Yellowstone Science A quarterly publication devoted to the natural and cultural resources

The Upper Geyser Basin— a Cultural Landscape Yellowstone Fishes Reviewed Firefighting Firepower Arctic Grayling

Volume 8 Number 3 Tourists at Grotto Geyser, ca. 1908. NPS photo. Integrated and Equal?

At the Yellowstone Center for Re- as important as natural ones? What an them, and just try to make archeologic sources, there is a long-standing and important event in human history the sites or archival records photogenic. (hopefully) amicable rivalry between designation of Yellowstone Park has Despite our administrative tradition that natural and cultural resource specialists. turned out to be. separates cultural resources from natural Oops—there I go again, placing natural I grow weary of such competition over ones, do we really want visitors and man- ahead of cultural. Why, I have been asked, the many special things Yellowstone has agers to see them as such, or as equally not the other way around? Some voices to offer. No question, it’s not a level deserving of appreciation? This issue fea- counter that Yellowstone is primarily a playing field out there. Geyser gazers tures articles on distinctly different top- “natural” park, set aside for the scenery debate whether Grand, Steamboat, or ics, yet each juxtaposes human and natu- and the “natural curiosities”—the geo- some other spouter is “the best.” Wolves ral history: of wildland fire, and how thermal oddities and the resplendent dis- have, of late, supplanted grizzly bears as humans fought it; of a rare fish, and how play of wildlife. When polled as to their the rare carnivore of choice to see. Fish the park’s cultural history has contrib- reasons for coming, fewer visitors men- and flowers have their fans, but let’s face uted both to its near extinction and our tion interest in the cultural sites, except it, they’re lower on most visitors’ wish attempts to save it; of changes in the built perhaps as a place to lodge or have dinner. lists; bugs and bats get no respect. The landscape and related visitor experiences This may be a reflection of how we have Old Faithful Inn, Lake Hotel, and Moran’s at the Upper Geyser Basin. I relish these interpreted the place, of how we and paintings attract oohs and aahs, but other integrated stories about Yellowstone’s others have “marketed” the Yellowstone historic structures and collections are less cultural and natural resources, all of which experience. Here in the world’s first na- known and beloved. If you can see them, deserve more exposure—and protection. tional park, aren’t cultural resources just you’re generally not allowed to touch —SCM Yellowstone Science A quarterly publication devoted to the natural and cultural resources

Volume 8 Number 3 Summer 2000 Table of Contents

Fighting Fire with Firepower: Firefighting in 2 Yellowstone National Park, 1872Ð1918 Little documentation exists on early park fires and the park’s response to them. A new thesis contributes to our knowledge of Yellowstone’s early firefighting techniques. by Doug Weber

From Fire to Fun, and Back Again: The Changing 5 Cultural Landscape of Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin A scholar looks away from Old Faithful geyser to examine the evolution of its cultural surroundings, and how the visitor experience has also changed. by Karl Byrand

Arctic Grayling in Yellowstone National Park: 12 Status, Management, and Recent Restoration Efforts One of Yellowstone’s lesser-known fish, the Arctic grayling, struggles to survive in its native streams. by Cal Kaya

Editor Book Review 18 Sue Consolo-Murphy Yellowstone Fishes—Ecology, History, and Angling in the Park by John D. Varley and Paul Schullery. Assistant Editor and Design Reviewed by Rick Mossman Tami Blackford Assistant Editors News and Notes 20 Mary Ann Franke New Fossil Location Found ¥ Branch Chief of Natural Resources Selected ¥ Flood Kevin Schneider Threatens Park Archives Collections ¥ Interagency Meeting Scheduled in Yellow- Alice Wondrak stone ¥ Annual Aerial Pronghorn Census ¥ Nez Perce National Historic Trail Foundation Meeting ¥ Canyon Village Eligible for National Register ¥ Errata

Printing Yellowstone Science is published quarterly, and submissions are welcome from all investigators conducting formal research in the Yellowstone area. Correspondence should be sent to the Artcraft, Inc. Editor, Yellowstone Science, Yellowstone Center for Resources, Bozeman, Montana P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. The opinions expressed in Yellowstone Science are the authors' and may not reflect either National Park Service policy or the views of the Yellowstone Center for Resources. Copyright © 2000, the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History & Education. On the cover: Bathhouse operated by Henry P. Support for Yellowstone Science is provided by the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, Brothers at Old Faithful, 1915Ð51. NPS photo. History & Education, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to serving the park and its Above: Helicopter dropping Arctic grayling into visitors. For more information about the Yellowstone Association, including membership, write to Cougar Creek. Photo courtesy Cal Kaya. P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. Yellowstone Science is printed on recycled paper with a linseed oil-based ink. Fighting Fire with Firepower: Firefighting in Yellowstone National Park, 1872Ð1918

NPS by Doug Weber

Until rain and snow quelled the inferno in 1988, more than one-third of the acre- age in Yellowstone National Park burned in a series of fires that persisted for weeks. Following the fires, scientists and park managers sought an explanation for the intensity of the event. Some observers argued that 100 years of effective fire suppression had allowed “unnatural” lev- els of fuels to accumulate, thus making the forest unusually vulnerable to a major conflagration when a drought plagued the The U.S. cavalry in Mammoth, ca. 1911. Army personnel were the first to effectively fight park fires. Yellowstone area in 1988. Other scholars insisted that the 1988 fires were part of a spent little time in Yellowstone, and network, or a system of lookout stations, “natural” 300- to 400-year fire cycle com- park resources were at the mercy of superintendents could do little to hedge mon to the lodgepole forests of the greater concessionaires, tourists, and poachers. the progress of fires. When they did at- Yellowstone region. According to this During the next decade, as Yellowstone tempt to fight the fires, they relied on argument, fire suppression—though long attracted greater national and interna- volunteers—that is, concession employ- practiced in Yellowstone—had been so tional attention, the government at- ees and settlers from the areas outside the ineffective that it did not alter the ex- tempted to provide better protection park. This ad hoc volunteerism failed pected “natural” fire cycle.1 through the appointment of a small corps miserably, since many of these people Both interpretations of the 1988 fires of “assistants” in 1883. Since appoint- were motivated to fight fires only when rely, in part, on an assessment of historic ments were based on nepotism rather their own lands were threatened.3 Conse- firefighting practices in the park. Unfor- than ability, this “corps” did little to quently, many fires grew to immense size tunately, no comprehensive history of stem poaching or to prevent the increas- during the time that it took to gather firefighting in Yellowstone yet exists. My ing number of tourists from carting off volunteers, outfit them with equipment, research addresses this void by focusing antlers, wildflowers, and chunks of gey- and travel through the heavily forested on the early history of firefighting in Yel- ser cones as souvenirs. Finally, in 1886, areas to the fire. lowstone—essentially, the period from the government charged the U.S. Army Despite the difficulties and ineffective- the park’s founding in 1872 through the with the task of protecting the nation’s ness of early firefighting efforts, a con- era of United States Army administration first national park.2 sensus existed among those who con- (that ended in 1918). Before the arrival of military troops, cerned themselves with Yellowstone that When Congress created Yellowstone firefighting in Yellowstone was ineffec- fire was detrimental to the landscape and National Park in 1872, it made no provi- tive. Most often, fires were allowed to should, whenever possible, be suppressed. sion for management and protection of burn until they extinguished themselves As Stephen Pyne described in his work on the park’s resources beyond the appoint- or until rain and snow checked the fire in America, many nineteenth-century ment of an unpaid superintendent. Not progress of the fire. Without a suitable Americans saw forest fires as destructive surprisingly, early park superintendents road system, a reliable communications and unnatural.4 They also considered the

2 Yellowstone Science deliberate burning of the forest a Native highly critical statements concerning the diately began work. Arnold reported that, American practice, thus generating a secretary’s supposed lack of interest in “The fire was burning briskly and upon widespread prejudice against forest fires protecting the park from fire. This critical inspection was found to extend over an as unnatural. For instance, in 1900 when report led to Boutelle’s termination as the area of about one square mile.” With only a large fire burned out of control south of superintendent of the park.7 Although eight shovels, one axe, and no water at DeLacy Lakes, a local newspaper per- many of the largest fires at this time hand, the force amazingly brought the petuated a rumor that “the fire was started burned for weeks and overcame most of fire under control before noon. Shortly by Indians in order to drive the game out the human attempts at suppression, the thereafter, however, the afternoon winds of the park into the mountains where they soldiers extinguished most of the smaller again stirred up the blaze and the fire was could kill it.” Other possibilities, such as fires before they became unwieldy, even soon beyond control. Luckily, the force a lightning strike or a careless tourist, in the most inaccessible areas of the park. from Fort Yellowstone (which had also were discounted. Consequently, the news- Station records, scouts’ reports, and marched all night), arrived at the fire at paper continually referred to the fire as “a correspondence to the various superin- 1:00 P.M. Nonetheless, due to the unbear- work of destruction.”5 This attitude pre- tendents of the park yield insight into the able heat from the fire and exhaustion of vailed in Yellowstone National Park as firefighting practices in Yellowstone. the troops, the commanders decided to well as in the surrounding Yellowstone These practices remained at the cutting- fall back to the Madison River (about one Forest Reserve (which was created in edge of suppression techniques in the and a half miles away) to rest the troops 1896 and was initially administered by United States and allowed for the most and wait for the wind to die. Early the the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Yellow- effective wildland firefighting in the coun- next morning, the refreshed soldiers were stone; this area later became national try. In a typical report to the superinten- ordered to “distribute themselves along forest). dent concerning the suppression of a wild- the edge of the fire and [chop] off the When the U.S. Army arrived at the fire, Second Lieutenant F. J. Arnold wrote: burning ends of the logs, [scatter] them, park in 1886, the soldiers busied them- and [throw] earth upon them…[in order selves with building roads, constructing “On August 8th 1898 about 9 P.M. to] keep down the flames.”9 Without the quarters for the troops, and protecting the word reached me from…Riverside hindrance of the wind, the troops suc- wildlife from poachers, while the super- Station, YNP that there was a large ceeded in extinguishing the fire by 9:00 intendent continually fought with Con- forest fire just outside the Park line A.M., and mounted soldiers immediately gress for appropriations. Effective ... travelling rapidly toward the Park. began to patrol the fire to ensure that it firefighting and fire management arrived I reported the fact by telegraph at was completely smothered. These pa- with Captain F.A. Boutelle in 1889. once to…[the] Act. Supt. of the Park trols lasted for two days before the sol- Boutelle and his soldiers established new and asked for instructions. The reply diers returned to their posts.10 roads, improved communications through was received at 10:00 P.M. directing Most of the reports concerning sup- building telegraph and phone lines, pun- me to take twenty men, and six day’s pression efforts were similar to that of ished transgressors of the law who al- rations with all the shovels, axes, and Arnold’s, thus allowing the determina- lowed their campfires to burn out of con- fire buckets at hand, and proceed to tion of a basic fire-containment paradigm trol, established designated campgrounds the fire at once. I was also informed practiced by the U.S. Army. Immediately where campfires were easily monitored, that a detail of twenty men with nec- following the discovery of a fire by either and purchased new equipment to fight essary implements…would be sent a soldier or tourist, the estimated location fires.6 Boutelle’s strategy concentrated from Ft. Yellowstone to join me. At and size of the fire was reported to the on fire prevention, where park rules con- 11:00 P.M. the expedition was en route commanding officer of the nearest sol- cerning the complete extinguishment of to the fire.”8 dier station by either telegraph or tele- campfires were clear and vigorously en- phone. The commanding officer of the forced. After marching all night, the soldiers station then reported the fire to the acting Interestingly, Boutelle’s ardent cam- arrived at the fire at 6:00 A.M. and imme- superintendent of the park who, in most paign for fire suppression and prevention eventually led to his demise. In an epi- sode that lasted several months, Boutelle and the secretary of the interior exchanged Even the terminology of wildland firefighting paral- heated correspondence concerning ap- propriations for the purchase of axes and leled that of the military; firefighters dug fire lines, held collapsible fire buckets. Because the sec- those lines, and, in some cases, fell back when the line retary failed to respond to Boutelle’s plea for appropriations, the superintendent ac- was overcome, to dig yet another line in an attempt to cepted money from a tourist to purchase suppress the fire. the buckets. Boutelle included this epi- sode in his yearly report to the secretary. In that report, Boutelle also wrote several

