolves in the coming years?
MORE:
INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER
TOP SECRET ANIMAL ATTACK FILES

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.. It Must be coincidental. The book store at the Grand Canyon is attacked by PEER, the bloggers have a field day, truth turns out to be stranger than fiction, then Xanterra buys the Grand Canyon Railway, and Joe Alston decides to quit rather than accept a position in Washington D.C.
.. We really like these sorts of coincidental timings. They breed speculation. They fire the imagination. They provide words for blogs.
.. We suspect, however, that there is probably not too much to these events piling up on one another, (or is there?).
.. Joe just can't stay in one place too long. He never has, and he has stayed at the Grand Canyon, in the SES, longer than most would have stayed. PEER always needs Headlines, and bloggers always need words. And, as we all know Xanterra is busy monopolizing and privatizing the parks as fast as they can, (along with Delaware North.)
.. Xanterra even believes it already owns some of the parks:

"Xanterra properties include those at Death Valley, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and the prestigious Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, California."

.. In-holdings are always a sore spot, but whole parks? This subtle tyranny of words is either intentional, or ignorant - either way it should rankle conscientious citizens.
.. The monopolistic concessionaires really enjoy the opportunity to gang up on the park service as they have done in Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. They are constantly talking about the 'economies of scale' and the efficiency of size. Should this sound just a bit thin, we direct you to an excellent post by Scott Silver at Wild Wilderness. The unholy alliances are all around us, and are going to continue.
.. For a pile of money as deep as the Grand Canyon, "Xanterra Parks & Resorts will take over the assets of the railroad company, including the trains, rail route from Williams to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, an RV park, restaurant and several real estate parcels in Williams." This is beginning to sound like the Disney Corporation.
.. The deal is final ----- pending National Park Service approval ----- HA. Wan'na' bet? How 'bout a ride on the rails? Want to see how the other half enjoys the Grand Canyon? CLICK HERE. And we bet that nobody complains that Xanterra is lying to children about going to the North Pole on their new "Polar Express."

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.. The not so wild elk that recently escaped from an Idaho game-hunting farm have been declared "Genetically Pure" by the members of the Idaho Elk Breeders Association.
.. This announcement comes as the Idaho State Legislature is considering eliminating the tame-elk hunting ranches. An escaped cow elk was killed and genetic tests showed probable Red Deer genes, based on a Canadian laboratory report. For the members list of the Idaho Elk Breeders Association visit their members page.

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.. A nifty bit of natural history has been reported by The San Francisco Chronicle. The phenomenon of buddy boulders is explored in a news essay "Like A Rock" wherein trees and their buddy boulders form a life-long symbiotic relationship. Examples of this are visible across Yellowstone.
.. Boulders can shade seedlings from harsh elements and the result is "buddy rocks", as seen especially in the flat known as "Little America" above the east bank of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park. <<Photo by Mollie Rights.>>

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DOANE AGAIN

KIM READS
Commercialism Creeps
old faithful steams

<<-- Kim Allen Scott will read from his book on Doane, “Yellowstone Denied,” at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Pioneer Museum in Bozeman. As previously noted, Gustavus Cheyney Doane was a soldier, inventor, author and explorer who felt he should be famous for "discovering" Yellowstone National Park and wealthy from one of his inventions.
.. Montana State University has finally issued a news release about this fascinating saga of the man and his obscurity - aided, interestingly, by a selfish, (or preoccupied historian.) The book is an interesting compilation, the story is even better.
.. The book is getting the good play that it deserves, including another note in the Helena Independent Record. If you're in Bozeman this Saturday stop at the museum and give a listen.

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.. Montana State University has a couple of employees who will be evaluating the "Windows Into Wonderland" series about Yellowstone National Park. The award winning series of electronic field trips has attracted millions of visitors and details a wide range of Yellowstone's various features and attractions.

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.. We noticed an interesting essay about commercialization, American values, and our national parks in Jim's Eclectic World. One point in the essay is very apparent in Yellowstone National Park -- CREEPING COMMERCIALISM.
.. As we've noted before, (here & here & here,) there are major corporations spending a lot of money to get their name associated with Yellowstone. The "Windows Into Wonderland" series mentioned is just one of them.
.. Via The Yellowstone Newspaper we were directed to a not so playful spoof of the future of Yellowstone in A Step Apart.
.. A pair of notes serve to illustrate the way this is working. WebWire has a note about how Canon is persistently pushing itself into Yellowstone. And the CSRWire has a note about how Toyota is doing the same thing.
.. This should not be too surprising in that the very origin of Yellowstone was fostered by the commercial interests of the Northern Pacific Railroad. An excellent review of Berringer's book "Selling Of Yellowstone: Capitalism & The Construction Of Nature" can be found HERE.

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.. There are two articles addressing the declining attendance at our national parks. The site Inside Bay Area.com lets us know that Yosemite is busy competing with Play Station & X Box. And over at Hotel Online, a similar note suggests that the decline is not all bad.

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.. The Voice Of America reports that one of the alternative energy sources we should be utilizing is geothermal power. So to does ARS Technica. No mention was made of the Iceland fiasco that destroyed much of the beauty of their geyser fields for steam heat.

Winter Is Popular in Yellowstone

NUMBERS UP FROM LAST YEAR

.. According to the National Park Service Public Use Statistic Office, December 2006 snowmobile visitors totaled 6,049 as compared to 5,507 in December 2005 for a 9.8 percent increase. In the same report snowcoach vistorship dropped from 4,266 in December 2005 to 4,106 in 2006 for a decrease of 3.8 percent.
.. SnoWest notes that: ". . . the major increase in snowmobile visitors was at the South Gate which had a 22.3 percent increase. The West Gate, which historically is the most active, had snowmobile vistorship increase of 7.8 percent in December."
.. For an excellent summary of the legal history of the winter use plan see the review in OMB WATCH. And for those with a bent for visual reporting FocusWest has an excellent copileation of T.V. spots from various perspectives.

Hear All About It

A GUILTY PLEASURE
a treaty kept

.. As Jeff Brady says: "At Yellowstone National Park, managers will soon decide whether to continue to allow snowmobiles. Meanwhile, a ride through the snowy expanses of the park remains a decadent thrill."
.. In keeping with an 1855 treaty the Nez Perce may take 50 to 70 bison in a hunt this year. The AP Story notes: "Only six bison were taken last year during a limited "youth hunt." The hunt now is being opened to all Nez Perce members. This year's hunt began last weekend and four bison have been taken so far. The Nez Perce Tribe Fish and Wildlife Commission has also issued five permits for elk. Nez Perce Chairman Rebecca Miles sent a letter to Montana officials earlier this month, saying moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and antelope might also be taken.But commission member Joseph Oatman says the harvest of those species is on hold until the tribe can talk with Montana wildlife officials about how many of those animals can be killed without impacting the species' populations. He said it is possible none will be taken this year."

Bison At Nez Perce Creek
NPS PHOTO