Y E L L O W S T O N E CENTER FOR RESOURCES 2007 ANNUAL REPORT JOANNA LEM L Y Y E L L O W S T O N E CENTER FOR RESOURCES 2007 ANNUAL REPORT Yellowstone Center for Resources National Park Service Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming YCR–2008–05 Suggested citation: Yellowstone Center for Resources. 2008. Yellowstone Center for Resources Annual Report, 2007. National Park Service, Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, YCR-2008-05. Photographs not otherwise marked are courtesy of the National Park Service. Cover photos: clockwise from left, a natural winter soundscape (NPS/Shan Burson); Clepsydra geyser in the Fountain Paint Pots area (NPS/Shan Burson); dwarf purple monkeyflower (Mimulus nanus) (NPS/Jennifer Whipple); results of a fen study became available in 2007 (Joanna Lemly photo). ii Contents Upper Blacktail cabin. Introduction ............................................................................................... iv Part I: Cultural Resource Programs Archeology ................................................................................................1 Archives, Library, and Museum Collections .......................................3 Ethnography .............................................................................................6 Historic Road Rehabilitation .................................................................7 Historic Structures ................................................................................10 Yellowstone History ..............................................................................13 Part II: Natural Resource Programs Air Quality ...............................................................................................15 Water Quality..........................................................................................16 Aquatic Resources .................................................................................18 Geology ...............................................................................................22 Vegetation ...............................................................................................23 Wildlife ...............................................................................................28 Bears ...............................................................................................28 Ungulates ........................................................................................31 Wolves .............................................................................................32 Other Wildlife Issues .....................................................................36 Part III: Professional Support Programs Spatial Analysis Center .................................................................39 Research Permit Office .................................................................41 Benefits-Sharing EIS .....................................................................42 Resource Information Team .......................................................42 Funding and Personnel ................................................................44 Appendix I: Personnel Roster, 2007 .....................................................49 Appendix II: Publications, Reports, and Papers ..............................53 iii Introduction Yellowstone’s unique geological and biological resources inspired its creation as the world’s first national park in 1872. The National Park Service (NPS) is legally responsible for preserving, unimpaired, the park’s natural and cultural resources and values for the enjoyment, education, and inspira- tion of this and future generations. The Yellowstone Center for Resources (YCR) works to fulfill these responsibilities for the resources we are man- dated to manage and protect. During 2007, the Core Operations Analysis culminated in two new branches, Compliance and Resource Operations, being added to the YCR. We will begin to report on their programs and activities in the 2008 annual report. After much hard work, the Servicewide Benefits-Sharing Draft Environmental Impact Statement was completed and released for public comment; 9,600 comments were received, responses were developed, and the final was ready for internal review by the end of the year. Almost 2,500 people used the Heritage and Research Center in 2007. Six new archeological sites were discovered during a survey of park land near Gardiner, Montana, and work continued on developing information about the Nez Perce National Historic Trail and the Bannock Trail. As park of his- toric road rehabilitation projects, private and federal funds were combined to include rehabilitation of the historic Artist Point viewing area in the redesign of the parking area. In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear from the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. More than 75,000 lake trout were removed from Yellowstone Lake, bringing the total number removed since 1994 to more than 270,000. Three new non-native plant species were discovered in the park. The late summer bison population numbered 4,700, and 171 wolves occupied the park. The YCR’s partnerships and agreements with other federal and state agencies, academia, and public organizations continued to be critical to our successes in stewardship. The YCR also continued to benefit from the hard work of many volunteers and cooperators. Research Permit Office (RPO) staff authorized almost 200 research permits to investigators from across the U.S. and foreign countries. For more information, readers may contact us at (307) 344-2203, visit the park’s web site at www.nps.gov/yell, or visit the Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center website at www.greateryellowstonescience.org. Tom Olliff Chief, Yellowstone Center for Resources iv PART I Cultural Resource Programs The Branch of Cultural Resources helps preserve and increase knowledge of Yellowstone’s resources in these areas: • Archeology • Archives, Library, and Museum Collections • Ethnography • Historic Road Rehabilitation • Historic Structures • Yellowstone History Upper Blacktail barn prior to stabilization. Archeology Archeology in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) the Yellowstone River between Fishing Bridge is critical to understanding the precontact and his- and Gardiner, Montana, and a third report on the torical record of the Greater Yellowstone Area. south bank of the Madison River were completed. By studying the types of stone that were used and Archeological sites near populated areas seem to be discarded, staff can track the early human residents subject to unauthorized artifact collection as they as they lived and traveled in the park and beyond contain fewer tools than are expected. it. Because the intensity of use varies through time Road Reconstruction. In preparation for road as environmental conditions become more or less reconstruction, shovel tests and test excavation units favorable, the archeological sites and their contents were conducted at two sites. Several areas with bur- also provide a means for interdisciplinary investiga­ ied concentrations of cultural material were exca- tions of past climate and biotic change. vated north of the Norris campground, one of them near a thermally active area, providing evidence of Other Inventories precontact use. Based on current findings, it appears Prior to Fuel Reductions. The Office of the that the cultural concentrations can be avoided dur- Wyoming State Archaeologist, affiliated with the ing road reconstruction. At the second site, obsidian University of Wyoming, conducted a sample inven- flake debris were investigated. Ratios of the flake tory of 1,200 acres around Abiathar Mountain near size, count, and weight will be used in a statistical the Northeast Entrance in preparation for future analysis of the specific stages of stone tool manufac- hazard fuel reduction. The inventoried acres were ture. The thick growth of lodgepole pine in the area, selected based on slope and vegetation cover. No which burned in 1988, has impacted the discrete new prehistoric sites were located, probably because deposits of flake debris. of the steepness of the terrain and the lack of water. More than 11 additional historic sites were The most important find was a pristine section of recorded during a block survey of approximately the Cooke City Miners’ Road. 700 acres within the primary and secondary road In connection with the Wildland­Urban Interface corridors in the Old Faithful area. Test excava- program, archeological inventories were also carried tions were conducted in the area where the first out at Old Faithful and Daly Creek with negative military cabins were constructed, but a sewer system results. installed in the 1960s mixed buried cultural depos- Yellowstone and Madison Rivers. Two archeo- its. An intact area on Wylie Hill at the location of the logical inventory reports covering the area along original Wylie tent camp was recorded. Remnants 2 Part I: Cultural Resource Programs paper fragments, and the sole of a cowboy boot. The MYAP team doc- umented 14 archeologi- cal sites during the sur- vey, including 8 that had previously been recorded and 6 that were new; 6 sites contained evidence of both prehistoric and historical occupations. Five hearths that were eroding out of the banks of the Yellowstone River downstream of Cinnabar were salvaged and a radiocarbon date of 1670 B.P. was obtained. The University of Montana field school participants. hearths are similar to others in adjacent