Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Coordinates: 44 ° 37 ′ 18.3 "  N , 110 ° 37 ′ 46.5"  W.
Location:	Wyoming , United States
Next city:	Billings
Surface:	8,983.17 km²
Founding:	March 1, 1872
Visitors:	4,115,000 (2018)
Address:	Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park
UNESCO world heritage
National territory:	United States
Type:	nature
Criteria :	(vii) (viii) (ix) (x)
Surface:	898,349 ha
Reference No .:	28
UNESCO region :	Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment:	1978  ( session 2 )
Red list :	1995-2003

The Yellowstone National Park is a national park in the United States . It was founded on March 1, 1872, making it the oldest national park in the world. Most of it is in the state of Wyoming and is the heart of the larger Yellowstone ecosystem . It is named after the largest river in the park, the Yellowstone River .

The park is best known for its geothermal springs like geysers and mud pots, as well as for its wildlife like bison , grizzly bears and wolves . In 1978 UNESCO declared it a world natural heritage site .

history

FV Haydens Map of Yellowstone National Park, 1871

Yellowstone National Park poster, 1938

There is evidence of Indian settlement for over 11,000 years. Around 1807 the trapper John Colter was probably the first white man to see what is now the national park. Northern Shoshone could also be found there in Colter's day . Other tribes such as the Blackfoot , Absarokee and Bannock roamed the Yellowstone area occasionally for hunting and fishing . At the Obsidian Cliff they found abundant obsidian stone from which they made cutting tools and weapons. Yellowstone obsidian arrowheads have also been found in the Mississippi Valley .

John Colter returned to civilization in 1810. His descriptions of Yellowstone were hardly noticed. The area was inaccessible, so it was not quickly populated by whites; however, some fur hunters and gold prospectors ventured as far as that, for example Warren Ferris in 1834 and Jim Bridger in 1857. Their reports were also largely ignored, but not by the geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden . He put together an expedition in 1859 under the leadership of Bridger and the US inspector WF Raynolds . The expedition failed due to the onset of winter before it could even enter the Yellowstone area. It was not until after the American Civil War that another attempt was made. When the Folsom Expedition was successfully carried out in 1869, Montana's Inspector General Henry Dana Washburn became interested in the Yellowstone area. Together with the writer Nathaniel P. Langford and Lieutenant Gustavus C. Doane , he put together the Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition a year later . This gave its name to the Old Faithful geyser . With them was Truman Everts , who almost lost his life under the most adventurous circumstances. Finally the press was ready to cover the extraordinary area. The accounts were received with great interest across the country.

Ferdinand V. Hayden was encouraged by Washburn and began a two-year research trip to the area again in 1871 . The 34-strong group also included the painter Thomas Moran and the photographer William Henry Jackson . The pictures and documents of another research trip, the Barlow Heap Expedition, which started at the same time, were destroyed in the great fire of Chicago in October 1871 immediately after their return , so that Moran's pictures and Jackson's photos gained in importance.

The Sheepeater Shoshonen lived in the area of ​​today's park until 1871. They then joined other Shoshonen groups on the Wind River Indian Reservation . Meanwhile the white settlers had advanced far to the west and not only displaced the Indians, but also many animals and plants. The Rocky Mountains were the last retreat. Environmentalists called for a protected area for animals and plants. The reports and pictures of the participants in the expeditions to the Yellowstone region, with its 10,000 hot springs, including 3,000 geysers, impressed the parliamentarians in Washington, DC so much that they passed a law in 1872 that protected the Yellowstone area from prospectors and settlers and should protect trappers. On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the law, creating the world's first national park. The primary goal of the foundation was not nature conservation, but “a public park or amusement park for the benefit and pleasure of the people”. The Northern Pacific Railway had lobbied vigorously for the establishment of the park , hoping that this would enable better capacity utilization of its trains.

For the next five years, Nathaniel P. Langford ran the park as honorary superintendent - the US made no funds available for the park. His successor was Philetus Walter Norris , after whom a place in the park was named. During his tenure, Congress awarded the superintendent a salary as well as minimal funds for running the park. Norris used the money to improve the development of the park. He also hired Harry Yount (known as Rocky Mountain Harry ) to help stop poaching and vandalism. Today Harry Yount is considered to be the first park ranger .

In 1876 the Hunkpapa - Lakota under Sitting Bull drove into the park in search of hunting prey that was hardly available further east in the Great Plains . A year later in the Nez Percé War , Chief Joseph and his Nez Percé fled through Yellowstone before the US Army could intercept them just before the Canadian border. No Indian groups have lived in the Yellowstone area since 1880.