Summer 2000 3 cases, ordered the station’s officer to fell back when the line was overcome, to gather a troop of men and proceed to the dig yet another line in an attempt to sup- fire. The superintendent, when necessary press the fire. The quasi-military National NOTES and possible, also ordered a second group Park Service also used the army’s experi- of soldiers from the station nearest the ences in Yellowstone as a model upon its 1 Paul Schullery and Don G. Despain. “Pre- fire to assist in suppression efforts. Many own creation in 1916.13 The command scribed burning in Yellowstone National times the soldiers marched through the structure at the park level resembled that Park: a doubtful proposition.” Western night so they might extinguish the blazes of the military, and many soldiers who Wildlands 15, no. 2 (summer 1989):30Ð before the afternoon winds hindered their had served at Yellowstone were allowed 34. 2 Aubrey Haines, The Yellowstone Story: A efforts. Through the digging of fire lines, to remain in the park, thus terminating History of Our First National Park (Yel- smothering embers with earth, and soak- their commission with the military. The lowstone National Park, Wyo.: Yellow- ing the fires with water (when possible), army’s experiences in Yellowstone pro- stone Library and Museum Association in the soldiers remained at a fire until it was vided a fire-regime paradigm that forest cooperation with Colorado Associated extinguished, even in the most desperate managers throughout the nation followed University Press, 1977), 1:292Ð93. circumstances. The soldiers then patrolled for decades. 3 For a discussion of the mind set of many of the scene until they were certain the fire the settlers of the West concerning fire and was completely extinguished. the situation of ad hoc volunteerism, see Managers in the national forests adapted Stephen Pyne, Fire in America: A Cul- tural History of Wildland and Rural Fire the army’s approach following the cre- 11 (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, ation of the U.S. Forest Service in 1905. 1982). After the devastating fires of 1910 in the 4 Pyne, Fire in America. Northwest, Forest Service managers ar- 5 “Big Fire in the Park: Hard Work by the gued for the expansion of components Soldiers, Aided by Opportune Rains, Suc- proven in Yellowstone: better roads and, ceeded in Controlling the Conflagration,” consequently, deeper access into the Park County Republican, August 11, 1900. backcountry, improved communication, 6 H. Duane Hampton, How the U.S. Cavalry and the placement of lookout towers Saved our National Parks (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1971), 96Ð throughout forested areas.12 The Forest 100. Service also adopted the same response 7 Ibid. regime that the army practiced in Yel- 8 Lt. F.J. Arnold, Report to Acting Superin- lowstone. A fire was spotted and immedi- tendent, Camp Lower Geyser Basin, Yel- ately reported (when possible) to the near- lowstone National Park, September 8, est supervisor. When necessary, the su- 1898. In Army Records, Archive Docu-

pervisor assembled a crew and sent them Courtesy D. Weber ment 4794, Yellowstone National Park to the site to meet the ranger who, in many Archives, Wyoming. 9 cases, had already gathered ad hoc volun- Doug Weber researched firefighting Ibid. 10 Ibid. teers and traveled to the site. Within these practices in Yellowstone National Park 11 For a good history of the Forest Service, groups, a leader, or fire-boss, dictated to complete his Master of Arts degree at see Harold Steen, The U.S. Forest Service: strategies to the firefighters, just as a Montana State University. Shortly after A History (Seattle: University of Wash- sergeant might order a soldier. From look- presenting this paper at Yellowstone’s ington Press, 1991). out to firefighter, this command structure Fourth Biennial Science Conference in 12 See Western Forestry and Conservation resembled that of the military in Yellow- October 1997, Douglas received the Phi Association, “Proceedings of Forest Fire stone National Park. Even the terminol- Alpha Theta Fellowship at the Montana Conference of the Forest Protective Orga- ogy of wildland firefighting paralleled Historical Society in Helena, Montana, nizations.” (Portland: The Timberman, that of the military; firefighters dug fire where he completed his degree working 1911). These proceedings did not provide the only example of Yellowstone’s influ- lines, held those lines, and, in some cases, as an assistant editor. Doug wrote, “I am ence on firefighting techniques and poli- enamored by Yellowstone’s beauty and cies. Foresters such as Coert Du Bois, respect its place in American history. I probably the most farsighted fire expert of am not a firefighter, but I respect the the day, constantly discussed needed im- arduous work these men performed. My provements in firefighting techniques for interest in this topic arose from a love of national forests that firefighters in Yel- Yellowstone and the outdoors, and the lowstone had been practicing for years. chance to perform research in such beau- 13 William C. Everhart, The National Park tiful surroundings. What better place is Service (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1983). there to perform research?” Doug now Men like these were the park’s first firefighters. resides in Denver, Colorado. Tower Fall Soldier Station, 1905. NPS photo.

4 Yellowstone Science From Fire to Fun, and Back Again: The Changing Cultural Landscape of Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin

by Karl Byrand

More than geothermal processes have From the time the first crude wagon Early Years: Marketing Nature’s forged Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Ba- road reached its fuming landscape, the Oddities, 1872Ð1903 sin. A continually changing American Upper Geyser Basin was on its way to culture, the national park idea, and even becoming a pocket of urbanity. Over time, During the park’s first three decades, marketing ploys have also shaped this an estimated 1,000 different human struc- the development of the Upper Geyser once wild and remote landscape, located tures (including tent platforms, cabins, Basin’s cultural landscape was galva- in the park’s southwest quadrant and serv- privies, stores, and hotels) have ap- nized by the superintendency of the am- ing as home to Old Faithful Geyser. For peared—and mostly disappeared—re- bitious Philetus Norris, the introduction my graduate work in the Department of flecting transformations in the external of the U.S. Army and its Corps of Engi- Earth Sciences at Montana State Univer- influences on the basin. As it changed, so neers to the park, the appropriation of sity, I looked at the evolution of this did the way its agents promoted it. In turn, regular—although modest—funds from particular landscape in the context of the basin’s visitors have discovered ex- Congress, and the concessioners who set changes in American culture. The pur- periences different from those who came up shop there. pose of this work was to investigate how before them to see this steaming land- In the summer of 1878, motivated by humans responded to this landscape scape that spreads out along the Firehole the threat of Indian raids similar to those through time, as influenced by how the River. of the previous summer, Superintendent landscape was developed and promoted Norris led a crew of men to hastily con- by park managers and concessioners. The struct a road leading west and then south Yellowstone archives at Mammoth Hot out of Mammoth Hot Springs. Norris’s Springs provided a wealth of source ma- road met up with a one-year-old military terials, such as National Park Service road from the park’s west entrance; from correspondence, travel brochures, narra- there, he put through a spur to the Upper tives, maps, and photographs, which aided Geyser Basin. Just 30 days after the road in documenting the evolution of this crew left Mammoth, the first vehicle was unique and much admired landscape. able to reach the basin’s geysers.

