Yellowstone Science a Quarterly Publication Devoted to the Natural and Cultural Resources

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

Preserving Yellowstone’s Natural Conditions Reviewed Cultural Resources Management Christmas Bird Counts Fungus Among Us Time Machine

Volume 9 Number 1 Reflections on a 50-Year Relationship…

In the eight years of its existence, Yel- has another noteworthy resource. It’s My salute to those individuals whose lowstone Science has reported on a wide something you have to work here to know love of Yellowstone is expressed by dedi- variety of topics related to natural won- about. For the 50 years that I have person- cation to their work, no matter how me- ders and cultural history. This first issue ally enjoyed an on-and-off working rela- nial the task. Some of these devoted indi- of the twenty-first century continues to tionship with this park’s staff—first as a viduals are found in the production staff address the general theme of constant seasonal ranger in the early 1950s and in of this publication. I thank them for mak- change in the natural world. Our thanks to recent winters as a volunteer wildlife ing my brief stint as guest editor both easy authors for their voluntary contributions biologist—I’ve found that there has al- and pleasurable. May this park always that help all of us to better understand the ways been a small central core of indi- have the benefit of a dedicated core of workings and history of this special place. viduals who cheerfully do the bulk of the hard-working people. Truly, they are an- Beyond its natural and cultural re- daily business of preserving, protecting, other special resource. sources, let me here suggest that this park and helping others to enjoy. Jim Caslick Yellowstone Science A quarterly publication devoted to the natural and cultural resources

Volume 9 Number 1 Winter 2001 Table of Contents

Yellowstone Christmas Bird Counts of the 2 Twentieth Century Christmas Bird Counts continue in Yellowstone—a tradition both scientific and social. by Terry McEneaney

Yellowstone Nature Notes: Time Machine 10 by Alice Wondrak

The Evolution of Cultural Resources Management 13 in Yellowstone: An Interview with Laura Joss Recent staff additions accelerate the completion of cultural resource inventories, to be followed by more in-depth research of the park’s extensive collections. Interview with Laura Joss, former cultural resources branch chief

Pilobolus: A Fungus that Grows in Yellowstone 17 Editor The interaction of Pilobolus and a round worm may be a factor in the distribution Sue Consolo-Murphy of lungworm disease in the park’s northern elk herd. Guest Editor by K. Michael Foos Jim Caslick Book Review and Essay 21 Assistant Editor and Design Preserving Yellowstone’s Natural Conditions: Science and the Perception of Tami Blackford Nature by James Pritchard. Assistant Editors Reviewed by Paul Schullery Mary Ann Franke Kevin Schneider News and Notes 24 Alice Wondrak Lynx Survey to Begin ¥ Park Wins Auction for Rare Item ¥ Interior Secretary Visits ¥ New Publications ¥ Winter Use Decision Announced ¥ Thanksgiving Printing Rumblings • Bison Decision Reached • “Obsidian Pool” Official • Photo Contest Artcraft, Inc. Yellowstone Science is published quarterly, and submissions are welcome from all investigators Bozeman, Montana conducting formal research in the Yellowstone area. Correspondence should be sent to the Editor, Yellowstone Science, Yellowstone Center for Resources, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. The opinions expressed in Yellowstone Science are the authors' and may not reflect either On the cover: Black-Billed Magpie, National Park Service policy or the views of the Yellowstone Center for Resources. photo by Terry McEneaney. Copyright © 2001, the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History & Education. Support for Yellowstone Science is provided by the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, Left: Obsidian Cliff, NPS photo. History & Education, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to serving the park and its Above: Yellowstone in the Afterglow: visitors. For more information about the Yellowstone Association, including membership, or to Lessons from the Fires, a new publica- donate to the production of Yellowstone Science, write to tion now available from the park. Yellowstone Association, P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. Yellowstone Science is printed on recycled paper with a linseed oil-based ink. Yellowstone Christmas Bird Counts of the Twentieth Century by Terry McEneaney

December 17, 2000, marked the last of 28 Yellowstone Christmas Bird Counts (YCBCs) conducted during the twentieth century. Park naturalist Milton Skinner completed the first YCBC on December 23, 1920. That day, a total of 14 bird Mallards were one of the six bird species found on all 28 Yellowstone Christmas species representing 1,196 individuals Bird Counts. Photo by Terry McEneaney. were counted. Skinner conducted the original survey on horseback, traveling 22 miles through one to five inches of snow, Of what value are the data? What have life in an annual holiday event in the with temperatures ranging from 0 to18° F. we learned? This article attempts to an- eastern United States, during which all Naturalists William E. Kearns and David swer these questions and to explain why forms of wildlife were shot. Basically, the deLancey Condon conducted the second people participate in the winter event team that shot the most birds and mam- YCBC on December 19, 1939. Tempera- called the Christmas Bird Count. mals during the hunt was declared the tures that day ranged from 21 to 34° F, winner. In protest, Chapman convinced with snow found only in the higher eleva- History of the Christmas Bird 27 friends in 25 different locations na- tions. They split up to cover a total of 20 Count tionwide to set aside December 25, 1900, miles on foot, and tallied 21 bird species as a day for a large-scale bird count. representing a mere 432 individuals. The concept and proposal for the first Instead of shooting birds, they decided to From 1975 through the end of the twen- Christmas Bird Census appeared in the count them—hence the name. tieth century, the YCBC has been con- December 1900 issue of Bird Lore, the Much has changed since the original ducted annually. Regardless of weather precursor of Audubon Nature Notes. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place. conditions or number of birds detected, brainchild of this event was none other Today, more than 50,000 people from a the YCBC has sparked public interest in than Frank Chapman, the editor of Bird vast area including all 50 United States, wintering birds, as evidenced by the slow Lore and one of the prominent orni- all Canadian provinces, the Caribbean, but steady increase in participants—the thologists of the twentieth century. Central and South America, and the Pa- tradition continues. What is the origin of Chapman was disturbed, as were other cific Islands participate in more than 1,800 the Christmas Bird Count? What is it like? conservationists, by the slaughter of wild- Christmas Bird Counts annually.

Methods Skinner conducted the original survey on horseback, The methods established for the Christ- traveling 22 miles through one to five inches of snow, mas Bird Count are simple and have with temperatures ranging from 0 to18° F. changed very little over time. The count day can occur any time during a two-and-

2 Yellowstone Science Corwin Springs

hway

8 9 Jardine

N Stephen Gardiner s C Road reek North Entrance Yellowstone River Station Montana W yoming

Mammoth Gardner River Yellowstone Blacktail Ponds National Park to To wer

is r r

No to

Figure 1. The Yellowstone Christmas Bird Count area is a circle having a 7.5-mile radius, centered at Yellowstone’s North Entrance station (map scale: 1 inch = 3 miles). Map by the Spatial Analysis Center and Tami Blackford.

Swan Lake Flats. The number of bird species and individual birds have been reliably higher at lower elevations during Yellowstone Christmas Bird Counts. Photo by Terry McEneaney.

Winter 2001 3 TABLE 1. 26 MOST FREQUENTLY DETECTED BIRD SPECIES (>50%)—YELLOWSTONE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS, 1920Ð2000, BASED ON 28 YEARS OF DATA

Years Detected Years Detected Species No. % Species No. % Mallard 28 100% Belted Kingfisher 23 82% Clark’s Nutcracker 28 100% Black Rosy Finch 20 71% Black-Billed Magpie 28 100% Dark-Eyed Junco 20 71% Common Raven 28 100% Red-Breasted Nuthatch 20 71% American Dipper 28 100% Rock Dove 18 64% Townsend’s Solitaire 28 100% Common Snipe 18 64% Black-Capped Chickadee 27 96% Northern Flicker 18 64% Mountain Chickadee 27 96% Common Goldeneye 16 57% Bald Eagle 26 93% Northern Shrike 16 57% Golden Eagle 26 93% Hairy Woodpecker 16 57% Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch 26 93% Downy Woodpecker 15 53% Bohemian Waxwing 25 89% Steller’s Jay 14 50% Green-Winged Teal 25 89% American Tree Sparrow 14 50%

TABLE 2. 12 MOST ABUNDANT BIRD SPECIES—YELLOWSTONE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS, 1920Ð2000, BASED ON 28 YEARS OF DATA

Species No. Individuals No. Yrs. Detected Average No. Birds per Year Bohemian Waxwing 10,546 25 421.8 Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch 5,442 26 209.3 Common Raven 4,031 28 143.9 Mallard 2,282 28 81.5 Black-Billed Magpie 2,244 28 80.1 Mountain Chickadee 1,591 27 58.9 American Dipper 1,472 28 52.6 Rock Dove 1,386 18 77.0 Townsend’s Solitaire 1,283 28 45.8 Clark’s Nutcracker 729 28 26.0 Black Rosy Finch 713 26 35.7 Black-Capped Chickadee 348 27 12.4

one-halfÐweek period between Decem- dences are also allowed to be part of the YCBC Data ber 14 and January 5. Each bird count total tally. Participants cover as much of encompasses a 177-square-mile area—a the circle as possible within a 24-hour Most of the people involved in Christ- circle measuring 15 miles in diameter, or calendar day, counting all individual birds mas Bird Counts are not professional a 7.5-mile radius from a center point. The and species encountered within the desig- ornithologists. These “citizen scientists,” YCBC center point is the North Entrance nated area. The count leader assigns routes as they are now called, contribute a sig- station in Yellowstone National Park, within the count area to avoid recounting nificant amount of information on birds one-half mile south of Gardiner, Mon- of the same birds. The same areas are in general; however, this body of knowl- tana (Figure 1). The perimeter of the covered fairly well each year; however, edge must be treated carefully. While count circle extends in the northeast to one of the principal drawbacks of this many professional ornithologists treat this Jardine, Montana; in the south to Mam- method is the lack of established census information with scientific caution, re- moth, Wyoming; in the southeast to Black- routes and observation points that are cent advances in the summary and analy- tail Ponds in the park; and in the north- essential for developing meaningful popu- sis of CBC data has resulted in a some- west to Corwin Springs, Montana. An lation trends. CBC data are compiled and what greater scientific use of this infor- unlimited number of people may partici- sent to the National Audubon Society and mation than was previously thought pos- pate in this event. Avian species associ- later appear in an annual publication en- sible, to track general national popula- ated with bird feeders at private resi- titled American Birds. tion trends and changes in winter ranges.