After the park opened, many travelers came to the park primarily for their hunting pleasure. In 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad opened up Yellowstone National Park through a station in Livingston , north of the park. For the inauguration of the new line, the railroad company invited 365 journalists and celebrities, including former US President and Park founder Ulysses S. Grant, to a free trip to Yellowstone. The special train left New York on August 29th and reached the national park on September 6th. Northern Pacific Railroad named the new line The Wonderland Route and marketed the park in the style of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show .

Norris was followed by three other superintendents, who were just as unable to halt the destruction of the park's natural resources. Therefore, the management of the park was entrusted to the US Army in 1886 and the National Park Protection Act 1894 created the legal basis for its protection. In Fort Yellowstone at today's town of Mammoth Hot Springs troops were stationed during the military leadership.

From 1915 cars were allowed to drive into the national park. In 1916 the newly founded National Park Service took over responsibility. That year, 35,800 tourists, half of whom came by car, visited the park, which among other things led to noise pollution. To this day, one of the tasks of the National Park Service is to strike a balance between the satisfaction of visitors and nature conservation.

In the summer of 1936, the future US President Gerald Ford worked as a park ranger in Yellowstone National Park. He was responsible for feeding the bears. Until the beginning of the Second World War , the number of visitors rose continuously to 581,000 visitors per year (1941). It then fell to 85,000 (1944) and increased sharply after the war, from 815,000 in 1946 to over a million two years later. In 1965 it exceeded the two million mark for the first time.

Geography and geology

Mammoth Hot Springs

The Yellowstone National Park is 96 percent of the area almost entirely in the US state of Wyoming, 3 percent is in Montana and 1 percent in Idaho. With an area of ​​8987 km², it is one of the largest national parks in the USA . The area of ​​the national park is roughly the size of Corsica . The north-south extension is 102 kilometers, the east-west extension 87 kilometers. Yellowstone National Park is part of the Rocky Mountains and averages about 2,440 meters above sea level . Eagle Peak , the highest point in the park, is at 3462 meters, the lowest point, at the northern entrance, at 1620 meters.

Much of the national park lies in the caldera of the Yellowstone volcano , which was formed around 640,000 years ago , above the magma chamber , which is more than 8 kilometers deep. The magma chamber is around 80 kilometers long, 40 kilometers wide and 10 kilometers thick. This means that the Yellowstone volcano belongs to the group of super volcanoes . It is the largest super volcano on the American continent.

Castle geyser

The park is famous for its volcanic landscape with geysers , fumaroles , mud pots and hot springs . Sixty-two percent of all hot springs in the world are in the Yellowstone area, or about 10,000. Of the more than 300 geysers in the national park, the Old Faithful geyser in the upper geyser basin is particularly popular with tourists, because it spits out its water with unusual regularity at intervals of around 60 to 90 minutes (as of 2018). With the Steamboat Geyser, the park is also home to the largest active hot water geyser in the world. It is located in the Norris Geyser Basin .

The cause of the volcanogenic activity is the volcano's magma chamber, which heats the water flowing down from the mountains and seeping into the porous lava rock. In hot springs, geysers or bubbling mud holes, the seeping water returns to the surface of the earth.

Play media file

The White Dome geyser erupts

Smaller volcanic eruptions between 630,000 and 70,000 years before our time filled the caldera almost completely with lava rock. Today, the park is located on a high plateau at around 2,400 meters above sea level and is bordered almost all around by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains, the peaks of which are between 3,000 and 4,300 meters high. In the northwest lies the Gallatin Range , in the north the Beartooth Mountains , in the east the Absaroka Range , in the south the Teton Range and in the west the Madison Range . The most famous mountain on the plateau itself is Mount Washburn with a height of 3122 meters. Part of the Yellowstone Plateau is Yellowstone Lake , the largest mountain lake in North America. Part of the park is the Island Park Caldera , a plateau surrounded by low hills.

The main North American watershed runs diagonally through the southwestern portion of the park. This is a ridge line that separates the water runoff into the Pacific and the Atlantic. Three major rivers have their source in the mountains of the park. The Yellowstone River gave the national park its name. It leaves the national park in the north and flows over the Missouri River , the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic. The water of the Madison River flows off in the west and ends via the Missouri-Mississippi river system also in the Atlantic. The Snake River flows south from the park and flows into the Pacific, although its headwaters are very close to the source of the Yellowstone River. In total, there are 290 waterfalls in the park with a height of at least 4.5 meters, including the neighboring Lower Falls, the highest falls in the park at 94 meters, and Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Tower Fall at the mouth of the Tower Creek in the Yellowstone River.

