YELLOWSTONE RESOURCES & ISSUES 2002 Division of Interpretation • Yellowstone National Park Produced by the Division of Interpretation, Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming. All material is in the public domain unless noted below. Cover photo: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River Most photographs (including cover) from Yellowstone National Park collection. Individuals or organizations contributing photos: p. 33, 39, 67, 68, 137 (both), Carolyn Duckworth; 41, 133, Thomas Brock; 42 (bottom), UWSIUWM Great Lakes Water Institute; 55, 56, Jennifer Whipple; 89, 95, 99, Tom Cawley; 165, Frank Smith. Most maps and illustrations produced by the staff of Yellowstone National Park, including the Spatial Analysis Center, or are from other National Park Service sources. Exceptions: 79, adapted from map that first appeared in Yellowstone Science, Fall 2001; 36-38, courtesy of Robert Smith, from his book, Windows Into the Earth (co-authored with Lee J. Siegel; 2000; Oxford Press); 43, illustrations adapted from originals by Dr. Lisa Morgan, US Geological Survey; 53, illustration reprinted from Yellowstone in the Afterglow (Mary Ann Franke; 2000; NPS);7 75, 77 9, first appeared in Yellowstone Science Volume 7, Issue 1 (Winter 7999). Editing and design: Carolyn Duckworth Contributors. Staff of the Superintendent's Office, Divisions of Interpretation, Administration, Resource Management & Visitor Protection, and the Yellowstone Center tor Resources. •• • CONTENTS 2002 ,.• , . • • Introduction ............................................. 7 2 Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ..... 29 The Beginning of an Idea .......... 7 Geoecosystem .................. 29 • Park Facts ...................... 9 Biological Diversity .............. 31 • Frequently Asked Questions ....... 10 Cycles & Processes .............. 31 • Winter ........................ 32 • 1 History of the Park .......................... 17 Ecosystem Management Challenges . 34 • The Earliest Human Visitors ....... 17 • Increased use . 18 3 Geology ............................................ 35 • The Little Ice Age ............... 20 Plate Tectonics .................. 35 • Historic Tribes .................. 20 Volcanoes ..................... 36 • "Sheep Eaters" ................. 20 The Hydrothermal System ......... 38 1• European Americans Arrive ........ 21 Color & Life in Hydrothermal Areas. 41 I. Expeditions .................... 21 Beneath Yellowstone Lake ......... 42 Birth of a National Park ........... 22 Earthquakes .................... 44 • The Formative Years ............. 23 Glaciers ....................... 45 • The Army Arrives ............... 24 Sedimentation & Erosion .......... 46 • The National Park Service Begins ... 25 Fossils ........................ 47 • The Park Adjusts ................ 26 Yellowstone As Laboratory ........ 48 • The 1940s ..................... 26 • Mission 66 ..................... 26 4 Vegetation ....................................... 51 • Changing Management ........... 27 Major Types ................... 51 Complex Times ................. 27 Trees ......................... 52 • The Legacy ofYellowstone ........ 28 Endemics ...................... 55 • Exotics ....................... 57 • 5 Fire ................................................... 59 • Fire Ecology ................... 59 • Fire Management. ............... 60 • The Fires of 1988 ............... 62 • Results of Research .............. 66 • contents continue ................... • • • :1 • 6 Wildlife ............................................ 71 8 Controversial Park Issues ............ 131 Bioprospecting................. 131 • A. J1ammals List of Mammals in Yellowstone .... 71 Bison Management ............. 134 • Small Mammals ................ 7 4 Fisheries: Lake Trout. ........... 139 • Bear, Black .................... 81 Fisheries: Whirling Disease ....... 141 • Bear, Grizzly ................... 83 Grizzly Recovery Plan. l 4 3 • Bears, Management History ....... 85 Grizzly Conservation Strategy ..... l 46 • Beaver ........................ 87 Northern Range ................ 149 •1 Bighorn Sheep .................. 88 Winter Use .................... 152 • Bison ......................... 89 Wolf Restoration ............... 158 .I Cats: Bobcat & Lynx ............. 91 Cougar. ....................... 92 • 9 Major Areas of the Park ............... 163 Coyote ........................ 93 •1 Canyon ...................... 163 ., Deer, Mule & White-tailed ........ 94 Lake & Fishing Bridge .......... l 65 Elk ........................... 95 Mammoth Hot Springs .......... 168 • Fox .......................... 97 Norris & Madison .............. 171 • Moose ........................ 99 Old Faithful. .................. 174 .,• Pronghorn . 101 Tower-Roosevelt. .............. 