Summer 2000 5 Upper Geyser Basin had no lodging fa- cilities until tents were established in 1900 or 1901 (the records are unclear). Between 1872 and 1903 the basin’s boiling and steaming features were the only selling points to entice visitors, with the concessioners taking care to publi- cize their proximity to these fantastic features. When a 1903 Shaw and Powell Camping Company brochure touted the Upper Geyser Basin as “the most inter- esting geyser formation in the park,” it explained that visitors could “camp for the night within sight of Old Faithful Geyser.” The Wylie Camping Company facility, according to its brochure, was in a grove next to “Riverside and Giant Geysers.” Concessioners promoted the basin as a unique thermal landscape that would pro- vide an experience never before encoun- tered, and they used the advantageous The Shack Hotel, a predecessor of the Old Faithful Inn, 1889. NPS photo. location of their facilities to attract visi- tors. Northern Pacific Railroad literature The following year, Norris was confi- station, a Haynes photo shop, and a gen- of 1888 bragged that “after a little time dent that Indian raids were no longer eral store near the basin’s thermal cones spent in this basin, the visitor is almost likely and concentrated on improving the by 1903. certain to conclude that he has at length appreciation of and access to the park’s Recognizing the potential impact on reached the climax of the wonders of the natural offerings. At the basin, he estab- the landscape, Congress passed the Sun- park.” A Yellowstone Park Association lished a log cabin to serve as an outpost dry Civil Bill of 1883, which prohibited brochure circa 1902 reported that “Old for the exploration of a route to Yellow- concessioners from locating facilities Faithful is the star feature, not only of the stone Lake and to allow observers to within one-quarter mile of any geyser in Upper Basin, but of the Yellowstone remain in the basin for the winter, sketch the park. This limitation was not intended Park.” the thermal features, and obtain valuable to protect the park’s physical landscape The purpose of a visit to the Upper information regarding their winter activi- from human impact, but to prevent Geyser Basin was to experience its erupt- ties. In 1885, a larger cabin was estab- concessioners from monopolizing the vi- ing geysers, steaming pools, and bub- lished as a home for the assistant superin- sual landscape of the park’s wondrous bling hotpots. The visitors, however, did tendent. A year later, when the army features (i.e., blocking the view of Old more than sightsee; as mentioned in jour- became the official overseer of the park, Faithful as well as other geysers). How- nal and diary entries, they used the ther- this cabin became part of its facilities in ever, the law was not fully enforced. The mal features of the Upper Geyser Basin to the basin. Yellowstone Park Improvement Com- wash their clothes and boil eggs and po- In 1883, concessioners began estab- pany trespassed beyond the quarter-mile tatoes. Many also took to scrawling their lishing businesses in the Upper Geyser limit in 1885 by establishing a hotel near signatures in the soft silicate formations Basin; like the park administrators, they Old Faithful Geyser. Because of protests of the geyser cones. In 1887, author Owen recognized the basin’s scenic value and by the Department of the Interior, which Wister reported that one could see “the the visitation it could draw. For them, the realized that the location was the only names of asses...written in pencil” on Old basin was financially promising because suitable one for a hotel of that size in the Faithful’s cone. With no other diversions of the 153 miles of road that by 1881 basin, in 1894 the law was superseded by offered, many visitors entertained them- connected the Upper Geyser Basin not the Hayes Act, which decreased the limit selves by throwing umbrellas and the like only to Mammoth Hot Springs and the to one-eighth of a mile. into geysers to watch them hurl out with park’s west entrance, but also to Tower Known as “the Shack,” the hotel be- the next eruption. More than one curious Junction, Yellowstone Lake, and Yel- came notorious for its poor accommoda- visitor was burned by peering into the lowstone Falls. These entrepreneurs, tions, and complaints brought about its geyser cones. working under the approval of the De- closing to overnight guests during the The visitors’ main purpose for ventur- partment of the Interior (though some- 1893 season. It remained open for lunch ing into the Upper Geyser Basin was to times violating federal restrictions) es- and, after it burned down in 1894, was enter a thermal landscape that they could tablished two tent camps, a hotel/lunch replaced by a similar facility, but the interact with and be amused by. During

6 Yellowstone Science the early twentieth century, however, at- gan in 1911 over whether to restrict visi- cessor to the Yellowstone Park Associa- titudes regarding how the geyser basin tors to traveling in Yellowstone only by tion in controlling the hotel concession) should be enjoyed underwent a major horse. In 1915 the Department of the vaunted not only the creature comforts of shift that both affected and was affected Interior settled the matter by deciding to its human facilities, but also those of the by changes to the landscape itself. permit the use of a new transportation basin’s bear-feeding ground, which was convenience, the automobile. This soon established in 1919. One of many such Creating a Landscape of Non- increased access to the park, and thereby attractions in the park during this period, Thermal Curiosities, 1904Ð1940 its use and abuse. Annual visitation to the the basin’s bear-feeding ground was lo- park nearly tripled during the next de- cated behind the automobile camp and The Upper Geyser Basin became a cade, from about 52,000 in 1915 to housekeeping cabin area, less than one- landscape of curiosities in addition to 154,000 in 1925. half mile from the Old Faithful Inn. A those offered by its natural features. Most Since the Upper Geyser Basin was the hotel company brochure from circa 1920 notable of the human constructs is the most highly visited area of Yellowstone, stated that visitors could “photograph a Old Faithful Inn, which opened to guests both the Park Service and concessioners wild bear and eat a course dinner in the in 1904 at the site of the former Shack built numerous interpretive and comfort same hour.” Hotel. Like its geyser namesake, it soon facilities there to cater to the increased The bear-feeding ground consisted of a became an obligatory stop for many a visitation. By 1932, the landscape near wire barricade strung between trees and visitor to the park, whether or not they the geyser cones sported a museum, an posts, wooden benches for the human intended to stay there overnight. amphitheater, interpretive signs, two gas visitors, a shallow ditch “to keep people Incorporating rustic construction ma- stations, two Hamilton stores, a Haynes from going beyond the danger line,” and terials from local sources, it was architect photo shop, and a large campground. an armed ranger in case things got out of Robert Reamer’s attempt to create a grand Two groups of Yellowstone Park hand. At a feeding platform on which the overnight facility that harmonized with Camps Company cabins, which num- bears could dine, the sign read, “LUNCH the surrounding landscape. In addition to bered approximately 400 by 1940, con- COUNTER FOR BEARS ONLY.” While modern conveniences such as electric tributed heavily to the cluttered feeling of visitors watched the bears eat, interpre- lights and baths, it offered interior balco- the landscape. One cluster was located tive rangers lectured about bear behavior nies with gnarled, knotted, wooden rail- just east of Old Faithful Geyser behind and natural history. Because of the num- ings surrounding an 85-foot-high lobby, the Old Faithful Lodge (completed in ber of bears and the lectures, the park’s a 14-square-foot chimney, and a wrought- 1928 on the former site of the Shaw and bear-feeding areas became “one of the iron clock with a 20-foot-long pendulum. Powell Camping Company office and most interesting features of the park to The inn’s popularity grew so rapidly that dining room), and the other was south of the majority of tourists,” according to in 1913 the original 140 guest rooms the geyser behind the Yellowstone Park Superintendent Horace Albright’s 1919 were augmented by an east wing that Lodge and Camps Company’s cafeteria annual report. added more than 100 rooms. In 1927, the (built in 1927), and the Hamilton Store In 1936, however, the bear-feeding addition of a west wing expanded the inn (completed in 1930). These rustic one- to grounds were closed except for the one at by more than 150 rooms. four-room cabins on narrow lanes cre- Otter Creek. The Park Service had deter- Most of the other landscape alterations ated a small, albeit strange-looking town. mined that the grounds—which were, in that occurred in the basin during this When advertising its offerings, the actuality, dumps—not only produced bad period came after the establishment of the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company (suc- odors, but also encouraged bears to roam National Park Service in 1916, and many were a direct result of the belief (as set forth in the legislation that established the Park Service) that public lands should have a dual purpose of preservation and use. To gain support for the national parks, early Park Service managers sought to increase the parks’ usability and cater to as many types of visitors as possible through improvements in interpretive and concessioner facilities. To foster appre- ciation and preservation of the natural features, the Park Service employed rang- ers to interpret the parks’ landscapes for visitors as well as to enforce laws protect- ing them. However, visitor use was often at odds with protection, as in the debate that be- The first cars arrive at Old Faithful Wylie Camp, 1915. NPS photo.

Summer 2000 7 A closeup of the “lunch counter” in 1923.

Left: Ranger Philip Martindale giving an interpretive bear lecture on horseback in 1931. The lunch counter was closed in 1936 due to public and bear health and safety concerns. NPS photos.

around visitors, employees, and facili- (see photo on cover). In 1933 Charles A. states), the park began experiencing, along ties. (The first recorded basin visitor death Hamilton (owner of the park’s Hamilton with the rest of the nation, a boom in the at the paws of a bear did not occur until stores) bought Brothers’ bathhouse and size and influence of the middle class; 1942. However, while the basin’s feed- radically remodeled the structure by con- these visitors were increasingly mobile ing area was still in operation, two black verting it into an enormous log building and ready to spend their newfound dis- bears chased each other through the wire with a stone base. Within this facility was posable income. barricade and the seating area, posing a a 25-foot-tall lifeguard tower with a rope The National Park Service launched threat to a crowd of spectators.) swing for rescuing swimmers (there Mission 66 as a 10-year program to bring The Haynes Guides during this period would be three drownings here) and a the parks up to par by its fiftieth anniver- increasingly promoted the basin’s human skylight constructed from two-inch-thick sary in 1966. The goal was to both ac- landscape. They displayed photographs glass. This facility remained part of the commodate the increased visitation and of the facilities and visitors enjoying their basin’s landscape until 1950, when it was reduce its impact by adding and improv- amenities by engaging in recreational closed for public health reasons. ing roads and overnight facilities, elimi- activities such as swimming, dancing, Because of the National Park Service’s nating camping in high-impact areas, and horseback riding. The guides’ map of philosophy of use between 1916 and 1940, encouraging the use of the park’s the basin showed human features such as the basin’s human and natural worlds backcountry, and offering educational the Old Faithful Inn and the Old Faithful became increasingly separated. While in programs about bears. The Upper Geyser Lodge alongside the more prominent ther- the Upper Geyser Basin, visitors may no Basin, however, was not affected by Mis- mal features. The Haynes Guides were longer have felt that they were in the sion 66 until the late 1960s. This lag also the first to describe the basin’s hu- “wilderness,” but in a resort town that reflected the basin’s cultural history and man and natural features in terms of dis- happened to lie within a national park. the Park Service’s belief that much of the tances on an automobile odometer, giv- development in the Upper Geyser Basin ing visitors an almost foot-by-foot esti- Promoting Visual Consumption, encroached on a sensitive thermal area. mate of how far they were from the next 1941Ð1990 To correct past development and lessen feature of interest. the impact of increased visitation to the The transformation of the basin’s hu- The Upper Geyser Basin’s facilities, basin, the Park Service drastically re- man landscape during this time created a like those in many parks, fell into disre- duced the number of structures, redi- marked change in the typical visitor ex- pair during World War II because of a rected automobile traffic via the develop- perience. Instead of being drawn to this reduction in funding and staffing. After ment of a cloverleaf bypass, and con- area of Yellowstone only for the pecu- the war, park roads and structures were structed an intricate system of trails and liarity of its natural wonders, visitors now strained by a deluge of travelers who boardwalks that would direct human sought out a recreational experience com- were eager to shake off the fear, suffer- movement. plete with dance halls, horseback riding, ing, and restrictions that war had brought By providing mostly self-guided in- scheduled bear feedings, and geyser baths. by heading out to enjoy America’s scenic terpretation explaining these changes, the The latter amenity was fed by runoff from wonders. Although Yellowstone had here- Park Service hoped to engender a greater nearby thermal springs. Established by tofore been visited by persons of all classes appreciation of the basin as a place to Henry Brothers in 1914, this bathing fa- (albeit those of the poorer and working visually consume the landscape’s won- cility began as a 5,000-square-foot plunge classes tended to come from nearby ders, not to disport as if at a resort, zoo, or

8 Yellowstone Science Firehole R

iver Norris’ Cabin

Castle Geyser Beehive Geyser

Old Faithful Geyser

Upper Geyser Basin 1880 Structure Trail Thermal Features Rivers

100 0 100 200 Meters

A map of the Upper Geyser Basin, 1880.