4 Yellowstone Science 4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500 Number of Birds

1000

500

0 9 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 2 3 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Year

Figure 2. Number of Individual Birds, Yellowstone Christmas Bird Count.

Number of Species 15

Figure 3. Number of Bird Species, Yellowstone Christmas Bird Count.

Winter 2001 5 individuals detected are reliably higher in the Gardiner, Montana, area than in the Mammoth, Wyoming, area. ¥ No two winters are the same. Tem- peratures and snowfall vary from day to day, month to month, and year to year. ¥ Caution should be exercised when judging winter-like conditions based on a single day. Regional weather patterns do not take into account microsite differences, such as snow depth, temperature pockets, and chinook winds. ¥ Natural features, such as thermal areas and the extent of open water, play important roles in luring mi- grant or wintering birds. The Gardner River. Thermally-warmed open water provides important winter ¥ Artificial features such as bird feed- habitat for birds. NPS photo. ers and ornamental shrubs and trees have played important roles in winter The strength of the YCBC data is in the and 44 in 1987. bird distribution and abundance in qualitative information it provides, such ¥ The number of individual birds the Gardiner/Mammoth area. Regu- as weather conditions; relative abundance observed has varied between 432 in lar- or late-season elk-hunter success of particular bird species; availability of 1939, and 3,357 in 1988. has played an important role in preda- food; notes on obvious food sources, such ¥ The average number of bird spe- tory and scavenging bird distribution as aquatic vegetation and insects, juniper cies observed per YCBC was 33. and abundance in the Gardiner/Mam- berries, seed cone crops, and available ¥ The average number of individual moth area. prey; and notes on unusual numbers of birds observed per YCBC was 1,373. ¥ In recent years, Rock Doves, House individuals of a species. For example, the ¥ The highest number of individuals Sparrows, European Starlings, and 26 bird species most frequently observed of any one species observed was 2,081 House Finches have overwintered and during the 28 years of conducting YCBCs Bohemian Waxwings in 1988. nested in the area, primarily with the can be clearly established (Table 1). Also, ¥ Bohemian Waxwings, Rosy assistance of bird feeders, artificial winter relative abundance can be deter- Finches (Gray-Crowned and Black structures, and ornamental plants. mined (Table 2). In addition, a histogram combined), and Common Ravens ¥ Bird feeders are much more effec- plotting trends of individual birds over were the most numerous birds de- tive in luring birds during cold tem- time can be developed (Figure 2), as can tected during the 28 years of con- peratures than in mild ones. a histogram of species detected during ducting YCBCs. ¥ Years with exceptional numbers of YCBCs (Figure 3). However, population ¥ Food and habitat availability play individual birds usually have been trends for individual species cannot be vital roles in winter bird distribution. eruptive years for Bohemian Wax- ascertained because of the lack of stan- ¥ The YCBC represents a true re- wings, when they comprised up to 62 dardized census methodology and un- flection of winter-like conditions in a percent of the total individual birds controlled variables, such as weather. Al- mid-elevation (montane) to lower el- counted. Rosy Finches (Gray- though only limited quantitative infor- evation (foothill) mountainous envi- Crowned and Black combined) also mation can be extracted from the data, a ronment. Winter information of this have comprised up to 84 percent of vast amount of qualitative information type, collected during YCBCs, is the total individuals observed during has resulted in the following findings: rarely collected elsewhere in moun- some peak years. ¥ Ninety-five species were detected tainous habitats. ¥ The total number of observers par- during the 28 years that YCBCs were ¥ Winter weather is highly variable ticipating in a YCBC has not ap- conducted (Table 3). Of that total, and probably the single most impor- peared to reflect the number of indi- only 26 species were found at least tant factor influencing bird distribu- viduals or species detected. half of those years. The remaining 69 tion and abundance. ¥ The most ideal winter weather con- species were either uncommon, er- ¥ The lower the elevation, the more ditions for counting the maximum ratic (wandering), or rare. bird species and individuals one is number of bird species and individu- ¥ The number of bird species ob- likely to encounter in winter. The als during a YCBC are moderate to served has varied between 14 in 1920, number of wintering bird species and heavy snows, and low to moderate

6 Yellowstone Science temperatures. Under these conditions, lower elevations, winter conditions run to the car fast enough. The YCBC is birds are more concentrated and are may not prevail by Christmas, mak- more than just watching and counting restricted to narrow habitats having ing those CBCs less reflective of birds in the winter. It is about putting up available food. A lack of snow or birds that may occupy those areas with the elements, developing friendships, extremely mild temperatures result later that winter. and gaining field experience. It is also in the opposite—natural foods are personally gratifying to watch people more available and birds are more Personal Experience and Summary improve their field skills over time. widely distributed. You may ask, if the data has limited ¥ Most erratic and rare bird species During Yellowstone Christmas Bird application, why even conduct a Christ- detected during the YCBC have been Counts I have witnessed a number of mas Bird Count? For me, it is more than closely associated with bird feeders, wonderful sightings including a North- watching and counting birds. It is a social thermal areas, and areas of exposed ern Goshawk chasing Rock Doves, a event beyond the scope of scientific open water. Merlin chasing an American Dipper, and knowledge. It is a winter ornithological ¥ The most unusual or erratic birds a Northern Shrike flying with a vole in its tradition. I look forward to the twenty- detected on the YCBC to date in- talons and transferring the vole to its first century and continuing the Yellow- clude: beak while in flight. I have had opportu- stone Christmas Bird Count tradition. ÐVirginia Rail (1996, 1998, 1999; nities to snowmobile, ski, walk, fall, slide, Mammoth, WY); sit in a vehicle, and even bathe in a hot ÐWinter Wren (1998; Mammoth, spring while looking for birds. I have WY); come across hundreds of wonderful finds ÐHoary Redpoll (1984; Gardiner, including wolverine tracks in the snow, MT); river otter swimming in the Gardner River, ÐSharp-Tailed Grouse (1996; a white-tailed jackrabbit population erup- Gardiner, MT); tion, and a Bald Eagle roost. During ÐNorthern Mockingbird (1998; YCBCs, I have seen hundreds of Bald Gardiner, MT); and and Golden Eagles and Townsend’s Soli- ÐSwamp Sparrow (1994; Mam- taires, and thousands of Gray-Crowned moth, WY), the first record of Rosy Finches and Bohemian Waxwings. this species in Yellowstone Na- I have had the opportunity to observe tional Park. both rare and vagrant birds. I have expe- ¥ Because winter conditions arrive rienced unusual weather conditions—so earlier at higher elevations, winter mild that you thought you were in Cali- conditions reliably prevail during fornia, snow coming down so hard you YCBCs, making them highly reflec- could barely see 50 feet in front of you, tive of wintering bird species. At other times it was so cold you couldn’t

Terry McEneaney is the ornithologist for Yellowstone National Park and author of several books on the birds of Yellowstone and Montana. Photo courtesy Terry McEneaney.

References

LeBaron, G. 2000. One hundredth Christmas Bird Count. Ameri- can Birds. National Audubon So- ciety. New York, N.Y. 682 pp. McEneaney, T. 1988. Birds of Yel- lowstone. Roberts-Rinehart. Boulder, Colo. 171 pp. Thomas, L. 1996. Monitoring long- term population change: why are there so many analysis methods? Ruffed grouse, birds of woodlands and forest edges, have been observed on five of Ecology 77:49Ð58. 28 YCBCs. NPS photo.

Winter 2001 7 #:year

1:1976,97,99

1:1991 1:1975,97,00 275:1999

5:1982 2:1975 26:1984 2:1995 1:1984,96

8:1987

1:1984,90 1:1978,79,96,99 3:1982 1:1976,85,90 2:1939 7:1991 12:1992,99

1:per year 1:1988,97,00 1:1997 7:1977 10:1987 1:1996 2:1998,99 1:1989 2:1983

355:1988 4:1984 1:per year 1:1994 1:1999 6:1982

9:1986 5:1985

25:1978 5:1939

2:1994 50:1992

43:1991

31:1994

, 1920–2000.

OUNTS

IRD

HRISTMAS

ELLOWSTONE

------1------1------1--1 --10------46------34275-

------5------2------1------26------2------1------1----

- - 26 1 30 8 1 - - - - 62 81 44 * 5 1 3 - - - 2 - 1 - - - - 81:1985

- - 2 4 3 4 2 4 4 9 11 9 24 9 11 48 16 10 47 6 6 25 4 8 10 5 15 18 48:1988 ------1-----*------**------*--1------1-3------1------1------1------1----1------2------1------2----11------171-*-112-1 -162751695831045672212-84831126 ---*------*-1------1--*--1-**------1-*------1--1 ------*------17------1------1-- ---22-----2---10------1------1------1-22* ------1------1-1---2------

------354753549035565245735484343594929152148 --**2-----24-1*1-1***1----1* -----1-111--1-1---1------*------*-

- 1 - 1 1 1 1 4 - 3 - - 1 1 - 3 2 - 1 1 - * - - - 1 - 1 4:1980 -2113----1-139641-12-2--1--1 -1------13521-2------1 - - - 2 3 3 2 2 1 - - 4 1 * 2 2 1 1 1 1 * - 1 3 3 4:1987 -----251---10------*--4- -5-212221--1--431112------4 - 9 2 1 - - - 1 - 1 2 - 1 - - 1 3 2 - 5 1 - 3 5:1997 ------1------2------2------33-2811812-502530*40-24710

----2------6---3-435-17------

-51126244113261111930231428141193116161071411 - 65 52 144 80 135 85 42 25 35 69 74 103 86 219 104 34 6 18 6 50 30 71 6 27 7 3 15 219:1987

5 - 4 10 6 2 4 - - 22 21 12 6 10 8 6 7 12 5 10 8 18 23 17 14 7 27 53 53:2000

8 - 27 - 13 17 1 21 - 1 - 9 15 11 2 1 - 5 1 - - - - 1 - 14 - - 27:1975

1------43-1-82-2---2114-6-

1 - 2 2 3 1 2 - - - - 1 2 - 2 1 4 4 1 - - - 1 2 2 1 - 3 4:1989,90

1 -2443152613152534 *3 *1 -12 *34

4 26 19 7 23 50 27 43 2 4 5 19 24 12 35 26 97 27 40 18 16 12 133 15 4 2 30 9 133:1995