176 Wolf ........................ 103 West Thumb & Grant ........... 178 .I B: Birds .. ....................... 105 • C: Fish .......................... 111 D: Reptiles & Amphibians .......... 115 ••1 7 Cultural Resources ....................... 123 •1 Archeology ................... 123 • Cultural Landscapes ............ 124 • Ethnography .................. 124 •1 Tribal Affiliates ................ 124 •e; By Word of Mouth ............. 125 Historic Structures & Districts ..... 126 .I Collections.................... 129 Cultural Resource Laws .......... 129 • •1el • •1 • • • •• ie• PREFACE I 2002 I.I • • In this book, you will find information • about the park's history, natural resources, I• cultural resources, issues, and major areas. :. This material was provided and reviewed by le park researchers, resource specialists, and planning staff. i• The book is organized to present key facts at the beginning of each chapter, then an over- • view of the subject, and finally resources you can consult for more details. Some material is • repeated in different sections of the book to • accommodate people who will not be reading • the entire book. Information about Yellowstone constantly • changes; the information provided here is • current as of March 2002. You can find updates and more information on the park • website (www.nps.gov), in park publications • and exhibits, or by asking the park's interpre­ tive rangers who staff the visitor centers. ,.• We welcome your feedback and comments. I • • • • • • • • • • •:~ • • • • • • • .• , : • • • • • • • • • • • • • INTRODUCTION 1• I. The • Beginning • of an • Idea One of the most enduring legends of Yellowstone 1•• National Parle involves its beginning. In 1870, ,. explorers gathered around a campfire at the junction of two pristine rivers, overshadowed by the towering • cliffs of the Madison Plateau. They discussed what • they had seen during their exploration, and realized that this land of fire and ice and wild animals needed • to be preserved. Thus, the legend goes, the idea of • Yellowstone National Park was bom. I • • • It is a wonderful story-and a myth. But The management ofYellowstone from 1872 • those men were real, and so was this land they through the early 1900s, which is described in explored. Thanks to their reports and the work Chapter 1, helped set the stage for the creation • of explorers and artists to follow, the United of an agency whose sole purpose was to • States Congress established Yellowstone manage the national parks. Promoters of this National Park in 1872. The Yellowstone idea gathered support from influential journal­ • National Park Act says, in part, that "the ists, railroads likely to profit from increased TWO "ORGANIC • headwaters of the Yellowstone River ... is park tourism, and members of Congress. The ACTS" hereby reserved and withdrawn from settle­ National Park Service Act was authorized by The laws creating • ment, occupancy, or sale ... and dedicated Congress and approved by President Yellowstone National • and set apart as a public park or pleasuring­ Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916: Park and the ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the There is created in the Department of National Park • people." In an era of expansion throughout Service are both the Interior a service to be called the • the young nation, the federal government had National Park Service, [which] ... called "The Organic Act" because each the foresight to set aside land deemed too shall promote and regulate the use • valuable to develop. was significant of the Federal areas known as national enabling legislation . • For the following 18 years, Yellowstone was parks, monuments, and reservations However, the name • "the national park." Then in 1890 Congress ... by such means and measures as most often refers to established three more national parks: conform to the fundamental purpose the law that created • Sequoia, General Grant (now part of Kings to conserve the scenery and the natural the National Park • Canyon), and Yosemite. Mount Rainier fol­ and historic objects and the wild life Service. To avoid lowed in 1899. In 1906, Congress passed the therein and to provide for the enjoy­ confusion, in this • Antiquities Act, which gave the president ment of the same in such manner and book we will refer to authority to establish national monuments. By by such means as will leave them the laws by their • official names: The 1914, the United States had 30 national parks unimpaired for the enjoyment of future Yellowstone National • and monuments, each managed separately and generations. Park Act of 187 2 and • administered by three different federal depart­ The National Park ments-Interior, Agriculture, and War. No Service Act of 1916 . • unified policy or plan provided