Morning Glory Pool

Grand Geyser

Formation Trail

F ir e h o le R iv Old Faithful e Geyser r

Cabins Upper Geyser Basin 1990 H ou se Structure C ke ab ep in A ing re Paved Path a Boardwalk Trail Thermal Features Roads Rivers 200 0 200 400 Meters

A map of the Upper Geyser Basin, 1990. Maps courtesy of Yellowstone’s Spatial Analysis Center.

Summer 2000 9 amusement park. As such, the basin’s oned the belief that park development features continued to be promoted, but physical and interpretive landscapes and preservation were incompatible found now there was a stronger emphasis on the changed to reflect this goal, as did the an ear with the Ford and Carter Adminis- basin’s other natural aspects. For example, promotional literature of the time. To trations, who directed the parks toward a a 1973 Yellowstone Park Company bro- spread out visitation so as to reduce its philosophy of less development. The es- chure urged the visitor to “look for wild- impact, and perhaps to fill up visitors’ tablishment of the Office of Management life” while walking along the basin’s time that was once spent soaking in the and Budget in July 1970 reinforced this boardwalk, and a 1983 brochure by the geyser baths or watching bears being fed, philosophy when it took control of, and hotel concessioner, Trans World Asso- Park Service literature highlighted not subsequently reduced funding for park ciation, advertised that “elk and bison only Old Faithful Geyser and the Upper development. wander through the geyser area, enchant- Geyser Basin’s trails, but also promoted The impact of these events at the na- ing photographers.” other nearby trails and thermal features. tional level became visible on the Upper With the addition of interpretive ecol- Keying in on this trend, concessioners Geyser Basin’s landscape. Yellowstone’s ogy walks and visitor center displays also began to promote the basin as a wild administrators attempted to reshape the revealing the damage that humans had landscape. In addition to photographs of park to fit this increasingly environmen- caused to the basin’s thermal features in its facilities, a 1972 Yellowstone Park tal philosophy through the park’s 1973 the past, the Park Service attempted to Company brochure depicted images of Master Plan and the 1984 Old Faithful teach visitors the value of the basin as a wildlife with text explaining the impor- Development Concept Plan, which called natural landscape where they could have tance of not approaching or feeding wild for making facilities adjacent to the basin a fulfilling visit without engaging in di- animals. Another brochure described the for day use only. By leaving specific versionary pastimes that stand apart from Upper Geyser Basin not as a resort, but as areas untouched by human development, observing the geyser basin, i.e., dancing a “rustic village [that had] sprouted in the such as the basin’s thermal features, win- or swimming. Instead, recreations such wilderness surrounding Old Faithful Gey- ter wildlife habitat, and the Firehole River, as geyser gazing, photography, and bird ser.” Even the Haynes Guides reduced the park sought to continue to reduce the watching were encouraged. The result the depiction of visitors engaged in diver- congestion and physical/visual impact on was a return to activities more akin to sionary activities in the basin’s facilities. the basin’s landscape while considering those enjoyed by many of the park’s first For example, the guides had no photo- the value of the basin’s cultural resources. visitors, but without the previous destruc- graphs of visitors riding horseback or Buildings such as the Old Faithful Inn tive interactions with the geysers like swimming in the geyser baths from 1940 and the Lodge, which were on or pro- washing clothes and inscribing names. to 1972. The removal of the pool in 1951 posed for the National Register of His- accounts for the lack of photos of swim- toric Places, were valued for their unique Welcoming Visitors to Yellowstone’s mers after that year, but throughout this architectural and historical significance, “Warm Winter Heart,” 1973–1990 period visitors could rent saddle horses in but more than half of the camper cabins the basin. The lack of such pictorial pro- (some 155 in all) were eliminated in the When the Snow Lodge was built in motion seems to reflect the new emphasis 1980s. Almost all of the new develop- 1972, it contributed to a whole new visi- on visitors having more of a sightseeing ment between 1973 and 1990, such as tor experience by providing a comfort- experience, and less of a resort one. employee housing and maintenance build- able base from which to observe the Although the Park Service’s and ings, took place away from the geyser basin’s thermal features during the win- concessioners’ efforts improved the ap- cones in the utility area, hidden from the ter. With its addition, the Park Service preciation and preservation of the Upper visitors’ view. hoped to reduce some of the impact of Geyser Basin’s thermal landscape, they As intended, these landscape changes visitation by spreading it out over four also to some degree kept the visitor expe- affected visitor experiences. The thermal seasons. rience a homogenized one. Visitors all left their vehicles in the same consoli- dated parking lot, walked the same trail to the visitor center, and saw the same inter- pretive film. They read the same interpre- tive pamphlet, and most flocked in one direction around the geyser basin, with only a few choosing to gander in a circuit opposite the crowds. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the promotion of the wild aspect of this land- scape increased as a result of changes in Park Service philosophy, management, and funding. Groups that during the 1960s amid environmental circles had champi- Yellowstone’s “Warm Winter Heart” at Old Faithful, 1991. NPS photo.

10 Yellowstone Science The Park Service and concessioners ecosystem protection and enhancement ers to become real-life visitors? promoted this visitor experience some- in the greater Yellowstone area, hoping The Upper Geyser Basin has served in what differently than that of the summer, to safeguard the Upper Geyser Basin’s several roles: geologic wonder, tourist calling the basin “the warm winter heart” fragile landscape from visitors and im- attraction, the heart of Yellowstone, a of Yellowstone. Here visitors could have pacts other than boardwalks, guardrails, sacred hallmark of America, and pitstop. an enjoyable day viewing the thermal and warning signs. For example, federal If the past serves as an accurate predictor, features and wildlife via snowshoes, cross- legislation introduced in 1991 sought to we should expect the future to bring more country skis, or snowmobiles; afterward, limit parties from tapping into under- changes to the cultural landscape of the they could relax in the warm environs of ground thermal reservoirs that lie outside Upper Geyser Basin. How these alter- the Snow Lodge. A 1975 Yellowstone the park. Although the only known reser- ations affect the physical environment Park Company brochure lured visitors by voirs were well to the west or north of the and our perspective of it remains to be saying “a friendly fireplace invites you, Upper Geyser Basin, the bill was entitled seen, but their evolution should provide your family, and friends to drop worldly the Old Faithful Protection Act—exem- interesting material for future geographi- cares.” A 1980 Trans World Association plifying how this icon has become the cal study. brochure reported that “a crackling fire centerpiece of a landscape that endures beckons you to relax with family and both thermal outbursts and the conse- This article is based on Karl Byrand’s friends while you relive a day of fun in the quences of being loved, even revered, by master’s thesis, which he completed as a snow.” humans. student of geography at Montana State Overall, the Park Service and Although the act did not pass, the Park University in Bozeman. Karl just earned concessioners promoted the Upper Gey- Service has continued limiting develop- his Ph.D. in geography at the University ser Basin’s wintertime landscape as a ment within the boundaries of the Upper of Maryland, writing his dissertation on place where visitors could engage in Geyser Basin. Two new buildings have the 1880Ð1920 urban evolution of Shaw, simple pleasures of the natural world, been constructed in the basin (a new a District of Columbia neighborhood, as participating in an experience that re- ranger station in 1996 and a new Snow it transformed into the “Harlem of D.C.” flected the park values of the period. The Lodge in 1998), but they were intended to He starts this fall as an assistant profes- promotion of the park’s wintertime land- consolidate some of the existing Park sor of geography at the University of scape was so successful that winter visi- Service and concessioner facilities. More- WisconsinÐSheboygan. Karl misses Yel- tation increased from more than 69,000 over, park administrators sought to pro- lowstone very much and is looking for- during the 1974Ð75 season to more than vide both buildings with an architectural ward to bringing his new son, Kade Wylde, 118,000 during the 1989Ð90 season. style more in harmony with the surround- for a visit. ing natural landscape than those con- Seeking to Protect a Sensitive structed in the basin during the late 1960s MAJOR SOURCES USED IN THIS STUDY: Ecosystem and early 1970s. The 300 visitors who came to the park Correspondence between the Superinten- Once sought only during Yellowstone’s in 1872 had a multi-day trek on foot or by dent of Yellowstone National Park and brief summer for its “fire”—that of an horse and wagon to get to the Upper the Secretary of the Interior, Yellow- extraordinary thermal landscape—the Geyser Basin from Mammoth Hot stone National Park Archives. Upper Geyser Basin became known for a Springs, but those who visit today need Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, 1872Ð1990. variety of recreational activities provided only drive a few hours. Accessible to Concessioner files, Yellowstone National by the park and its concessioners, and even the largest of recreational vehicles, Park Archives. later because of its connections to a feral the basin has become the most visited Interpretive files, Yellowstone National terrain. Then during the early 1970s, the destination in Yellowstone. Each year, Park Archives. Upper Geyser Basin opened to winter millions of people from around the world Haynes Collection, Montana State Univer- visitors, offering a new season for re- arrive to stride on its boardwalks, gawk at sity Special Collections. markable experiences. Park managers its thermal splendors, scrutinize the vista Civilian Conservation Corps and Public began promoting a visitor experience that for any signs of wildlife, and peruse its Works Administration files, Yellowstone was again focused on the thermal envi- shops for souvenirs. Moreover, technol- National Park Archives. Haynes Guides to Yellowstone Park, 1890Ð ronment of this landscape, but which also ogy is making it possible for more people 1990. advocated sensitivity for its ecology. to view the Upper Geyser Basin’s won- Travel narratives and pamphlets found in Today’s visitors are apt to learn how the ders without ever entering Yellowstone. the Montana State University Special basin’s hot pools are home to resilient IMAX theater presentations called “Yel- Collections and Yellowstone National microorganisms whose applications in lowstone” and “Grizzlies, Geysers, and Park Archives’ Rare Book Room. medicine and technology are under in- Grandeur” have played as far away as Map files, Yellowstone National Park Ar- vestigation; one such life form has proven Washington, D.C. Will these six-story- chives. essential for unlocking the mysteries of high shows become an established, cus- Reports of the Naturalist Division, Vol- DNA. tomary way for people to experience umes IÐXI, Yellowstone National Park Archives. Many people have worked to achieve Yellowstone? Or will they motivate view-