2 46 105 83 169 76 169 78 98 108 169 93 429 190 222 166 118 83 263 246 146 226 117 155 135 105 83 151 429:1985

85 53 127 74 60 167 160 56 45 96 197 82 141 146 63 90 107 110 8 32 25 26 52 61 36 51 54 78 197:1983

21 35 96 121 48 88 95 68 65 88 84 70 103 70 69 102 75 101 70 58 78 133 80 79 150 66 66 65 150:1997

URING

BSERVED

IRDS

3. B

ABLE

T Species 1920 1939 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Highest Pied-Billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Canada Goose Green-Winged Teal Mallard Northern Pintail Blue-Winged Teal Northern Shoveler Gadwall American Wigeon Common Goldeneye Barrow’s Goldeneye Barrow’s Common Merganser Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-Shinned Hawk Cooper’s Hawk Cooper’s Northern Goshawk Red-Tailed Hawk Red-Tailed Rough-Legged Hawk Golden Eagle American Kestrel Merlin Prairie Falcon Gray Partridge Blue Grouse Ruffed Grouse Sharp-Tailed Grouse Sharp-Tailed Virginia Rail Virginia American Coot Killdeer Common Snipe Rock Dove Great Horned Owl Northern Pygmy Owl Short-Eared Owl Northern Saw-Whet Owl Belted Kingfisher Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Three-Toed Woodpecker Three-Toed Northern Flicker Horned Lark Gray Jay Steller’s Jay Steller’s Blue Jay Pinyon Jay Clark’s Nutcracker Clark’s Black-Billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Black-Capped Chickadee Mountain Chickadee 8 Yellowstone Science 4:1976,87,89

1:1997 1:1994,98 2:2000

4:1977

3:1980 1:1976 1:1998

53:1988

1:1983,87,90 1:1982

1:1987 6:1988 1:1994 1:1990,94,98 1:1991,92,94,98 3:1998

2:1989 3:1990 6:1977 1:1979,93

139:1997 77:1939 139:1997 280:1995 54:1984 148:1989 2:1984 322:2000 13:1991 45:1991 201:1999

Highest Number of Species (including count week) = 47 in 1987 Highest Number of Individuals of Any One Species = 2,081 Bohemian Waxwings in 1988 As of 2000, Total Species Recorded During YCBC = 95 As of 2000, Total Species Recorded During YCBC and Count Week = 97

- 1 1 * - 1 - - 1 5 5 33 3 11 24 19 1 11 15 1 2 2 25 4 - - - 5 33:1984 -1-4----31-21-434-2------3 3 4 1 4 - - - 1 - - 11 1 - - - 2 - - - 1 - - 2 - 11:1987 ------1------*---1------11*2

---14----2---13--1------

- - - 4 - - 1 22 - 1 - - 5 - 3 9 - - * - - 8 - - - - - 2 22:1980 ------3-1----1------1------1-- - 39 7 390 995 600 407 514 105 450 - 113 205 138 156 2081 8 - 1724 50 71 13 1455 35 350 120 393 127 2081:1988 ------4053-30-351-52-119 - - 1 * 2 1 2 1 - - - 5 1 - * 2 - 4 3 3 2 - 2 - 1 1 - 1 5:1984 - - 4 1 - 1 ------7 - 15 - 1 15 - - 3 2 1 - - * * 6 15:1987,90 ------1---1--1------1------9 33 - 1 - - - 27 9 15 - 1 25 35 - 1 12 - - 29 6 - 16 - - 35:1989 ------1------

------1------1---*---1------1*-*---*------1------1---111-*----312 - 7 12 - 87 4 - 1 - 2 - 6 1 4 1 - - 1 13 4 2 6 17 5 4 16 - 7 87:1977 ---*------2------*------13------1------6------1------1------

----108------38-6-----14--1- -77------1-----3-----10---*------2--11103753134413945136126 ----6----5-----532----280-1--145 ------54------141696------66----148-1051213--311------2------3-----12-1----1-1216311410-322 ------1-41312*1--**7 --2218-----839--141212245*-*-60-20-- -32------4035*464312520138

3 7 28 44 42 72 25 56 13 29 41 40 54 44 80 106 54 21 88 7 52 55 94 55 59 10 51 53 106:1988

3--*------1-1136321****2*235

59 25 76 69 42 39 59 40 33 32 56 100 100 122 124 77 85 49 54 39 21 34 15 22 27 8 32 33 124:1987

852 1 80 45 9 150 126 35 150 105 175 168 112 - 42 1 143 125 276 770 685 * 21 233 65 508 370 195 852:1920 151 - - 15 20 40 40 - 51 20 16 24 16 - 10 - 24 25 21 40 37 * 37 10 28 59 24 5 151:1920

14/0 21/0 28/1 32/6 40/0 29/1 29/1 25/0 20/0 32/0 29/0 39/0 37/0 27/0 44/3 39/0 40/2 41/2 38/3 32/4 28/433/12 32/4 36/4 33/3 42/4 34/5 39/2

1196 432 719 1109 1861 1512 1228 1013 615 1050 960 1208 1577 989 1366 3357 1166 769 2863 1428 1377 825 2617 1064 1180 1313 1986 1672

arbler

Total Number of Years of YCBC = 28 Average Number of Species per YCBC = 32.6 Average Number of Individuals per YCBC = 1,373.3 Highest Number of Individuals = 3,357 in 1988 Highest Number of Species = 44 in 1987

Red-Breasted Nuthatch White-Breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper House Wren Winter Wren Marsh Wren American Dipper Golden-Crowned Kinglet Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s American Robin Gray Catbird American Pipit Northern Mockingbird Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing Northern Shrike European Starling Yellow-Rumped W Yellow-Rumped Spotted Towhee American Tree Sparrow American Tree Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-Throated Sparrow White-Crowned Sparrow Harris’ Sparrow Harris’ Dark-Eyed Junco Snow Bunting Red-Winged Blackbird Brewer’s Blackbird Brewer’s Common Grackle Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch Black Rosy Finch Pine Grosbeak Cassin’s Finch Cassin’s House Finch Red Crossbill White-Winged Crossbill White-Winged Common Redpoll Hoary Redpoll Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Evening Grosbeak House Sparrow

TOTALS Species (Day/Week) Individuals

* Found during count week. Winter 2001 9 Time Machine by Alice Wondrak

When the “Nature Notes” came into being in 1920 [see Schullery and Whittlesey, Yellowstone Science 8(1)], folks in Yellowstone weren’t as concerned with what would come to be known as the park’s “cultural resources” as we are today. This installment might be more aptly titled “Culture Notes.”

As a child who was fortunate enough to visit Yellowstone during each of my formative summers, the culture of nature held an early fascination for me—the most exciting thing to me at Old Faithful was always more the inn than the geyser. Walking into the inn was like walking into a roomful of sky in the midst of a forest glen—the sun even shone bright white circles down onto its floor, and if you were a careful looker, you could trace their beams all the way back up to a tiny hole in the logs of the impossibly high ceiling. And then there was that clock. Designed by Old Faithful Inn architect Robert Reamer specifically for the inn, the clock reaches the top of the inn’s three stories that are accessible to visitors, and sports a 13-foot pendulum. Originally fitted with wooden hands, it was made around 1903 by Livingston blacksmith George Colpitts, who also fashioned the inn’s fireplace set and andirons. If there was ever a “machine in the garden,” this was it. Reamer didn’t have to hang a gigantic clock from the side of the inn’s giant chimney, which might lead us to wonder why it’s there, outsizing even the fireplace and its proportionally massive andirons. Regardless of whether its maker simply intended to let everyone know what time it was, the clock’s power to awe makes our relationship with the concept of time in Yellowstone worth considering. It is, after all, one of the reasons that Yellowstone exists as a national park today—Old Faithful didn’t become Yellowstone’s primary icon and the world’s most famous geyser by accident. It captured the imaginations of its first observers

10 Yellowstone Science because it was a figment of nature the Northern Pacific Railroad first brought Of course, Reamer’s clock could which seemed to conform to the visitors to Yellowstone via its terminus at always just remind you that it was rhythm of the human experience. Cinnabar, Montana. If the park brought time to get out onto the deck and So appealing was this notion that Americans together ideologically, the rail- see if the geyser had started to the myth that the geyser erupts road brought them together physically in blow. If the clock represents the “once an hour, on the hour” re- a place whose main attraction was the importance of human time in mains fixed in the minds of many apparent convergence of nature’s won- Yellowstone’s history, it equally visitors today, despite the park’s der and culture’s order. represents the importance of geo- best efforts to convince logic time in its creation. them that the geyser runs We know that Old Faith- on its own “schedule.” ful erupts fairly regularly; Standardized time and we also know that it didn’t schedules themselves were sp(r)out up overnight. newish concepts at the turn If we know anything else of the twentieth century about Yellowstone, it’s when the clock was built. that change is the only con- Until the transcontinental stant over time. Unfortu- railroad physically linked nately, however, this has the entire North American also been the case with the continent in 1869, it hadn’t inn’s clock. It had ceased really mattered if it was to be faithful in recent simultaneously 8:56 in Chi- years, and in 2000 was cago and 9:03 in Denver. retro-fitted by an interdis- Timekeeping that was both ciplinary team of accurate and universal be- Livingston historian Dick came an American cultural Dysert, Anaconda machin- obsession only after the ist Mike Kovacich, and timetable—a creation of Bozeman clock expert the same railroad system, Mike Berghold, who re- oddly enough, whose built its works “from Northern Pacific financed scratch.” Today the the first major explorations clock’s pendulum swings of the Yellowstone area and again, marking the min- bankrolled the construction utes until the next geyser of the Old Faithful Inn (and eruption, dinner date, or its clock)—necessitated the interpretive talk for guests making of time zones in who are anxious to learn the U.S. The nation syn- more about the inn, the chronized its watches in geysers, and their past 1883, the same year that times. Old Faithful Inn’s clock. NPS photo.

Alice Wondrak is a writer-editor at the Yellowstone Center for Resources. She is also a 1999 Canon National Parks Science Scholar and a doctoral student at the University of ColoradoÐBoulder. She is exploring the environmental history of the “Yellowstone bear,” from tourism icon to ecological indicator. Photo courtesy Alice Wondrak.

