v o l u m e 1 2 • n u m b e r 3 • s u m m e r 2 0 0 4 History of Research Permitting Harry R. Horr Promotes the Park Birds Added to Park Checklist A Yellowstone Reader TERRY MCENEANEY This rare sighting of a whooper swan (fourth from right) in the park took place in November 2003. It was seen with 503 trumpeter swans. Whoopers can be distinguished from trumpeters by the extensive lemon-yellow triangle on their bills. The “Search” in Research “If we are going to succeed in preserving the greatness of the national parks, they must be held inviolate. They represent the last stand of primitive America. If we are going to whittle away at them, we should recognize at the very beginning, that all such whittlings are cumulative and that the end result is mediocrity. Greatness will be lost.” —Newton Drury, NPS Director (1940–51) INCE ITS INCEPTION IN 1991, every issue of Yellowstone Dr. Thomas Brock’s discovery of the microbe Thermus aquati- Science has contained an open invitation: “Submissions cus in Mushroom Pool in 1966, when the accepted thinking Sare welcome from all investigators conducting formal was that life couldn’t survive in the extreme environments of research in the Yellowstone area.” Yellowstone’s thermal features. Today we know better, and the In its first 12 years, this journal has assembled a vir- expanding field of microbial research is on the forefront of tual encyclopedia of information. A quick search of the scientific investigation in the park. subject index on Yellowstone’s website (www.nps.gov/yell/ Working in the Special Collections Library at Montana publications/yellsciweb/index.htm) reveals articles on every- State University–Bozeman, Brad Coon unearthed a rare letter thing from amphibians to wolverines. As I scan this list, I’m of Harry R. Horr, an early Yellowstone figure, shedding light repeatedly impressed by those individuals who devote them- on his relationship to the park during its formative years. Yel- selves to increasing their knowledge and understanding (and lowstone ornithologist Terry McEneaney’s article on new bird consequently ours) of the many aspects of the greater Yellow- sightings is a perfect example of finding something unusual stone area. among the more common, as evidenced in his sighting of a The word “research” owes its origins to the Old French whooper swan among a group of trumpeter swans. Richard “recerche”: to seek out, to search again. This issue illustrates Saunders, in A Yellowstone Reader (reviewed here by Tamsen the commitment that many people bring to the endeavor of Hert), offers a collection of often hard-to-find fictional works research…to search, to explore, to study, again, again, and on Yellowstone. From folklore to literature, to poems and short again, to re-search. In each article, you’ll find examples of how, stories, he exemplifies the work of the investigator, seeking out with diligence, patience, creativity, and an open mind, rare and and recording the rare and wonderful. important discoveries can be found among the common. This summer, as the park’s archives, library, and museum First, our own Alice Wondrak Biel chronicles the his- collections are being moved to our new Heritage and Research tory of the research permitting process, beginning with the Center, I’m reminded of the many treasures Yellowstone con- 32-year administration of the U.S. Army (1886–1918), to tains, and I marvel at all those who dedicate themselves daily to today’s practice of research permitting review. She reports on the search and re-search of Wonderland’s many wonders. COVERS COURTESY UNIV. OF WYO. LIBRARIES/HEBARD COLLECTION a quarterly devoted to natural and cultural resources volume 12 • number 3 • summer 2004 ROGER J. ANDERSON Editor In his book, A Yellowstone Reader, TAMI BLACKFORD Associate Editor and Graphic Designer Richard Saunders has compiled a MARY ANN FRANKE rare collection of VIRGINIA WARNER Yellowstone fiction, ALICE WONDRAK BIEL Assistant Editors including a Cracker Jack prize (left). ARTCRAFT PRINTERS, INC. Bozeman, Montana Printer FEATURES 5 History of Research Permitting in YNP From microbes to megafauna, permitting has been a part of Yellowstone research since the park’s early days. Alice Wondrak Biel Yellowstone Science is published quarterly. Support for Yellowstone Science is provided by the Yellowstone Association, a non-profit 21 Harry R. Horr Promotes the National Park educational organization dedicated to serving the park and its visitors. For more information A newly discovered letter sheds light on park promoter Harry Horr. about the association, including membership, or to donate to the production of Yellowstone R. Brad Coon Science, visit www.yellowstoneassociation.org or write: Yellowstone Association, P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. The opinions expressed in Yellowstone Science are the authors’ and may not reflect either DEPARTMENTS National Park Service policy or the views of the Yellowstone Center for Resources. Copyright © 2004, the Yellowstone Association 2 News & Notes for Natural Science, History & Education. For back issues of Yellowstone Science, please see Heritage Center Move • Study of Groomed Roads and Bison www.nps.gov/yell/publications. Movements Begins • Publications Available • Lighting at Old Submissions are welcome from all investigators Faithful Restores Night Sky • Old Faithful Inn Centennial conducting formal research in the Yellowstone area. To submit proposals for articles, Celebration Photos to subscribe, or to send a letter to the editor, please write to the following address: Editor, Yellowstone Science, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. 