Summer 2000 11 Arctic Grayling in Yellowstone: Status, Management, and Recent Restoration Efforts

by Cal Kaya

Arctic grayling (Thymallus Madison River and its tributaries arcticus) were historically com- (the Gibbon and Firehole rivers mon within the Madison and up to the first cascades above Gallatin rivers and tributary their confluence at Madison Junc- streams within Yellowstone Na- tion, Grayling Creek, and possi- tional Park (YNP), but their pres- bly Duck and Maple creeks) and ence within the park has become the upper Gallatin River and pos- limited to several lakes into which Arctic grayling. NPS photo. sibly one or more of its tributar- they were introduced (Varley and ies. They were described as abundant in Schullery 1998), and to occasional fish the Madison River below the junction of that have apparently strayed downstream within YNP and the adfluvial (living in the Firehole and Gibbon rivers and within from one of these lakes into the Gibbon lakes and spawning in streams) fish of the lower reaches of both these tributar- and Madison rivers. The native range of nearby Upper Red Rock Lake in the head- ies, below Gibbon Falls and Firehole Arctic grayling extends from the Ural waters of the Jefferson River drainage Cascades, when the first formal fish sur- Mountains in Russia and across Siberia represented the southernmost indigenous veys within YNP and nearby areas of to Saint Lawrence Island in the Bering populations of the species. The adfluvial Wyoming and Montana were conducted Strait, and across Alaska and Canada to population in the Red Rock Lakes Na- in 1889 and 1891. Hudson Bay. Geographically disjunct tional Wildlife Refuge persists, and Arc- These descriptions of their former abun- populations were also present in Michi- tic grayling are now present in the park dance by David Starr Jordan (1891) and gan (extinct since the 1930s) and in the only as introduced adfluvial populations Barton Evermann (1893) are highly reli- upper Missouri River drainage above the in Grebe and Wolf lakes in the Madison able, as both men are considered among Great Falls. River drainage and Cascade Lake in the the most prominent of American ichthy- The fluvial (entirely stream-dwelling) Yellowstone River drainage. However, ologists. Evermann described the Madi- Arctic grayling of the Madison River with the exception of the Big Hole River son River within and adjacent to the park in Montana, fluvial Arctic grayling have as “evidently an excellent fish stream, at been extirpated from their entire native least as far up as the forks—grayling and Alaska/Canada grayling range in the upper Missouri River drain- whitefish being really abundant; dace, age, including within YNP. In 1991 the blobs, and suckers were all common.” U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) The latter three fishes are longnose dace was petitioned by two private agencies to (Rhinichthyes cataractae), mottled list fluvial Arctic grayling of the upper sculpin (Cottus bairdi), and mountain Missouri River drainage as endangered, sucker (Catostomus platyrhynchus); the Montana/Wyoming and in 1994 the USFWS determined that forks refers to the confluence of the grayling Michigan listing was “warranted but precluded” Firehole and Gibbon rivers at Madison grayling (now extinct) because other species were of higher pri- Junction. Neither man sampled the ority. This candidate status continues to Gallatin River, but Jordan stated that Arc- the present. tic grayling “are said to be found in the Native range of Arctic grayling in North America Arctic grayling were native to upper Gallatin River, in the northwest part of Missouri tributaries within YNP: the the Park.”

12 Yellowstone Science r

e

Riv G e a l on

l a st G ti w

n o al R ll

e l Ma i Y a

v t

er in d Y i G e

so ll r

a ows e n r d v Ri i i

R t v n Gardiner i ver e R o e r n r e R i v

e Hebgen Cre r Lake g ek Detail Map lin y Area a r G Red Rock West Lakes Henrys Yellowstone Lake Grebe Duck Creek eek Cascade Cr Wolf Lake le v Lake Lake a p Ri er M n o Cou b ib Inhabited by Inhabited Yellowstone g G ar Virginia Cascade introduced by National Creek Park n adfluvial adfluvial Ma s o Gibbon Falls k di R ee grayling grayling N iver r C C 10 miles a ny on Fi Cascades Attempted reintroduction sites re h of the Firehole o

l Historic range e e C Perc reek

Forest Service and National Wildlife Refuge boundaries Ri Nez

v e

Yellowstone Park boundary r Rivers and creeks

Former and present distribution of, and attempted restoration sites for Arctic grayling within YNP. Former distribution is based on surveys by Barton Evermann (1893). Maps in this article by Sarah Stevenson.

Introduction of Non-Native Fish park was administered by the U.S. Army. ling had been abundant—that segment of Plantings of both native and non-native the Madison River and a spring creek Concurrent with these first ichthyo- salmonids continued under the adminis- called Horsethief Springs (Evermann logical surveys of the Yellowstone area, tration of the National Park Service after 1893). Arctic grayling in Alaskan rivers changes were already being initiated that its creation in 1916, and as the cooperat- and in the Big Hole River of Montana are would alter the fauna of the Madison ing federal agency for fisheries in the known to migrate through many miles of River and its tributaries and eventually park passed from the former U.S. Fish stream (Armstrong 1985, Shepard and contribute to the elimination of Arctic Commission, through various adminis- Oswald 1989), and those in the inundated grayling from YNP streams. Jordan men- trative reorganizations to the most recent, segment of the Madison River and tions the introductions in 1889 of rain- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Accord- Horsethief Springs may have had an bow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) into ing to Varley’s (l981) comprehensive important role in the viability of the spe- the Gibbon River above Virginia Cas- tabulation of fish stocking activities in cies in the entire upper river, including cades, and brown trout (Salmo trutta) YNP, plantings of brown, rainbow, and within YNP. into the Firehole River above Kepler brook trout into streams continued until The fish community of the Madison Cascades. (According to Varley 1981, the mid-1950s. River and the lower Gibbon and Firehole these may have been brook trout.) Another change that affected the Madi- rivers had changed drastically by the end Evermann refers to brown trout planted son River within YNP was the comple- of active stocking of non-native salmo- in 1890 into Nez Perce Creek, a principal tion in 1915 of Hebgen Dam a few miles nids into these waters (1889 to 1955). tributary of the Firehole River. Before downstream from the park. Adfluvial Westslope cutthroat trout were gone and these introductions of non-native fishes, populations of brown and rainbow trout Arctic grayling were reduced to very small only mottled sculpins lived in the Gibbon became established in Hebgen Reservoir, numbers, and these native species had River above Gibbon Falls, and the which backs water nearly to the park been replaced by brown, rainbow and Firehole River was inhabited by fish only boundary. The effects on resident native brook trout. Only small numbers of Arc- in its lowermost reaches, downstream fishes of large rainbow and brown trout tic grayling and no cutthroat trout were from Firehole Cascades. ascending the river into YNP reaches reported caught from 1953 to 1957 by These early introductions of non-na- during spring and fall spawning seasons, anglers fishing the Madison, Gibbon, and tive fishes in YNP streams were carried or of their progeny produced in the river, Firehole rivers, and an electrofishing sur- out with the cooperation of the U.S. Fish are not known. Inundated by the reservoir vey of sections of the Madison River Commission, during the period when the were waters in which fluvial Arctic gray- between Madison Junction and the park

Summer 2000 13 The Madison River— “...an excellent fish stream...grayling and whitefish being really abundant...”