Winter 2001 11 CALL FOR PAPERS

Sixth Biennial he purpose of the greater Yellowstone conference Scientific Conference on the series is to encourage the awareness and application Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem T of wide-ranging, high-calibre scientific work on the region’s natural and cultural resources. We encourage YELLOWSTONE LAKE multidisciplinary presentations and interdisciplinary discussions about the relationships between the regional HOTBED OF CHAOS OR RESERVOIR OF RESILIENCE? landscape and its residents of many species. he Sixth Biennial Conference will focus on a central feature of the ecosystem’s landscape, T Yellowstone Lake—from its depths, where submerged hot springs and spires emerge atop the Yellowstone caldera, to its beaches, where rare plants and evidence of prehistoric peoples erode at the mercy of wind, waves, and modern footsteps. The program committee invites proposals for scholarly papers and panel discussions that contribute to professional knowledge and debate on the following topics or others MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS HOTEL that relate to the YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK Yellowstone Lake basin and its human and natural history.

Hydrology, geology, geochemistry, and geophysics

Plants, fish, and other wildlife in or around the lake

Invertebrates and microfauna

Archeology and human history of the lake basin

Socioeconomic values associated with Yellowstone Lake and its resources

Issues related to recreational use of or around Yellowstone Lake

Management of natural or cultural resources

HOW TO SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT REGISTRATION INFORMATION Please submit a one-page, double-spaced abstract of proposed papers or The conference will be held at the Mammoth Hotel in Mammoth Hot panel sessions, on diskette or as an attachment via electronic mail (Word, Springs, Wyoming, the headquarters for Yellowstone National Park. This Word Perfect, or ASCII format) by March 15, 2001, to: Program Commit- call will be followed by all necessary information on conference registra- tee, Yellowstone Center for Resources, P. O. Box 168, Yellowstone Na- tion, accommodations, and related details. Please contact Michelle LeBeau tional Park, Wyoming 82190; email: [email protected]. See at (307) 344-2239 for more information. www.nps.gov/yell/technical/conference.htm for information and forms. Abstracts will be published in the conference agenda booklet. Authors of selected papers and panelists will be notified by May 15, 2001. The Evolution of Cultural Resources Management in Yellowstone An Interview with Laura Joss

In March 2000, Laura Joss, chief of from staff then-assigned to interpretation Yellowstone’s Branch of Cultural Re- or planning. The positions were pulled sources from 1994 to 2000, became su- into one branch, but it wasn’t very cohe- perintendent of Fort McHenry National sive at that time. One thing I tried to work Monument and Historic Shrine and with quite a bit was making the branch Hampton National Historic Site, both members feel like more of a team and located in Baltimore, Maryland. Laura getting a common vision of the program, received a B.A. in Anthropology from and getting our goals delineated. I feel Indiana University, and an M.A. in His- like those stones have been put in place— tory Museum Studies from the Laura Joss. NPS photo. the foundation is there now. Cooperstown Graduate Program. She One program that was an emphasis for started with the National Park Service as Tom Tankersley, who was the cultural a volunteer at Mesa Verde National Park, LJ: When I arrived, there were two resource contact, was working with tribal and has worked as either staff or consult- permanents, one seasonal, and two part- people. That was something I had done a ant at several other national parks and time Yellowstone Association (YA) em- little of when I got here, but it really hit us museums. Prior to her departure from ployees. Now we have five permanent big time with the bison plan and Environ- Yellowstone, she talked with Yellowstone and five term employees, as well as the mental Impact Statement (EIS), when we Science staff about overseeing cultural same two YA employees. My intent was did more face-to-face consultations with resources management here. to base the growth on the need for re- tribes. The list of tribes that have ex- source inventories and establish at least pressed concern or interest about bison Yellowstone Science (YS): Thinking one person in each program: archeology, has grown to 84. I have worked hard, not back to before you came, what made you anthropology, cultural landscapes, eth- just for the bison program but for all want to come to Yellowstone and take on nography, historic structures, and the programs in the park, to have a regular this challenge? museum, library, and archives. We still consultation schedule with tribes, which Laura Joss (LJ): I had a great experi- need a librarian, although we now have a is now twice a year. And I have tried to ence here as acting chief of interpretation term library technician. We are getting increase the tribal presence in the park for three months in 1992, and I really closer to the positions that we need to through employment opportunities. enjoyed the resources and the people. flesh out each program. When we progress Whenever we have a big training here, I When I was offered this position in 1994, far enough along with our inventories, ask if we can get slots for tribal members I thought it was a great opportunity to we’ll get more into researching the col- and we’ve had some tribal people come build a new program, work with some lections and to better protection and moni- for those. The tribes do some contract really good professionals, and get to know toring. It is being done a little now, but I work for us, particularly with cultural the resources better. think we need a lot more of that along the resources. We also facilitate traditional YS: It seems in the last decade, we’ve road. uses—sweat lodges and other ceremo- had great growth in the cultural resources YS: How would you describe the state nies—in the park by tribal people. A lot program. What was the staff size when of the program when you arrived? of teachings go on in the park by tribal you got here and how has it grown? LJ: The program had been created people who have used this area for gen-

Winter 2001 13 erations. Superintendent Mike Finley re- some time. That planning has gone LJ: We need between 40,000 and ally helped facilitate that when he agreed through several iterations here in the park 70,000 square feet of space, because we to a fee waiver for tribal people coming in because different sites were targeted at are planning for 100-year growth in our for traditional activities. different times. In the course of consider- new building. We have a large historic YS: Before coming to Yellowstone you ing those, doing subsurface testing and vehicle collection that should have more were the Rocky Mountain regional cura- compliance, the process has now evolved space so we can more easily access them. tor? to the point that we have four sites we’re We have been promised $4.8 million in LJ: Yes. I was there for three and a half looking at. One is at the edge of Gardiner “line item” construction money in about years and had oversight of the curatorial and the other three are in upper Mam- fiscal year 2002, but we need $10Ð12 program for 41 parks in this region. moth [site of park headquarters]. Be- million to construct the size facility nec- YS: How does Yellowstone’s curato- cause of some of the compliance issues in essary for the long term. rial program match up, and what are its Mammoth, which includes the Fort Yel- YS: Is the hope that you can put some challenges? lowstone historic district, and the poten- of these things like the William Henry LJ: Well, it is one of the larger pro- tial for future growth, we’re looking at Jackson photographs or the vehicles on grams in the region, and I became famil- the Gardiner site very closely as our pre- display? Or is that not appropriate? iar with it when I was in Denver because ferred site. LJ: Our core mission for this building we were subject to an inspector general’s YS: What is the scope of the collection, is collection storage. We don’t have the audit which cited us for our problems or roughly speaking, the size? staff to turn our collection storage reposi- with the museum environment and stor- LJ: We have about 250,000 historic tory into a working museum or even a age areas. Yellowstone and other parks artifacts and natural resource specimens. visitor center. We will, however, try to that were cited received increased atten- We also have nearly 90,000 historic pho- show people working through glass walls, tion to correct those deficiencies. All the tos. In addition to the museum collection, or perhaps use glass walls to display the parks on that list have corrected their we have the library and archives, includ- vehicles. We’d like to have people be deficiencies, except Yellowstone. We ing 8,000 linear feet of archives. We’re able to access them visually but not need have done everything we could within the only park in the National Park System a tour guide to accompany them. So it the current location, but overcrowding is that is a National Archives and Records might be sort of a “virtual visitor experi- a big problem. Susan Kraft Administration repository, and they have ence.” [Yellowstone’s museum curator] has standards that they hold us to for the YS: The park has not had a full-time worked very hard to make improvements storage and maintenance of those collec- historian for some time. Is that position in within her storage area, but there are still tions. the wish list? What other positions re- a lot of problems with the Albright Visi- YS: And this is currently located in main to be filled? tor Center basement. That’s why we’ve approximately how large an area com- LJ: I’d say the historian is a badly been planning for a new building for pared with what you need? needed position. Lee Whittlesey functions as the de facto historian, although technically he is the archivist and that position brings more than enough work for one or even two people. We do have some money right now for oral histories, and Charissa Reid and Sally Plumb are filling that gap by doing some really important interviews with former biologists and park employees who worked in the natural resources program early on. Of course, Paul Schullery has filled another part of that program’s need because of his long and active interest and exper- tise in the history of Yellowstone. He is continuing to work closely with Lee on research in that realm, although he is part-time and also working on other projects. The anthropologist position is temporarily filled by Rosemary Sucec. We have two-year money to fund that position. That program should be well addressed and will include the ethno- Members of the Lakota tribe engage in a prayer ceremony to bless a project to graphic resources inventory. She’ll also increase awareness about the bison issue, August 1997. NPS photo. handle the tribal consultation meetings,