25 Nature Notes You may also email: [email protected]. Recent Additions to the Yellowstone Bird Checklist, and Raven Predation of Grebes Yellowstone Science is printed on recycled paper with a soy-based ink. Terry McEneaney on the cover (clockwise from top left): 28 Book Review Dr. C. Max Bauer (middle) in boat on A Yellowstone Reader, edited by Richard L. Saunders Yellowstone Lake, 1935, NPS Historic Photo Collection; 3 photos from the 2002 Tamsen Hert thermophile inventory, NPS; grizzly cub with ear tag placed by the Craigheads, YNP Bear Management Office. 29 From the Archives NEWS & NOTES NPS Yellowstone’s Collections Study of Groomed Roads and New Publications Available Move to the Heritage Center Bison Movements Begins The Yellowstone Wolf Project Annual Museum Curator Colleen Curry An independent study to examine Report 2003, the Yellowstone Fisheries & and her staff, with the help of moving how groomed roads influence bison Aquatic Sciences Annual Report 2003, teams comprised of “keepers of col- movements during the winter has and the Yellowstone Center for Resources lections” from all over the country, are begun. Dr. Cormack Gates, Program Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2003 are now assisting with the move of Yellowstone’s Director in the Faculty of Environ- available from the YCR. If you would research library, archives, and museum mental Design at the University of like a copy of any of these reports, collections from their various reposi- Calgary, Canada, is the study’s prin- please contact Virginia Warner at (307) tories in Mammoth to the park’s new cipal investigator. The purpose of the 344-2230 or [email protected]. Heritage and Research Center (HRC) project is to produce a thorough assess- They are also available in pdf format at in Gardiner, Montana. They treat each ment of knowledge concerning bison www.nps.gov/yell/publications. object as if it were the most important movements and dispersal. This study historic artifact in existence, cherishing will link science, within the context Old Faithful Inn Lighting each thing (and there are more than of movement ecology, to the manage- Project Restores Night Sky 5,000,000) as part of the great story of ment of road grooming. Researchers our park and our past. will analyze existing data from a variety As the Old Faithful Inn celebrates Everything, from archeological of sources and interview subject-mat- its hundredth anniversary, the night artifacts to Thomas Moran paintings, ter experts (as well as other parties and sky above the inn is being restored to is carried carefully to a table, one at a organizations) to seek ecological knowl- its splendor of a century ago. Overly- time, wrapped in special archival tis- edge of bison movements and dispersal bright, upward-facing outdoor light sue paper, bubble-wrapped, taped, in the Yellowstone ecosystem. A final, fixtures in the inn’s front parking lot and boxed so that nothing can shift or comprehensive report will be provided have been replaced with new, night break on its trip down the hill, where to the National Park Service in January sky-friendly lighting that will allow the movers at the HRC undo the 2005. It will provide recommendations for a glare-free view of the heavens. process just as carefully. Sometimes, within an adaptive management frame- Like other parks, Yellowstone is look- box-spacers and archival boards are cut work for addressing the issue of bison ing at ways to reduce light pollution to exact specifications on the spot to movements and dispersal, including through the use of appropriate light- protect the objects as they are moved. priority areas requiring further research. ing and glare-reducing measures. The There is so much work still to be park worked with local area artisans done, and yet the movers don’t allow to design and build original, hand- that knowledge to interfere with how crafted, wrought iron lanterns that are they treat each piece. No one moves compatible with the signature rustic quickly. No one is in a hurry. Every architectural style of the Old Faithful item, without question, is treated with Historic District. The lanterns, retrofit- the utmost respect. ted with modern lamp optics donated The move of the collections to the by GE Lighting Systems, are designed HRC will be completed this summer.