—B. Evermann, 1893

this station from 1933 to 1952 and dis- tributed to at least 14 states. Millions of fry and fertilized eggs from this facility were also planted into nine other lakes and five streams within the park. The Grebe Lake facility and the federal (at Bozeman and Ennis, Montana) and state The Madison River at 7-Mile Bridge is known to have had an abundance of Arctic grayling. Photo courtesy Cal Kaya. of Montana (at Anaconda) hatcheries became the sources of most adfluvial boundary in 1957 yielded 1,320 brown Montana, within about 4 to 5 percent of Arctic grayling populations in the U.S. trout, 560 rainbow trout, and only 1 Arc- historic riverine range (Kaya 1992). outside of Alaska. tic grayling (Benson et al. 1959). Among The presence or absence of Arctic gray- the native salmonids, only whitefish were Grayling in Park Lakes ling in the 10 Yellowstone lakes into still common. Brown, rainbow, and brook which they were stocked suggests that trout had become well established up- Extirpation of Arctic grayling from the they can coexist with certain introduced stream from Gibbon Falls and Firehole park was prevented by their introduction trout but not others, especially not with Cascades, but Arctic grayling had neither into lakes. As they were disappearing brown trout. Populations became estab- been native nor successfully established from their native streams in Montana and lished in only two of nine other lakes in these middle and upper sections of Wyoming, Arctic grayling were being stocked, in some cases repeatedly, with both streams. introduced into many lakes in these and fertilized eggs from Grebe Lake: Wolf The decline of Arctic grayling in YNP other states. Eggs taken from adfluvial Lake of the Madison River drainage and streams continued after most fish stock- populations, starting in 1898 from Upper Cascade Lake of the Yellowstone River ing ended, and there has been no evi- Red Rock Lake (Henshall 1907) and in drainage. Introductions were not success- dence since the 1950s of any reproducing 1908 from Ennis Reservoir (Kelly 1931), ful in Harlequin and Ice lakes in the population of Arctic grayling in any were used to stock other waters. In 1921, Madison River drainage, Lewis and stream in the park. A few are reported Arctic grayling fry originating from one Shoshone lakes in the Snake River drain- caught each year by anglers on the Gib- of the introduced populations, in age, and McBride, Rainbow, and Twin bon River and occasionally in the Madi- Georgetown Lake in Montana, were lakes in the Yellowstone River drainage. son River (Jones et al. 1993), but these are placed into Grebe Lake in the upper Gib- In the three lakes that presently sustain most likely either juveniles that have bon River drainage. The species was suc- populations, Yellowstone cutthroat trout drifted down from the thriving popula- cessful in the lake and joined the rainbow had already been introduced to Cascade tion in Wolf Lake or misidentified white- and Yellowstone cutthroat trout popula- Lake, and rainbow and Yellowstone cut- fish. The disappearance of Arctic gray- tions that had been introduced in 1907 throat trout and hybrids to Grebe Lake ling from streams and their replacement and 1912 (Kruse 1959). and probably to Wolf Lake, before the by non-native fishes during the first half Arctic grayling quickly became so nu- introductions of Arctic grayling. Arctic of the present century was not confined to merous in Grebe Lake that a station for grayling did not become established in YNP; except for the upper Big Hole River egg-taking and hatchery operations was Shoshone and Lewis lakes, which al- in Montana, similar changes were occur- started at the lake in 1931 and continued ready supported introduced populations ring in all streams inhabited by Arctic in operation until 1956. Spawning fish of both brown trout and lake trout grayling in the upper Missouri River drain- were trapped in the lake’s tributary (Salvelinus namaycush). Other lakes were age (Vincent 1962, Kaya 1992). The only streams and stripped of gametes to pro- too shallow or did not have streams for confirmed population of fluvial Arctic duce fertilized eggs that were sent off for spawning habitat (Harlequin, Ice, Rain- grayling remaining in the upper Missouri distribution or hatched at the station. bow, and Twin lakes), and are presently River drainage is in the upper Big Hole Arnold (1967) estimated that about 27 fishless despite repeated introductions of River, a tributary of the Jefferson River in million fertilized eggs were produced at Arctic grayling and other species. Only in

14 Yellowstone Science McBride Lake did introductions fail de- TABLE 1. UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE OR INTRODUCE ARCTIC GRAYLING spite an apparent suitability of physical FRY FROM GREBE LAKE. habitat combined with the presence of only Yellowstone cutthroat trout, which Stream Number of Attempts Total Stocked Years are native to the lake. Brown trout are the Gallatin River 3 640,000 1937 to 1948 only introduced fish in common to the Madison River 7 >5,000,000 1934 to 1943 Madison River (from which Arctic gray- Gibbon River 12 >5,000,000 1933 to 1943 Grayling Creek 11 842,000 1934 to 1942 ling disappeared after brown trout be- Gardner River 2 650,000 1933 to 1934 came established) and Shoshone and Lewis lakes (in which brown trout were already established prior to unsuccessful have not experienced the habitat degra- oblivion in the park, as they were also plants of Arctic grayling). dation, especially dewatering by diver- doing in nearly every other stream they sions, that may have contributed to de- inhabited in the upper Missouri River Decline Continues in Park Rivers cline of the species in other Missouri drainage. The failure of attempts to re- drainage waters (Vincent 1962). The YNP store Arctic grayling to streams may have Aside from the establishment of non- streams in which grayling were once de- been related to the use of fish from an native fish, especially brown trout, and scribed as abundant, the Madison River adfluvial population, that of Grebe Lake. the possible influences of Hebgen Dam and the lower reaches of the Firehole and Recent studies have demonstrated that and Reservoir, it is not known what fac- Gibbon rivers, appear today as they were fluvial Arctic grayling from the Big Hole tors may have contributed to the decline described by Jordan and Evermann in River are better adapted to living in a and disappearance of fluvial Arctic gray- 1889 and 1891. Thermal tolerances of riverine habitat than are adfluvial popu- ling from Yellowstone. The role of an- Arctic grayling (Lohr et al. 1996) are lations (Kaya 1991). gling harvest in their decline within the similar to those of rainbow trout in the park is not known. The first published Firehole River (Kaya 1979), and changes Recent Restoration Efforts estimate of angling catches of Arctic gray- in Madison River temperature, if such ling in the Madison and lower Gibbon have occurred, would not account for More recent efforts to restore fluvial and Firehole rivers was for 1953 through disappearance of one and not the other. Arctic grayling to Yellowstone began in 1957 (Benson et al. 1959), when they had From 1933 to 1948, millions of fry and 1976, when USFWS fisheries biologists already declined to very low numbers. fertilized eggs from Grebe Lake were Jack Dean and John Varley introduced Arctic grayling in Wolf and Grebe lakes used in unsuccessful efforts to restore or fish into a small stream called Canyon were at times protected from harvest, but introduce Arctic grayling in park streams. Creek (Jones et al. 1981). A tributary of until 1970 the species was not afforded Estimates of the numbers of plants at- the Gibbon River downstream from Gib- any special protection in streams beyond tempted in each stream, total numbers bon Falls, Canyon Creek is within the the general regulations also applicable to planted, and the years of the plants (Varley historic range of Arctic grayling and trout. Since 1970, all angling for the spe- 1981) are shown in Table 1. westslope cutthroat trout. A barrier falls cies within the park has been restricted to Despite these efforts, fluvial Arctic was constructed on Canyon Creek near catch-and-release. Yellowstone streams grayling continued their decline into its confluence with the Gibbon River and the stream was chemically treated to re- move non-native brook, brown, and rain- bow trout above the barrier. Arctic gray- ling from differing habitats were planted in the creek, with the hope that fish from one of these populations would have the ecological adaptations to be successful in this location. Young grayling originating as fertilized eggs from the Grebe Lake population were transplanted into the stream during spring 1976. These ap- peared to drift downstream into the Gib- bon River soon after being released. A second plant of about 120 grayling cap- tured from the fluvial population of the Big Hole River was made in August. Some of these fish were still present the following spring of 1977. In 1977, 2,000 to 4,000 fertilized eggs The barrier on Canyon Creek above its confluence with the Gibbon River. Photo courtesy Cal Kaya. from the adfluvial, outlet-spawning popu-

Summer 2000 15 lation from Deer Lake in the Gallatin as has been observed with Arctic gray- souri River drainage becomes a more River drainage in Montana were placed ling planted into some other streams. difficult problem. All streams within YNP in Vibert egg-incubation boxes in the However, because fluvial Arctic gray- once inhabited by Arctic grayling now stream. Young grayling of the Deer Lake ling of the upper Missouri River drainage contain well-established populations of population typically hatch out and re- have been associated with larger streams, brook, rainbow, or brown trout. These main in a small, short section of stream it was not known whether they could live non-natives were likely a major contribu- above a waterfall at least through early in such small streams. Thus, plants of tor to the extirpation of fluvial Arctic fall before migrating upstream to the lake. Arctic grayling into Cougar Creek were grayling and their continued presence Deer Lake grayling hatched out in Can- also intended to address this question. would hinder and perhaps prevent resto- yon Creek and were visible in the creek About 800 Arctic grayling from fluvial ration of fluvial grayling. These non- that summer of 1977. In 1978, about Big Hole River genetic stock, mostly native trout would be difficult to remove. 5,000 young fry from the adfluvial Upper age-0 and age-1,were planted into Cou- The size of larger streams, like the reaches Red Rock Lake population in Montana gar Creek in 1993, 1994, and 1995. of the Madison or Gallatin rivers within were planted into the creek. Electrofishing Electrofishing surveys in the years fol- YNP, would make it logistically very later in 1978 yielded small numbers of lowing each introduction yielded very difficult to eliminate non-native fishes, grayling in the creek, but many more few Arctic grayling. In 1996, about 50,000 and the non-native trout support popular non-native brown, rainbow, and brook to 60,000 fertilized eggs were distributed recreational fisheries whose removal trout. It is not known whether these were within two tributary spring creeks near would be strenuously opposed by many survivors of the 1976 chemical treatment the patrol cabin located beside the central anglers and guides. or migrants that had managed to circum- portion of Cougar Creek. Young free- Although upstream from waterfalls vent the barrier. In June 1980, about swimming fry were seen by the author which had prevented colonization by na- 38,000 young fry from the adfluvial and others in one of the spring creeks and tive Arctic grayling, reaches of the Gib- Meadow Lake population in Wyoming in Cougar Creek a few weeks later. How- bon River above Virginia Cascades have (descendants of fish transplanted there ever, Arctic grayling were not seen in the been proposed as potential sites for estab- from Grebe Lake) were planted into the creek in surveys conducted in each of the lishment of fluvial Arctic grayling. These creek. No grayling were encountered following two years by USFWS biolo- waters have both apparent good habitat during electrofishing surveys of the creek gists (Dan Mahony, pers. comm. 1998). and presently support mostly introduced in September. Thus, Arctic grayling from brook trout, with which grayling do coex- different sources and of different ages all The Arctic Grayling’s Future ist in the Big Hole River. Consideration eventually disappeared following their of these and other sites continues by YNP introduction into Canyon Creek. The Arctic grayling presently appear and by the interagency Montana Fluvial The most recent attempts to restore secure in Yellowstone National Park as Arctic Grayling Workgroup, which in- fluvial Arctic grayling into YNP have adfluvial populations in Wolf, Grebe, and cludes YNP biologists. With only one been in Cougar Creek, another small tribu- Cascade lakes, but the future for reestab- fluvial population remaining in native tary within the Madison River drainage lishment of fluvial populations remains waters of the upper Missouri River drain- (Kaeding et al. 1995). This small stream uncertain. With the well-established and age, the future of Arctic grayling as eventually disappears entirely, as water recreationally popular non-native trout stream-dwelling fish remains very inse- is lost through seepage into the stream populations, especially brown and rain- cure in the U.S.A., except in Alaska. bed. The stream is thus physically iso- bow trout, present in the main stem of the Efforts to restore fluvial populations con- lated from downstream reaches of the Madison River within the park, it is highly tinue to have high priority within YNP drainage and the only fish present are unlikely that the once-thriving native flu- and in Montana. westslope cutthroat trout and mottled vial community of sculpin. The stream has low biological westslope cutthroat productivity, and an electrofishing sur- trout and Arctic gray- vey in 1991 (Jones et al. 1992) yielded an ling will ever be re- estimate of 144 to 160 trout per mile (of stored to this river. And fish at least 6 inches in length). This if small streams do not stream provides two advantages difficult provide adequate habi- to find elsewhere. One is the potential to tat for Arctic grayling, establish a community of westslope cut- as suggested by the ap- throat trout, Arctic grayling, and mottled parent failure of efforts sculpins (which are all native and sympa- in Cougar Creek and tric in the Madison River drainage) and to nearby Canyon Creek, do so without removal of any non-native then reestablishment of fishes. The other is that the downstream the species in its native cessation of flow means that planted fish Yellowstone waters Cal Kaya collecting fertilized eggs on Cougar Creek. cannot be lost to downstream emigration, within the upper Mis- Photo courtesy Cal Kaya.