14 Yellowstone Science and she’ll do oral histories with tribal want to leave any of those out of a cultural inventorying within the park, particu- members. landscape. You’re right, that is a current larly the backcountry. Along rivers or YS: Cultural resources and the whole issue, particularly for cultural landscapes. lakes, logical campsites for us would evolution of appreciation of America’s But for most cultural resources, you try to have been logical campsites for people culture has grown along with Yellow- keep things in the best condition you can. prehistorically, too. stone National Park, hasn’t it? Yellow- The mitigating measure would be to docu- YS: Particularly when we are still rela- stone was created because of the great ment them as well as you can as soon as tively sparse in terms of inventories and wildlife and the geysers, and no one they’re identified. That way, if there is knowing what we have, can you com- thought about cultural resources then. Do you feel as though public perceptions have changed to include the historic as- pects of Yellowstone? “Maybe 2 to 3 percent of the park has been inventoried LJ: Yes. Early park superintendent Philetus Norris, for instance, had a strong for archeology and that has resulted in our finding appreciation and interest in tribal uses of about 1,000 sites.” the park, which date back at least 10,000 years. He documented archeological sites, wickiups, and some interactions with tribal people who were here. A lot of the cultural resources have evolved as the loss or change, you’ve at least got the best ment on what you think some of the major park has grown. Structures were built condition documented. threats are? We hear about, for example, during the development of the park, and YS: There’s a common perception that vandalism of archeological sites or theft because of their age, many are historic when a structure is historic, no changes of important artifacts. Do you think we now. can be made. But it really is not that have any notion of the scale of that? YS: And they’re growing in public simple, is it? LJ: Many of the threats to Yellow- appreciation, aren’t they? LJ: No, in fact, we do recognize that stone’s archeological resources are natu- LJ: Exactly, yes. And the museum there have to be some improvements made ral. With spring runoff and erosion, we collections have grown. There were many in buildings for safety reasons, livability, are losing sites along the rivers and even research parties that came into the park in or to use modern techniques that might the lakeshore because of variations in the the 1800s and took collections to the help preserve the building. That is all amounts of water. We have a very good Smithsonian or other major museums. taken into consideration when we go working relationship with the rangers to Now we’re trying to get a handle on through our compliance process. For in- monitor sites that are particularly vulner- where those collections are and what they stance, with safety, some improvements able to vandalism and may be within consist of because they tell us a lot about are negotiable and some are not. We access of the normal visitor use areas. the early history of Yellowstone. Those work closely with the maintenance and One area that has been vandalized over collections, primarily natural and some safety staff to come up with a plan that the years is Obsidian Cliff. The base of archeological, were recognized as im- will benefit everyone, including the users that cliff has changed quite a bit even in portant back then, they just weren’t held of the building, since quite a few function the last 30 years. Former ranger Jerry here in the park. And with anthropology, as offices or homes, while maintaining as Ryder used to comment that because of there are well-documented cases of inter- much of the original fabric of the struc- all the people taking away souvenir ob- actions with tribes early in the park’s ture as possible. sidian, the profile of the whole cliff has history, the most commonly known one YS: Aren’t there still thousands of years been affected. being the flight of the Nez Perce in 1877. of work left to be done? Yellowstone is so YS: What is the policy when a natural YS: With natural resources manage- vast; does it need systematic surveys process threatens archeological sites? Say, ment, the Park Service has evolved into across the backcountry for wickiups and for instance, if a wickiup is naturally recognizing the natural processes and archeologic sites? about to collapse, or a fire threatens to changes that are occurring. With cultural LJ: You’re right, we probably would burn it. Is the goal to preserve that site and resources, is there recognition that these never hire all the staff we need to com- prevent that natural decay or burning? Or things are going to constantly change in plete inventories, particularly archeologi- is the hope to document it and let the ways that you can’t even predict? Or how cal. Maybe 2 to 3 percent of the park has process go on? do you decide what period to preserve been inventoried for archeology and that LJ: We try to document the site as and present, for example, in Fort Yellow- has resulted in our finding about 1,000 much as possible and retrieve as many stone? sites. We have inventoried along the roads artifacts from it as may help tell its story. LJ: We are actually wrestling with that and that’s often where the tribal people Oftentimes our thrust is so much to iden- one right now at Fort Yellowstone, be- traveled prehistorically. We may be in- tify the sites that we don’t have time to cause there are a couple of very important ventorying the highest use areas, but there fully research or excavate them. And we periods of development and you don’t probably will be a systematic method for don’t always need to, because you can get

Winter 2001 15 superintendent at two culturally based sites and you’ll have responsibility that crosses all the divisions. How do you see some of the bigger challenges that go along with that? LJ: I really look forward to that diversity of operation. I experienced it briefly when I was acting superintendent at Bryce Canyon and really loved the variety of operations that I got to be involved in. I think Fort McHenry and Hampton are a little further along in identifying their resources than Yellowstone because they are so much smaller. There’s a General Management Plan being prepared at Hampton right now and I’m very inter- ested in seeing that through. I just welcome this opportunity to broaden my experience in different program areas. Wickiups, used as temporary hunting lodges, are evidence of Yellowstone’s YS: What would you describe as your 10,000-year cultural history. NPS photo. highlight here at Yellowstone? LJ: I’d say my highlight in general has been working with the American Indian diagnostics that will help shorten the pro- YS: Lee Whittlesey is often called the tribes...I think we’ve made some really cess. We do try to erect protective mea- ferret of the files because he’ll go around great strides toward improving commu- sures around sites if possible, and the buildings saying, “Don’t throw that nications and that has been very gratify- wickiups are particularly vulnerable. We away! I’ll look at that!” And especially ing to see. Personally, another highlight have worked with the fire crew to reduce with the electronic age coming up, there would be hiking up Mount Hornaday last some of the fuel load around wickiups. is some concern that so much record is summer to look for paleontological speci- Our biggest problems with wickiups, getting lost. mens. It scared the heck out of me, but it however, are that they are falling down. LJ: Yes, an interesting evolution of the was just spectacular once we got up there. We are looking at ways to interpret those cultural field is that we’re working much YS: What do you think you’ll miss structures, perhaps by re- about Yellowstone? erecting one somewhere LJ: I’ll definitely miss where more people could the staff. I’ll miss living view it. The money we “Think if we were able to see Norris’s email in the park. I’m learning have gotten for this pro- correspondence to his field rangers or to the that is not very common gram has primarily been back east and we were for inventories, and not headquarters back in Washington. It would very lucky to be able to so much for monitoring be very interesting to read some of his thought do that at Yellowstone. and protection, so that is processes.” I’ll definitely miss the still a vast need. variety of wildlife here, YS: Isn’t part of the the wide open spaces, the challenge to try to docu- clean air, the clean wa- ment what we are doing today? So there more closely now with the computer folks. ter—all the resources that Montana and will be an historic record 100 years from It’s a very quickly evolving process that Wyoming are so well known for. I think now and people will understand why we is forcing people who are very used to most of all though, I’ll miss working with did what we did? paper and objects into a high-tech field. the program that I have gotten so deeply LJ: Yes. Oral historians are going to We rely on the staff to help us by printing immersed in and gotten to know so well. love park newsletters like Yellowstone out email messages and filing them, and I feel like I am just really beginning to Science and The Buffalo Chip, particu- hopefully those will eventually go to the know this place and now I am leaving. larly because they document those oral archives. Think if we were able to see YS: Well you can still watch, albeit histories at the moment. It saves them Norris’s email correspondence to his field from a greater distance. from coming after us in a nursing home in rangers or to the headquarters back in LJ: The webcam! 50 years. Those are good things we can be Washington. It would be very interesting YS: We will miss you and we wish you doing now and more proactive measures to read some of his thought processes. luck. that will help people down the road. YS: Now you’re going off to be a LJ: Thank you.

16 Yellowstone Science Pilobolus: A Fungus that Grows in Yellowstone by K. Michael Foos H I G F

A After the information about Pilobolus E K from a 1993 article in Yellowstone Sci- ence 1(3)1 was used as a basis for a May 2000 segment in the National Geographic B Nature series “The Body Changers,” it D C seemed appropriate to expand upon the description of this unique fungus. Pilobolus (Figure 1) has been found throughout Yellowstone in association with a large number of animals including Figure 2 (AÐK). Life cycle of Pilobolus. A germinating sporangium is in the elk, bison, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, center with the various stages of the life cycle running clockwise beginning at the and bighorn sheep. It moves through the lower right of the diagram. Artwork courtesy K. Michael Foos, computer graphics digestive tract of these and other animals by Tami Blackford. and is excreted in their droppings that it subsequently helps to decompose. centuries since it was originally described These swollen areas expand and become in 1688. In viewing the life cycle we cytoplasmic-rich enlarged segments of usually begin with a viable sporangiospore the mycelium called trophocysts [D]. As (the asexual reproductive propagule) of the trophocysts mature they are separated Pilobolus. When sporangiospores (Fig- from the rest of the mycelium by cell ure 2 [A]) are located in a nutrient source walls. Within a few days these trophocysts such as dung, they swell and send forth elongate and develop into greatly thick- germ tubes [B] that grow into mycelia, ened mycelia that grow toward the light. the filaments of which fungi are com- These thickened mycelia [E], called spo- posed. Because the mycelia are sub- rangiophores, grow upward through the merged, they cannot be seen in natural media and continue to elongate as they media. However, when the organism is grow into the air. Figure 1. Photograph of Pilobolus cultured on synthetic media in a labora- After a few hours the sporangiophores sporangial apparatus. Photo courtesy tory, the mycelia can be seen as branch- stop elongating, and their terminal por- K. Michael Foos. ing filaments without cross walls radiat- tions begin to enlarge [F]. As this termi- ing out through the entire medium. nal portion swells, a cell wall forms [G] After three or four days of growth, separating the apex from the rest of the Life Cycle depending upon species and various en- sporangiophore. This swollen apical area, vironmental conditions, the mycelium de- called the sporangium, contains concen- The life cycle of this organism has been velops barrel-shaped swollen areas [C] trated cytoplasm that will divide, produc- studied in some detail during the three either at the apex or within the mycelium. ing tens of thousands of individual bi-