16 Yellowstone Science Calvin M. Kaya completed degrees at the University of Hawaii-Manoa and the University of Wisconsin-Madison prior to moving to Bozeman to join the faculty at Montana State University in 1971. He is currently a professor of biology, and has studied Arctic grayling since 1986. He is a member of the interagency Flu- vial Arctic Grayling Committee, which coordinates grayling conservation and restoration programs throughout Mon- tana. He studied native trout in Yellowstone’s Firehole River in the 1970s, and has advised park biologists on gray- ling restoration efforts at Cougar Creek and elsewhere. While hiking on the trail between Cascade Lake and Grebe Lake, hoping to take photographs to illustrate this article, he “turned back when my wife and I had a close encounter with a Grebe Lake. Present habitat of established adfluvial Arctic grayling populations. NPS photo. grizzly bear.”

LITERATURE CITED

Armstrong, R. H. 1986. A review of Arctic grayling studies in Alaska, 1952-1982. Biological papers of the Univ. of Alaska, 23:3-17. Arnold, B. B. 1967. A ninety-seven year history of fishery activities in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Unpubl. Rep., U.S. D.I., Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Benson, N. G., O. B. Cope, and R. V. Bulkley. 1959. Fishery management studies on the Madison River system in Yellowstone National Park. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Serv., Special Sci. Rep., Fisheries No. 307. Evermann, B. W. 1893. A reconnaissance of the streams and lakes of western Montana and northwestern Wyoming. Bulletin of the U.S. Fish Commission 11:3-60. Henshall, J. A. 1907. Culture of the Montana grayling. Rep. of the Commissioner of Bureau of Fisheries Doc. No. 628:1-7. Jones, R. D., P. E. Bigelow, D. G. Carty, R. E. Gresswell, and S. M. Rubrecht. 1981. Annual Project Tech. Rep. for 1980. Fishery and Aquatic Management Program, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Jones, R. D., R. Andrascik, D. G. Carty, L. R. Kaeding, B. M. Kelley, D. L. Mahony, and T. Olliff. 1992. Annual Project Tech. Rep. for 1991. Fishery and aquatic management program, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Jones, R. D., G. Boltz, D. G. Carty, L. R. Kaeding, D. L. Mahony, and T. Olliff. 1993. Annual Project Tech. Rep. for 1992. Fishery and aquatic management program, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Jordan, D. S. 1891. A reconnaissance of the streams and lakes of the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming in the interest of the United States Fish Commission. Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission 9:41-63. Kaeding, L. R., G. Boltz, D. G. Carty, and D. L. Mahony. 1995. Fishery and aquatic management program in Yellowstone National Park. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv., Tech. Rep. for 1994. Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Kaya, C. M. 1992. Review of the decline and status of fluvial Arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus, in Montana. Proc. of the Montana Academy of Sciences 52:43-70. Kaya, C. M. 1991. Rheotactic differentiation between fluvial and lacustrine populations of Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus), and implications for the only remaining indigenous population of fluvial “Montana grayling”. Canadian J. of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48:53-59. Kaya, C. M. 1979. Thermal resistance of rainbow trout from a permanently heated stream, and of two hatchery strains. Progressive Fish- Culturist 40:138-142. Kelley, J. L. 1931. Nation watches Montana grayling. Montana Wildlife 3:9-11. Kruse, T. E. 1959. Grayling of Grebe Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Fishery Bulletin 149:307-351. Lohr, S. C., P. A. Byorth, C. M. Kaya, and W. P. Dwyer. 1996. High-temperature tolerances of fluvial Arctic grayling and comparisons with summer river temperatures of the Big Hole River, Montana. Trans. Am. Fisheries Society 125:933-939. Shepard, B. B. and R. A. Oswald. 1989. Timing, location, and population characteristics of spawning Montana grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in the upper Big Hole drainage, 1988. Rep. to Montana Dept. Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Montana Natural Heritage Program—Nature Conservancy; and U.S. Forest Serv. Varley, J. D. 1981. A history of fish stocking activities in Yellowstone National Park between 1881 and 1980. Info. Paper No. 35. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Varley, J. D. and P. Schullery. 1998. Yellowstone Fishes. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, Penn. Vincent, R. E. 1962. Biogeographical and ecological factors contributing to the decline of Arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus Pallas, in Michigan and Montana. Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Summer 2000 17 Yellowstone Fishes— Ecology, History, and Angling in the Park by John D. Varley and Paul Schullery

Book review by Rick Mossman

Stackpole Books, 1998, 154 pages. Want to take a guess on how many sepa- this section they mention the still-out- $19.95 (Trade Paperback) rate streams there are in the park? (Over standing rewards being offered for infor- 500.) The authors go into the creation of mation leading to the capture and convic- It has been said that within a 100-mile the lakes and streams geologically, and tion of whoever put the lake trout in radius around West Yellowstone, Mon- the evolution into aquatic environments, Yellowstone Lake. The authors go an- tana, is the finest concentration of fly including the decaying vegetation, the other step and ask, since the cutthroat fishing in the world. Of course, half of insects, the things that eat the insects, the trout are at risk and since they are a key that area is within Yellowstone National fish, and the things that eat the fish. This food source for grizzly bears (a threat- Park. Yellowstone has a long tradition of book is written in layperson’s terms, so ened species under the terms of the En- sport fishing and a comparatively pure readers do not have to be worried about dangered Species Act), might the person natural fish ecosystem (more on that later). being bogged down by a lot of hard-to- responsible for planting the trout also be In John Varley and Paul Schullery’s new understand science. prosecuted in violation of that act? Food book, Yellowstone Fishes—Ecology, His- In this first section is also a new chapter for thought. tory, and Angling in the Park, they de- on fire and fish. Ever since the Yellow- Part two of the book describes each of scribe both the rich fishing history and stone fires of 1988, many critics have the 18 species of fish (12 native, 6 non- fish ecology of Yellowstone. This book is blamed anything wrong with the park on native) found in the park. It reads like a an updated edition of their 1983 book, the fires. I believe this chapter is to mol- field guide, but it’s not as dry. It gives the Freshwater Wilderness: Yellowstone lify many of the critics who blame what pertinent information such as scientific Fishes and Their World. they perceive as poorer fishing on the names, common names, description, dis- This edition contains more informa- fires. Also, the authors go into the rela- tribution, habitat, spawning seasons, and tion and updated knowledge on threats to tively new crisis of lake trout in Yellow- growth rates for each species. Most inter- the fish and fisheries of Yellowstone. The stone Lake. They take the time to explain esting are additional comments by the black-and-white illustrations and photo- what is known about the invasion and, authors, including fun things about Yel- graphs seem more crisp than in the older more importantly, the future implications lowstone fish and anglers. In describing edition. The only things missing are the of the issue. The authors explain that the the whitefish the authors state, “The white- very artful watercolor paintings of fish in lake trout could destroy one of the largest fish is pretty much the ugly duckling on their natural settings by Michael Simon and most pure aquatic ecosystems in North the sport-fishing scene in Yellow- that were in the 1983 version. The book is America. Of all the articles that have stone...but we suspect that if suddenly all divided into three parts, with 12 chapters been written about the lake trout issue, the trout disappeared, or if they never and the obligatory appendices, bibliogra- this is probably the most succinct, yet it existed, there would be many serious and phy, and index. contains all the primary facts. devoted whitefisherman, wearing ‘White- In part one, “The World of Yellow- One of the things I enjoyed about this fish Unlimited’ patches and extolling the stone Fishes,” the aquatic environment of book is the way the authors continually virtues of this fine big fish.” Yellowstone is described, including the weave in how important everything is in In part three of the book, the authors go rivers and lakes. Many of the typical facts the ecosystem. They think “outside the into the history of fish and humans in the and figures on park waters are listed. box,” beyond the obvious. At one point in park. Since Yellowstone was the first

18 Yellowstone Science national park, in its infancy fish and game management was very haphazard. Al- “As long as we can take care of the ecosystem, the trout though hunting was finally stopped in will take care of themselves.” 1883, sport fishing was becoming a popu- lar activity in the United States. In 1889 the U.S. Fish Commission (which later The authors go into the very basics of fish are too big—I’ve never lived any- became the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- sport fishing in Yellowstone with a short where else where that was a complaint! vice) set up shop in Yellowstone, and section on how to fish, what equipment to One appendix of the book is a reference shortly thereafter began hatchery and use, and where to go. They continually listing all the streams and lakes in the stocking operations. The authors describe try to steer the reader into thinking in park and what type of fish, if any, live the history of this work through 1957, favor of the trout—in other words, using there. Another is a nice key to fish species when fish stocking efforts stopped. The barbless hooks, fishing by catch-and-re- identification for Yellowstone. The au- authors go into the very interesting early lease only, and being considerate to other thors leave us with one simple notion: philosophical debates that took place from anglers and the fish. It is also in part three “As long as we can take care of the the 1920s through the 1940s on whether that the authors express the virtues of fish ecosystem, the trout will take care of stocking was good or bad, and discuss its watching. You do not have to catch or eat themselves.” effects on Yellowstone. fish to enjoy and appreciate them in their There are hundreds of books on the They then delve into more of the fish natural environment. The authors share market about fishing in Yellowstone. management efforts that occurred in the their enjoyment of this as well as where to There are books on which stretch of which 1960s and 70s. Management policies watch fish in Yellowstone. river to fish. There are books on what changed dramatically during this period In the last chapter of this section, new equipment to use and which rivers, due to the great numbers of anglers and to this edition, the authors talk about the streams, and lakes have fish. There are the crash in numbers and sizes of fish due future. They discuss the invasion of aliens, even books on how to tie the flies to use to overharvesting. I remember as a kid in not just lake trout, but also whirling dis- just in the park. However, I cannot think 1962 going out fishing on Yellowstone ease and New Zealand mud snails. They of any other book that really goes into the Lake with a concession guide. Between end on a positive note, though, about how history of Yellowstone fish and fisheries my mom, dad, and brother, we took back DDT is now out of the aquatic ecosystem management. You cannot live in this area to the campsite 13 fish! (The limit was 12, and comment on the fact that the sport without being exposed to fish and fishing but the guide miscounted.) We caught fishing in Yellowstone is now as good as in some form. If you have any interest in these fish in about 45 minutes at the it probably ever has been. As a park the park’s aquatic life, this an excellent mouth of Pelican Creek using night- ranger, it amazes me how many com- book to read. It has the most complete crawlers! In 1970 on a return trip, we plaints we get about the size of the fish in coverage of Yellowstone fish, fish ecol- fished all day with a guide at the far end Yellowstone Lake. Since anglers can only ogy, fish management, and fish fun that of the lake and caught only three fish in keep cutthroat under 13 inches long, exists. I highly recommend it. total. people are always complaining that the