Winter 2001 17 nucleate sporangiospores. The separating wall, called the columella, remains between the sporangium and the rest of the sporangiophore. Meanwhile, the sub- apical region of the sporangiophore continues to swell and produces a unique structure called the sub-sporangial swelling [H]. As the sporangium matures [I] it develops a black, water impermeable cell wall, and the sub-sporangial swelling ceases to increase in size. During the next few hours, as the sporangium continues to mature, its cell wall separates from the columella. As the sporangial wall separates from the columella, some gelati- nous material from within the sporangium is exposed. Finally, the cell wall of the sub-sporangial swelling ruptures along the line of columella attachment and the Elk droppings are germination sites for Pilobolus sporangiospores. NPS photo. pressure that is within the cell builds up and causes it to explode [J], much as a water balloon that has been smashed. As the end blows out of the cell it propels the begin to germinate and repeat the life sporangia develop in the morning after sporangium several feet into the air. Sub- cycle. the development of the trophocyst on the sequently, the recoil of the sporangio- When maintained in culture (without previous day. Second, light has a photo- phore and its loss of cytoplasmic contents benefit of the portion of the life cycle tropic effect on Pilobolus sporangio- cause it to collapse [K]. within the herbivore), most isolates of phores. It affects both the direction and A pressure of approximately 5.5 kilo- Pilobolus lose vigor after a few serial rate of growth of sporangiophores. Then, grams’ force per centimeter squared de- transfers, and in a relatively short time the sporangial discharge, which is unique velops within the sub-sporangial swell- cease producing sporangia. Often, after to the genus Pilobolus, is directly af- ing because of a high concentration of several more transfers, they cease to grow fected by light. The sub-sporangial swell- dissolved substances, primarily phosphate altogether. ing seems to act as a lens and directs light and oxalate ions, and because of the elas- to an area in the sporangiophore that ticity of the cell wall. This is enough force Special Characteristics of Pilobolus “aims” the tip of the sporangiophore to- to “shoot” a sporangium more than 2 ward the source of the light, prior to meters vertically, or more than 2.5 meters Pilobolus has some special character- discharge. This particular aiming mecha- horizontally in the direction of the light, istics that one might not normally expect nism has been examined in some detail depending upon the angle of the sun. The to find in a fungus: and it has been shown experimentally that virtually all sporangia shot from Pilobolus will hit a target in an arc of A primary reason for studying Pilobolus collected from approximately 5 degrees. Yellowstone is to obtain isolates from an area that has ¥ Pilobolus has an absolute requirement for chelated iron. That is, while been relatively undisturbed. most fungi can use iron in an inorganic form, Pilobolus must have the iron it needs in a complex organic molecule. initial velocity with which sporangia are ¥ Light affects the growth of Pilobolus The type of organic molecule that works discharged has been calculated as be- in two very distinctly different ways. best for Pilobolus is similar in shape to tween 5 and 28 meters per second. First, light is required to stimulate the that of hemoglobin, an iron-containing If sporangia land on and adhere to grass development of asexual reproductive molecule found in the blood of most or other herbage, they are in prime loca- structures, beginning with the trophocyst higher animals. Several studies have iden- tions to be consumed by herbivores. If and continuing through the development tified this nutritional problem, and at least sporangia are consumed by an appropri- of the sporangium. While the details of three different molecules have been found ate herbivore, they pass through the this development vary between species, that can provide the iron required by animal’s digestive system and are depos- all species require light to develop nor- these organisms. To date, no one has ited in feces. Within days, the mally. This makes their asexual repro- definitely determined the origin of the sporangiospores within these sporangia duction highly photoperiodic. That is, chelated iron used by these organisms in

18 Yellowstone Science their natural habitat. Interestingly, there are indications that the iron requirement Subsequent work in Yellowstone has shown that the may well be different in different species. interaction of these same two organisms may also be a ¥ Species of Pilobolus utilize sodium acetate as a carbon source and use nitro- factor in the distribution of lungworm disease in the gen in the form of ammonium ions. Some park’s northern elk herd. species have a near absolute requirement for fatty acids. Unfortunately, much of the work on this aspect of Pilobolus nutri- tion died with Robert Page, who studied Pilobolus to gain information about the are shown to provide a perspective of the this organism in detail more than 30 years diversity of this organism. A primary relative sizes and shapes of these spores. ago. Because we do not know the details reason for studying Pilobolus collected Two other characteristics that are in- of the nutritional requirements of these from Yellowstone is to obtain isolates cluded in original descriptions of species organisms, media containing dung are from an area that has been relatively of Pilobolus and remain constant, but are often used. No good synthetic medium undisturbed. Very few, if any, natural often ignored in keys to species, are the has yet been developed that works con- areas can absorb human invasion without sporangial attachment and shape of the sistently well with a large number of habitat disruption. The Yellowstone eco- columella. Published keys to the species isolates of all species of Pilobolus. system is one of the last remaining areas of Pilobolus do not refer to the shape of ¥ Pilobolus produces at least one phero- where biological specimens of all kinds the columella or sporangial attachment mone. Of course, Pilobolus is not the can be found in an environment that might as distinguishing characteristics. How- only fungus to produce pheromones. Sev- be called a “natural habitat.” In the case of ever, after working with hundreds of iso- eral fungi, and many other organisms, Pilobolus, I wanted to find isolates from lates of these organisms, I have come to produce pheromones. There are even per- animals that had not been transported believe that these are valuable, highly fumes that claim to contain human phero- from other ecosystems, had not been fed consistent, and non-variable characteris- mones. It has been shown that a phero- milled feed ( perhaps containing antibiot- tics. Furthermore, they can be readily mone produced by the mycelium of one ics), and were not hybrids of individuals recognized because there is a correlation between the type of columella and the associated sporangial attachment. Two types of sporangium attachment occur in species of Pilobolus. In the first, a distinctive groove is found between the sporangium and sub-sporangial swelling. The second type of attachment has no groove. Sporangia with grooved attachments have papillate columellae. Sporangia with non-grooved attachments have rounded columellae. Figure 4 shows both types of columellae and spo- Figure 3. Photographs of magnified sporangiospores of Pilobolus rangial attachments of two species of kleinii (left), P. crystallinus (center), and P. roridus (right). Photos Pilobolus. courtesy K. Michael Foos. Although taxonomic considerations are usually left to the taxonomists, this char- acteristic is so conspicuous that it begs to mating type of Pilobolus stimulates the from different populations. be mentioned in this description of the mycelium of a compatible mating type of As the isolates of Pilobolus have been Pilobolus. Both of these species were Pilobolus to grow toward it. Thus, two collected and identified, the usual taxo- isolated in Yellowstone and were cul- compatible mycelia become oriented to- nomic characteristics for this genus have tured on synthetic media in a laboratory. ward each other prior to cell fusion. Stud- been used. However, many of those char- After photographing the sporangial at- ies of the activity of pheromones in acteristics have little value because they tachments, the sporangia were removed Pilobolus await discovery of the proper vary greatly. So, characteristics such as to show the columellae, while leaving the mating types and a suitable synthetic me- sporangial size, sporangiophore length, rest of the structure intact. If you look dium. and trophocyst dimensions have been con- closely, you can see the groove around sidered only superficially. However, char- the sporangium to the right and below the Pilobolus Systematics acteristics such as spore size, shape, and papillate columella found under that spo- coloration have been examined closely. rangium. The sporangium on the left has For several years, I have been studying These photographs of sporangiospores no groove around it, and under that spo- the taxonomy and the biogeography of (Figure 3) from three species of Pilobolus rangium is a smoothly rounded columella.

Winter 2001 19 Symbiosis depicts infective larvae as they climb conspicuous, its presence in Yellowstone Pilobolus sporangiophores to the spo- is felt by its effects not only as a decom- Nearly 40 years ago, a symbiotic inter- rangium and shows how larvae move poser, but also as an agent in the dissemi- action between Pilobolus and a round toward the moisture within the spo- nation of the lungworm pathogen. worm named Dictyocaulus was described. rangium and migrate into the sporangium This interaction leads to the transmission itself prior to sporangial discharge. Here, of the larvae that cause lungworm disease the larvae can travel within discharged in cattle. Subsequent work in Yellow- Pilobolus sporangia and survive as the stone has shown that the interaction of sporangium strikes a target. When on these same two organisms may also be a herbage, the Pilobolus sporangial wall factor in the distribution of lungworm protects not only its own spores, but the disease in the park’s northern elk herd.2 larvae as well, from desiccation and ul- Pilobolus and D. viviparous are both traviolet radiation. coprophilous, phototropic organisms that Lungworm disease has been endemic require passage through an herbivore’s in the northern elk herd for at least 40 digestive tract for continuation of their years. The elk herd has grown during the life cycles. The infective larvae of D. time it has been infected, and can now be K. Michael Foos is a professor of biology viviparous develop in about the same found in expansive regions of Yellow- at Indiana University East. He has in- length of time and under the same condi- stone. As the elk have continued to carry cluded studies of Pilobolus from the Yel- tions as the sporangia of Pilobolus, and and transfer these pathogens, they have lowstone Ecosystem in his research pro- both have corresponding host ranges, maintained the disease for generation af- gram for the past 15 years. A major goal habitats, and geographical distributions. ter generation. Having demonstrated that of this study is to compare fungi collected The simultaneous appearance of numer- Pilobolus and Dictyocaulus larvae simul- throughout the northern Rocky Moun- ous D. viviparous larvae and a prolifera- taneously reside within individual elk, tains to determine whether the isolates tion of Pilobolus sporangiophores on the we have made a strong case characteriz- collected that appear to be the same spe- surface of dung point to their potential ing the role of Pilobolus in the transmis- cies have similar gene sequences. Simul- interaction. sion of the pathogen and as the primary taneously, he is able to photographically This interaction of Pilobolus and Dic- agent for maintaining the current preva- survey plants and animals within the Yel- tyocaulus viviparous has been described lence of lungworm disease in this elk lowstone Ecosystem for biology and pho- in the northern elk herd of Yellowstone.3 herd. tography classes. Photo courtesy K. The videotape, “The Body Changers” So, while this fungus is small and in- Michael Foos.

Literature Cited

1Foos, K.M. 1993. Pilobolus ecology. Yellowstone Science 1(3): 2Ð5.

2Worley, D.E. and R.E. Barrett. 1964. Studies on the parasites of the northern Yellowstone elk herd. In Rumen Physiology and Parasitology of the Northern Yel- lowstone Elk Herd (ed. R.H. McBee), pp. 10Ð28. National Park Service Progress Report: Mammoth, Wyo.

3Foos, K.M. 1997. Pilobolus and lungworm disease affecting elk in Yellowstone National Park. Figure 4. Photograph of two types of sporangial attach- Mycological Research 101(12): ments (top) and two types of columellae (bottom). Photos 1535Ð1536. courtesy K. Michael Foos.

20 Yellowstone Science Preserving Yellowstone’s Natural Conditions: Science and the Perception of Nature by James Pritchard

Book review and essay by Paul Schullery

Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, entire experience of science and nature in 1999. xix plus 370 pages, 37 black and Yellowstone, and in part because when it white illustrations, two maps, endnotes, isn’t taking the story in fresh directions it “essential sources” essay, index. $45.00 is probing more deeply into the old estab- (Cloth). lished directions. Most people who are at all familiar I had best begin by admitting that, with the recent historical scholarship of according to the book’s acknowledgments Yellowstone may know the outline of the a “wild” setting, and a growing reliance (p. xi), “the original idea for the project” story that this book tells. Yellowstone on science as a tool for settling the park’s came from a conversation between the began in 1872 as a collection of geologi- endlessly thorny management quanda- author and me. Pritchard’s exceptionally cal and geothermal oddities. Animals and ries. In all, the changes have tended to careful consideration of the historical plants were not seen as a particularly increase our desire to protect not merely record in its many forms, as well as his significant local resource, and were given nature’s showpieces but nature’s very extensive communication with dozens of little more protection than they might being. For much of this century, though other Yellowstone researchers and staff receive on other public lands. But in the we may not have called any given policy (many of whom, I am sure, were of much unpredictable political atmosphere of the “natural regulation” until quite recently, greater help to him than I was), relieve me Gilded Age, the park was an opportunity we have been slouching toward preserv- of any significant responsibility or credit waiting to be taken. Early conservation- ing not natural things, but natural condi- for what he says, but it seems fair to ists identified Yellowstone as a kind of tions. acknowledge my apparent part. theatre-of-the-last-stand for the rapidly What Pritchard brings to this story is an At least since 1933, when Carl Russell disappearing big game of the American appetite for the underlying scientific and produced “A Concise History of Science West. Under the determined champion- political currents behind each develop- and Scientific Investigations in Yellow- ing of George Bird Grinnell, George Gra- ment and an adventurous ability to iden- stone National Park,” many researchers, ham Vest, and others, the park soon tify the consequence of each event. He students, journalists, and others have evolved into an enormous wildlife re- follows several interwoven threads in his written about the evolution of science serve. Since the 1890s, ecological mys- narrative. There is the inevitable (but and the perception of nature here. One teries and controversies, rather than geo- somehow more entertaining than usual) would think that after so much had been logical matters, have dominated the time administrative history: how authority and said, there couldn’t be all that much more of most managers and the attention of the power regularly emigrated within and to say. (One might especially think so if public. beyond the National Park Service (NPS), one was, like me, author of several books Over the long haul of the twentieth and how those movements were affected that deal with the topic.) century, Yellowstone management poli- by changes in the growing agency. But in thinking such a thing, one would cies have always reflected changing soci- There is the exasperating tension be- be wrong. Preserving Yellowstone’s Natu- etal values: an evolving aesthetic of na- tween local and national interests, be- ral Conditions is a grand achievement in ture, greater tolerance for predators and tween those who, because they lived part because it does so much to recast the fire, less tolerance for human influence in nearby, regarded themselves as dispro-

Winter 2001 21 portionately entitled to decide how Yel- ticians, and others—who came along to lation solely as a political expedient to get lowstone should be managed, and those give this or that administrative, philo- the heat off. This is essentially the tale as who lived far away and at first hardly sophical, political, or scientific trajectory it is told in Richard Sellars’ important cared at all what happened in the park, but a nudge or a boot onto a new course. historical book Preserving Nature in the who have become progressively less will- From the trophy-happy bowhunters who National Parks: A History (1997). In ing to let the locals have their way. were allowed to “collect” grizzly bears Sellars’ account of the wildlife contro- There is, for nearly a century now, the for a California museum, to the park staff versies of Yellowstone of the 1960s and amazingly important and thoroughly per- who crushed pelican eggs on the Molly 1970s, bureaucracy over-rode science at vasive interest of the regional livestock Islands to save park trout for human an- every turn. As one complimentary re- industry in Yellowstone ungulate man- glers, this is a great, bewildering, and viewer (Montana, The Magazine of West- agement, an interest that has resulted in unforgettable saga, nothing less than the ern History 49[2]:78) wrote in summa- intense political pressures to manage the intellectual history of an important Ameri- rizing the Sellars book, the NPS decided park’s wildlands in certain ways. Range can institution. to adopt natural regulation for reasons management scholars, who traditionally At the center of this saga of science and that were “solely political, lacking a shred functioned as the scientific arm of the human values, and the foremost hero of of scientific evidence.” stockgrower community, have had an the book, is Charles C. Adams, a promi- Now, thanks to Pritchard’s book, there almost incalculable influence on Yellow- nent early-twentieth-century ecologist. is a good antidote to this regrettably over- stone, and still do. Pritchard’s recounting Harvard trained, a co-founder of the Eco- simplified version of events. By review- of this thread, alone, more than justifies logical Society of America, and author of ing the work and previous studies of Glen the price of the book. pioneering ecology texts, Adams is now Cole, Douglas Houston, and other biolo- There is the growth of the wildlife largely forgotten or neglected by park gists of this key period, and by showing management profession, with its own in- historians. Pritchard argues persuasively the influences of the greater scientific ternal schisms and convolutions. Yel- that there is a direct line from Adams’ community’s thinking on these Yellow- lowstone has constituted almost as much fostering of both science and ecological stone researchers, Pritchard provides a of a philosophical reach for this profession as it has for the range management professionals. It will probably surprise you to see how far back the tension be- Here also, at last, is a full telling of the scientific and tween wildlife biologists (i.e., game managers) and Yellowstone’s leadership ac- philosophical underpinnings of the park service’s cur- tually goes. rent “natural regulation” policy. There is the parallel growth of a scientific community with less allegiance to the goals and even the belief system of the game-management professionals. The integrity in national parks, through the contextual corrective for the popular but rise of ecology and, later, of conservation works of George Wright in the 1930s and shallow view that this new policy was biology as important disciplines with Starker Leopold in the 1960s, to the mod- somehow “just politics.” Pritchard shows voices and ethical frameworks of their ern era. The role of predators in wild where the ideas and science of natural own is key to understanding why the communities, the urgent need to resist regulation came from, and how they fo- professional wildlife management com- exotic species introductions, the equally cused and congealed in the thinking of a munity has struggled so with Yellow- compelling need for complete, year-round few key individuals in the NPS in Yel- stone issues. habitats, and other subjects that we now lowstone (for one example, Cole and There is the larger public conservation regard as part of the “recent” wave of Houston both worked in Grand Teton movement, with its changing constituen- thinking in park management were thriv- National Park immediately before com- cies and groups, its gradual awakening to ing ideas and ideals, in Adams’ circle at ing to Yellowstone—Cole on the south- the value of wilderness, and its maturing least, 80 years ago. ern Yellowstone elk herd and Houston on organizational bureaucracies that always Here also, at last, is a full telling of the Jackson Hole moose. While in the Tetons, have and always will find Yellowstone a scientific and philosophical underpin- both were already considering natural bully pulpit, an irresistible moving tar- nings of the Park Service’s current “natu- regulation in their studies, and were fa- get, and a perfect test case. Love-hate ral regulation” policy. A number of re- miliar with the literature on the subject). relationships never get more stormy than porters and commentators have portrayed In fact, after reading Pritchard’s ac- those between Yellowstone and its watch- natural regulation as a hastily conceived count, it appears to me that natural regu- dogs. brainchild of a few desperate Yellow- lation policy, as hesitantly as it was of- And there is, weaving its way through stone administrators who, faced with over- fered to the world, as entwined as it these and other stories, a spectacular ar- whelming public disapproval of the elk indeed was in politics, and as incomplete ray of distinguished, strong-willed indi- herd reductions of the 1960s, needed a as it may necessarily have been in its viduals—scientists, administrators, poli- different policy and adopted natural regu- earliest formulation, was probably as well

22 Yellowstone Science grounded scientifically as any previous fire perimeters. From that time until the Yellowstone wildlife management policy final total of about 800,000 acres was had been at the time of its adoption. After included in the fire perimeters, firefighting all, the scientific criticisms of predator was continuous and aggressive. The North control, fire suppression, fish stocking, Fork Fire, for example, which accounted maximum sustained yield harvest of wild- for about half the total acreage affected, life, and ungulate feeding have all in- was fought from within about an hour of creased dramatically in the scientific com- its start. munity since the 1960s. And since the Toward the end of the book Pritchard natural regulation policy was launched, confidently asserts that, “the 1980s spelled 30-odd years of inquiry, debate, and scru- the demise of single-species thinking in tiny have only increased the level of terms of managing Yellowstone’s wil- respect that a considerable element of the derness” (p. 306). I know what he’s get- scientific community now has for the ting at: that greater-Yellowstone manag- idea and the policy in Yellowstone ers became more inclined to think in (Yellowstone’s 1960s leadership thought ecosystem terms. But the demise of single- of natural regulation policy as something species thinking is hardly what has hap- they were applying specifically to the Horace Albright, former Yellowstone pened. Instead, we now are more con- ungulates, but eventually all natural re- superintendent, was instrumental in sciously managing single species toward source management—bears, fish, fire, and creating many of the park’s early ecosystem goals. The existing legal and so on—was widely perceived as part of a wildlife policies. NPS photo. bureaucratic tools give us little choice. If broad natural regulation policy). the distinction is not clear, consider how But there is more to this long haul of often the Endangered Species Act must scientific controversy than merely the some were the result of individual forti- be invoked (Save the grizzly bear!) to potential vindication of a given policy. tude almost beyond imagining. But when achieve some ecosystem-management Had the Park Service in the late 1960s just viewed through the eyes of the environ- end (Stop unplanned suburban sprawl!). continued its earlier course—of intensive mental historian, a different Albright American society, through its laws and manipulation of the Yellowstone set- emerges. Again and again, when chang- public opinions, still cherishes some spe- ting—today’s managers and public would ing scientific understanding suggested cies much more than it cherishes others. be little better informed today than they that it was time for policy to adjust, Until that changes, ecosystem manage- were then about how this wildland actu- Albright almost invariably led the resis- ment will be practiced through this pecu- ally functions. The scientific and educa- tance. Predator control, natural fire, natu- liar device of using the rare and adored as tional gains of the policy seem to me to be ral regulation—Albright was always on a tool to protect the rest. extraordinary. Ecological understanding the side of the status quo and against the Sad to say, it is already clear that this has advanced immensely because natural adventurism of trying new things. Per- book will not be widely enough read. I do regulation has required such intense study. haps it will take another historian, per- not think that even one regional publica- So, whether one regards natural regula- haps after another generation has passed, tion, including newspapers that devote tion policy to have originated solely from to give us a more complete and probing vast amounts of attention to Yellowstone political necessity, from some lucky in- portrait of this most complex of conser- issues (and to far less deserving books), tuitions on the part of a few bright scien- vation heroes. has noted it, much less given it the kind of tists, or from some combination of poli- That I regard the book as indispensable fulsome review it deserves. Anyone seek- tics, evolving scientific theory, and the does not mean I agree with everything in ing to be informed about Yellowstone’s energy and vision of a few people in the it. Here and there are errors of fact or complex ecological issues is terribly dis- right places, it is getting harder and harder interpretation. In his discussion of the advantaged by not having read this book. to argue that it was a bad idea in the first fires of 1988, Pritchard seems to believe Not reading it promotes just the kind of place. that NPS delays in fighting the fires al- multi-generational ignorance and confu- Among the many other threads lowed the wind to create “fires of monu- sion that the book so carefully and sym- Pritchard follows there is one that he has mental extent” that could not then be put pathetically describes for us as having highlighted perhaps without intending out when firefighters finally tried (p. 286). impeded better management of Yellow- to—a remarkable disjunct in our received This was certainly a fashionable view at stone in the past. wisdom about the NPS. That wisdom has the time, but it is untrue. All fires were long upheld Horace Albright as the great declared “wildfires” (meaning that they Paul Schullery, former editor of Yellow- “wilderness defender” who championed were judged to be out of prescription and stone Science, is the author of Searching the cause of the parks against consider- therefore to be suppressed—the termi- for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in able odds and won so many battles on nology of wildland fire isn’t used cor- the Last Wilderness (1997) and other their behalf. All that is true; Albright’s rectly in the book) when a modest total of books about the park and conservation. achievements were indeed heroic, and about 17,000 acres was contained within