Rick Mossman is the Snake River Sub- district Ranger and oversees Lewis, Shoshone, and Heart lakes and most of the Snake River drainage in Yellowstone National Park. Before he arrived in Yel- lowstone in 1996, he worked at Wrangell- St. Elias National Park, Glacier Bay National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Bandelier National Monument, Ford’s Theater National Historic Site (where there are no fish), Petrified For- est National Park, and Buffalo National River. He has a Bachelor of Science de- gree in wildlife biology with minor stud- ies in fisheries biology from Kansas State University. He has been an avid fisher- man since the age of two, when he caught his first fish.

Fishing along the Lamar River. NPS photo.

Summer 2000 19 NEWS¬es New Fossil Location Found building known to be both flood and earthquake prone, there is continuing While performing routine road cleanup potential for great damage to or total between Mammoth and Tower Junction destruction of some of Yellowstone’s in June, park maintenance employees great treasures—rare books and numer- stopped to take a closer look at debris on ous other materials held in the park col- the road. Embedded in a piece of sand- lections. Included are several original stone were fossils of Metasequoia (also (1870) handwritten manuscripts by the known as dawn redwood). These trees first superintendent, N. P. Langford, and occurred throughout North America from thousands of original (often handwritten) the Upper Cretaceous (80 million years letters bearing signatures of Theodore ago) through the Middle Miocene (15 Roosevelt, F. Jay Haynes, P.W. Norris, million years ago). Other plant fossils and other historical figures. The photo and petrified wood were also discovered archives include William Henry Jackson’s on this steep hillside. Although petrified personal four-volume set of his 1871 pho- wood is common in Yellowstone, this tographs, probably the first ever taken of Metasequoia fossil found during road cleanup. was a previously unknown location and NPS photo. Yellowstone, and the ones used to pro- is now an important addition to mote the establishment of the park. Yellowstone's fossil database. The park continues to seek funding to In the past few years, other Yellow- build a new facility to store a growing stone employees have identified new and natural resource programs for the YCR, array of museum objects, photographs, important fossil locations. While moni- including wildlife management, physical research materials, and other collections. toring mountain lion movement, an em- sciences, vegetation management, and ployee discovered a fragment of a jaw- aquatic resources. Tom will begin his Seventh Yellowstone Interagency bone and tooth of a Titantothere, a giant new position on August 27, 2000. Meeting Scheduled rhinoceros-like creature that lived 30 to 50 million years ago. A large, remote Flood Threatens Park Archives The seventh Yellowstone Ingeragency plant fossil site was discovered, which Collections Science Conference will be held in Yel- yielded many different types of fossil lowstone at the Youth Conservation Corps leaves from the Eocene epoch (35 to 55 On May 23, 2000, raw sewage and (YCC) building in Mammoth Hot Springs million years ago). This extensive site “gray water” backed up into the park on September 14Ð15, 2000. This meeting will be further investigated and docu- archives, and flooding occurred in and brings together scientists from numerous mented in the future. During construction near the library’s rare book room. Be- government agencies and universities to of the East Entrance Road, a fossil leaf cause the incident occurred during busi- report and present papers on new and horizon was uncovered which produced ness hours, staff were able to rescue the continuing scientific studies in and around an extinct genus of sycamore that is about collections. But storage equipment, in- the park. Topics include geophysics, ge- 45Ð50 million years old. cluding the cabinet used to house rare ology, geochemistry, geothermal stud- All fossils in Yellowstone National maps and other oversized materials, was ies, limnology, biochemistry, biology, Park are protected resources, and finding contaminated. The archives is in the low- hydrology, mapping, remote sensing, and new sites is important so they may be est part of the basement of the Albright GIS applications. The meeting is open to documented and studied. Visitor Center in Mammoth Hot Springs. persons conducting or interested in sci- Park plumbers suspected that high levels entific studies on such topics in the park, New Branch Chief of Natural of use in the public restrooms, also lo- and is cosponsored by the U.S. Geologi- Resources Selected cated on the basement level of the visitor cal Survey and Yellowstone. A small center, had clogged a sewer line. Subse- registration fee is required; for more in- Tom Olliff, who has been the Branch quently, workers cleared a 20-foot-long formation about presentations and regis- Chief of Resource Operations for the obstruction in the area’s main sewer line. tration, contact coordinator Margaret Hiza Resource Management and Visitor Pro- Staff from the library, museum, and of the U.S.G.S. at MS 980, P.O. Box tection Division in Yellowstone since archives, following an existing disaster 25046, Federal Center, Denver, CO 1992, has been selected to fill the Branch plan, had emergency equipment and sup- 80225, 303-236-0075, [email protected], Chief of Natural Resources position in plies on hand and used them effectively or Mary Hektner, Yellowstone Center for the Yellowstone Center for Resources to save an array of priceless material that Resources, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone (YCR). Tom will be responsible for the was jeopardized. However, since the col- National Park, WY 82190, 307-344-2151, management and supervision of all the lections are housed in the basement of a [email protected].

20 Yellowstone Science NEWS¬es

Annual Aerial Pronghorn Census

On April 3, 2000, Yellowstone biolo- gists conducted the annual aerial census of the northern Yellowstone pronghorn herd. A total of 205 pronghorn were counted, an increase of only 1 animal from the 204 counted in March 1999. The northern Yellowstone pronghorn herd is both historically and biologically signifi- cant. Yellowstone pronghorn are genetically unique, expressing much of the genetic variation formerly widespread in the spe- cies but no longer present elsewhere. The Yellowstone herd is also one of the few The Canyon Visitor Center, now eligible for the National Register, in 1958. NPS photo. pronghorn populations that was not ex- terminated or decimated by the early twen- tieth century and has largely retained its historic migration pattern. This popula- contact the Nez Perce National Historic ings and few interior walls. tion was the source for reestablishing or Trail Foundation at (435) 655-3210. In January 2000, the National Park supplementing pronghorn populations in Service determined that a portion of Can- several states during the first half of the Canyon Village Eligible for the yon Village is eligible for listing on the twentieth century. In recent years, the National Register National Register of Historic Places be- Yellowstone pronghorn herd has experi- cause of its significance as a part of the enced an apparently precipitous decline, Postwar affluence in the 1950s brought Mission 66 program. In July, the Wyo- from a high of 594 in 1991 to the present record numbers of visitors to Yellow- ming State Historic Preservation Office level of less than 225 animals. The popu- stone and other national parks across the concurred with this determination. lation has been identified as being at an nation. Recognizing that the visitor cen- Today, the Canyon Visitor Center, a 18 percent risk of extinction over 100 ters and infrastructure in the national parks part of the historic Mission 66 landscape, years, a level generally considered unac- were grossly inadequate to handle these has major structural deficiencies and is ceptable. new visitors, NPS Director Conrad Wirth too small to effectively serve its 400,000 initiated a program to rebuild the parks by annual visitors. Yellowstone is propos- Nez Perce National Historic Trail 1966, the fiftieth anniversary of the Na- ing to rehabilitate the visitor center by Foundation to Meet in Cody tional Park Service. This initiative, known adding a second story, which will nearly as Mission 66, would become the greatest double the square footage. The NPS is The Nez Perce National Historic Trail construction period in the parks’ history working with an architectural firm to Foundation will hold their annual meet- and reflected a modernizing America. ensure the design of the new building will ing at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Canyon Village was the first Mis- be compatible with the other Mission 66 on September 12Ð15 in Cody, Wyoming. sion 66 project completed by the NPS. buildings. In addition, the park will pre- The theme of this year’s meeting is the Welton Becket and Associates, a presti- pare an environmental assessment to fur- Nez Perce War of 1877, with a focus on gious architectural firm that designed the ther evaluate the rehabilitation. their two-week flight through Yellow- Los Angeles Airport as well as other stone National Park. On September 12, notable buildings worldwide, designed Errata Lee Whittlesey, park archivist and acting much of the Canyon Village develop- historian, plans to deliver a paper on the ment. Becket envisioned the project as a A statement in the interview with Glen archival sources concerning the 1877 contemporary development serving au- Cole, published on page 18 of Yellow- passage through Yellowstone. Lake dis- tomobile travelers. All the facilities visi- stone Science 8(2), was mistakenly at- trict ranger John Lounsbury, also very tors might need—a grocery store, gift tributed to Paul Schullery. The paragraph knowledgeable about the Nez Perce pres- shops, cafeteria, lodging, and informa- starting with the statement that “ This was ence in the park, will make a presentation tion—were centrally located around a one of the most intellectually stimulating on how the Nez Perce dealt with over large parking plaza. These “National Park places…” should have been attributed to 2,000 horses on their journey to Canada. Service Modern” buildings were simple Dr. Cole. We regret the error. For more information about the meeting, and unadorned, and often had high ceil-

Summer 2000 21