Winter 2001 23 NEWS¬es Lynx Survey to Begin in YNP Franke. It is based on readings of pub- ment portions of the Record of Decision lished and unpublished research (mostly was finalized and published in the Fed- The wildlife team at the Yellowstone since 1988) on the effects of eral Register on January 22, 2001. Winter Center for Resources (YCR) is initiating Yellowstone’s wildland fires and on dis- use planning started as far back as 1993. a three-year effort to document the pres- cussions with many of the participating The decision concludes that snowmo- ence and distribution of lynx in Yellow- scientists. It will soon be available online. bile use in these parks so adversely af- stone National Park. Principal investiga- The 1999 Investigators’ Annual Re- fects air quality, wildlife, natural tors are biologists Kerry Murphy, Kerry port is also available. It can be found on soundscapes, and the enjoyment of other Gunther, and Jim Halfpenny (A Yellowstone’s website at www.nps.gov/ visitors that the resources and values of Naturalist’s World, Gardiner, Montana). yell/publications. This report represents these parks are impaired, creating a situ- A YCR wildlife technician, a volunteer, a summary of all the research done in ation which conflicts with the mandate of and District Resource Management Co- Yellowstone during 1999. the NPS Organic Act that parks be left ordinators will also work on the survey. The long awaited Greater Yellowstone “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future Field personnel will document lynx Predators: Ecology and Conservation in generations.” Executive Orders issued during winters by snowtracking on the a Changing Landscape, proceedings of by Presidents Nixon and Carter and the ground and from airplanes, and during the Third Biennial Conference on the NPS’s own regulation on snowmobiling summers by using hair-snares and DNA- Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, has just prohibit snowmobile use in national parks based species identification techniques. arrived in print. These proceedings offer where it disturbs wildlife, damages park Training and field work begin during a glimpse of the rich history of Yellow- resources, or is inconsistent with the park’s January 2001. Contact Kerry Murphy at stone predators and cover a surprising natural, cultural, scenic, and aesthetic (307) 344-2240 for more information. number of species including ravens, sala- values; safety considerations; or man- manders, and spotted frogs, in addition to agement objectives. Park Wins Auction for Rare Item medium and large carnivores. Effective the winter of 2003Ð2004 and If you would like a copy of any of these thereafter, the Record of Decision allows The original Yellowstone Park Trans- publications, please contact Tami oversnow motorized recreation access via portation Company ledger of stagecoach Blackford at (307) 344-2204 or NPS-managed snowcoach only, with lim- operations in the park, 1892Ð1906, has [email protected]. ited exceptions for continued snowmo- just been purchased for addition to the bile access to other public and private park archives. Thanks to the magic of Winter Use Decision Announced lands adjacent to or within Grand Teton Internet auctions and friends of Yellow- National Park. Until then, interim actions stone, this item is now available for use in Protecting visitor safety and enjoyment, would progressively reduce the impacts the research library, located in the base- air quality, wildlife, and the natural quiet from snowmobile use in the parks. ment of the Albright Visitor Center. of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national Specifics of the plan are as follows: parks were the determining factors in a DURING THE WINTER OF 2000Ð2001: Interior Secretary Visits Yellowstone decision to phase out most snowmobile ¥ There is no cap on snowmobile use in the two parks over three years in use. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt made favor of multi-passenger snowcoaches. ¥ Oversnow motorized travel is pro- one last official stop in Yellowstone Na- The Record of Decision, published in hibited from 11 P.M. to 6 A.M., tional Park on January 13 to receive a November 2000, followed many years of except by authorization, begin- briefing on the park’s successful wolf study to determine what kinds of winter ning December 18, 2000. reintroduction. The park held a press con- activities were appropriate for Yellow- DURING THE WINTER OF 2001Ð2002: ference in the morning and then visited stone and Grand Teton national parks and ¥ Existing commercial snowcoach Lamar Valley, where the group observed the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial operators would be allowed to wolves and even a grizzly bear stirring Parkway. A final rule required to imple- increase their fleet size and en- from hibernation. Secretary Babbitt pre- courage snowmobile rental busi- sided over the release of 14 Canadian nesses and other new operators to gray wolves in 1995. Today, over 120 purchase or lease snowcoaches wolves inhabit the park. and reduce snowmobile numbers. ¥ Daily snowmobile use numbers New Publications Available would be set for all three park units at levels not to exceed the Yellowstone in the Afterglow: Lessons seven-year average for peak days. from the Fires is now available from the ¥ For snowplane use on Jackson YCR. The report was written by park Lake, permits would be reissued volunteer and seasonal writer Mary Ann A snowcoach in the park. NPS photo. to permit holders of record. No

24 Yellowstone Science NEWS¬es

new permits would be issued. Thanksgiving Rumblings “Obsidian Pool” is Official ¥ Oversnow motorized travel would be prohibited from 9 P.M. to 8 A.M., Yellowstone’s geologic forces were The NPS Office of Policy in Washing- except by authorization. hard at work on Thursday, November 23. ton, D.C., reports that the U.S. Board on DURING THE WINTER OF 2002Ð2003: An earthquake of 4.2 magnitude occurred Geographic Names officially approved ¥ Existing commercial snowcoach in the park at 9:20 P.M. The epicenter of the name Obsidian Pool for a backcountry operators would be allowed to the shock was located about one mile feature in the Mud Volcano area on No- continue to increase their fleet north of Norris Junction, an area that is vember 9, 2000. size and encourage snowmobile noted for earthquake swarms. The earth- rental businesses and other new quake was felt at Madison Junction and at operators to purchase or lease Mammoth Hot Springs, where no dam- snowcoaches and reduce snow- age was reported. In 1975, this area expe- mobile numbers. rienced a magnitude 5.9 event that did ¥ Daily snowmobile use numbers cause damage. No obvious changes in would be set for all three parks at thermal activity were observed at the levels that are expected to lead to Norris and Old Faithful areas as a result an approximately 50 percent re- of the earthquake. duction in snowmobiles entering Yellowstone National Park and other Yellowstone’s South and West GYE residents can help develop a new Obsidian Pool. NPS photo. entrances. online Yellowstone earthquake database ¥ Current snowmobile use levels by answering a simple online question- Your Picture May Be Worth 1,000 would be allowed to continue at naire if they feel ground motion accom- Words—And a Trip to a National the East and North entrances, on panying earthquakes in and around Yel- Park the parkway’s Grassy Lake Road, lowstone National Park. The question- and on the Continental Divide naire can be found online at http:// Remember that great picture you took Snowmobile Trail in Grand Teton pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/imw/ at a national park last summer? Everyone NP and the parkway. STORE/Xjjai/ciim_display.html. said it should win a prize—and now it ¥ Snowmobiles in Yellowstone can! The first National Parks Pass Expe- must be accompanied by an NPS- Bison Decision Reached rience Your America Photo Contest has permitted guide and travel in been announced to select the image for groups of no more than 11. The National Park Service and the U.S. the 2002 National Parks Pass. The con- ¥ In Grand Teton NP and the John Department of Agriculture’s Animal and test is sponsored by the National Park D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Plant Health Inspection Service and For- Service and the National Park Founda- Parkway, the superintendent est Service came to a final agreement on tion with Kodak, a Proud Partner of would be authorized to require a joint management plan for bison in America’s National Parks. groups and guides. Yellowstone National Park and the state Any photo taken by an amateur pho- ¥ Oversnow motorized travel would of Montana. The plan is designed to pre- tographer in a national park since January be prohibited from 9 P.M. to 8 A.M., serve the largest wild, free-ranging popu- 1, 2000, is eligible. The winning image except by authorization. lation of bison in the United States, while will appear on the 2002 National Parks ¥ Snowmobile use would be elimi- minimizing the risk of brucellosis dis- Pass. The photographer submitting the nated within Grand Teton NP ex- ease transmission (between bison and winning image will get a trip for four to cept on the Continental Divide cattle) to protect the economic interest any national park, a Kodak camera kit, Snowmobile Trail and on access and viability of the livestock industry in and a personalized National Parks Pass. routes leading to private lands Montana. By allowing bison the opportu- Complete contest rules and an entry and adjacent national forest lands. nity to seek critical winter range outside form are available online at www. ¥ Snowplane use, as well as snow- the park, the plan reflects a commitment nationalparks.org or by sending a self- mobile use, would be discontin- on the part of the agencies to end the addressed stamped envelope to: National ued on the frozen surface of Jack- unnecessary killing of bison outside Yel- Parks Pass Photo Contest Rules, P.O. son Lake in Grand Teton NP. lowstone National Park. It is the result of Box 5220, Young America, Minnesota In 2003Ð2004 and thereafter, most over eight years of negotiation and seven 55558-5220. Entries are due by March oversnow motorized visitor travel in the months of mediation between the federal 15, 2001. National Park Service, Na- three park units would be by NPS-man- agencies and the state of Montana. A tional Park Foundation, or Kodak em- aged snowcoach only. copy of the Record of Decision is avail- ployees and their immediate family mem- The Record of Decision is available able online at www.nps.gov/planning. bers are not eligible to enter. online at www.nps.gov/planning.

Winter 2001 25