The national park can be divided into five zones (countries). The Mammoth Country is located in the northwest of the park and is mainly characterized by the thermal springs and the limestone terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. Here often can Wapiti RANGES be observed. The Roosevelt Country in the northeast is the least visited by tourists. Many wild animals such as deer and bison can be found in this hilly landscape. The west of the park, the Canyon Country , is determined by the almost 400 meters deep Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with its waterfalls and the Hayden Valley with its large herds of bison. The Lake Country in the southeast with various lakes such as Yellowstone Lake or Heart Lake is home to animals such as fish, birds of prey, moose and bears. The southwest is the area with most of the park's geysers and hot springs, including the Old Faithful and the Steamboat Geyser. It is appropriately named Geyser Country .

In the last 300,000 years or so, the surface of the park area was shaped by the glaciers of the Ice Age . In three cold periods , a large plateau glacier formed in the center of today's park and several glaciers starting from the Absaroka Range in the east. Together they covered the park area almost completely and reached far beyond its borders in the north and south. Traces of glaciation can be seen to this day in the form of the lake basins in the park, especially Yellowstone Lake , the trough valleys in the mountainous parts of the park and in the valleys on Slough Creek in the northeast of the park and on the upper reaches of the Yellowstone River, which are filled with gravel, sand and lake clay where the rivers meander their beds in a wide valley . Boulders in the northeast of the park, near the road to Cook City, also date from the last Ice Age . The forest returned to the national park area around 10,500-9500 years ago.

climate

The climate in Yellowstone National Park is mainly characterized by its location in the Rocky Mountains. In Mammoth Hot Springs, the average daily low temperature in January is −13 ° C and in July the daily high is 27 ° C. Sudden weather changes must be expected in the park all year round.

In summer, temperatures of 25 ° C during the day are common in the lower areas, occasionally they reach 30 ° C. Thunderstorms often occur in the afternoon. The nights are cool even in summer; in the mountains, temperatures can drop below freezing. In winter they typically range between −20 ° C and −5 ° C during the day. The highest temperature of 37 ° C was measured in 1936 in the Lamar Valley , the lowest of −54 ° C in 1933 in Madison.

Winter in Yellowstone

On average, 183 cm of snow falls annually, significantly more in higher regions than in the valleys. Occasional snowfall is normal even in spring and autumn. Average rainfall ranges from 26 cm per year at Mammoth Hot Springs in the north to 205 cm in the southwest of the park.

Tornadoes in Yellowstone National Park are rare. On July 21, 1987, the most powerful tornado in the park was measured. The wind speeds of 333 to 418 km / h reached strength F4 on the Fujita scale . The tornado left a swath of one to two miles (1.6 to 3.2 kilometers) wide and 38 kilometers in length in the Teton Wilderness and Yellowstone National Park.

In 2005, researchers found several 1500-year-old juniper trees still alive near Mammoth Hot Springs and an almost 2000-year-old pine ( Pinus flexilis ) in the Absaroka Mountains . These trees will now be examined in detail. Scientists hope to gain new insights into the climatic conditions of the last two millennia.

Flora and vegetation

Trees in the immediate vicinity of the Grand Geyser

Around 80 percent of the park area is covered by coniferous forest , the rest is divided into meadow (15 percent) and water (5 percent). The coniferous forest is particularly prevalent within the caldera. Around three-quarters of it consists of long-needle coastal pines (subsp. Latifolia ), and various spruce and aspen species are common in the park, especially the Engelmann spruce in areas with volcanic soil . At higher altitudes, white-stemmed pines ( Pinus albicaulis ) make up a significant proportion of the forests, while Douglas firs at lower altitudes . In many places - especially in the northern part of the park - unforested areas are a desert sagebrush steppe. It is dominated by grass species such as the Idaho fescue ( Festuca idahoensis ). Grasses as well as sedges , rushes and tall perennials grow in wetter areas . On the meadows bloom in spring, among other claytonia ( Claytonia ), Large-flowered dog teeth ( Erythronium grandiflorum ) and Dicentra uniflora (Longhorn Steer's-head). In the summer they will be replaced by Balsamorhiza sagittata (Arrowleaf Balsamroot), phlox ( Phlox ), Penstemon ( Penstemon ) and lupins. Goldenrods ( Solidago ) and gentians ( Gentiana ) herald the autumn.

There are a total of 186 known species of lichen and around 2000 species of plants in the park, including 12 species of trees and over 60 species of wild flowers, 12 of which are orchid species . Some of these plants are only found in the national park. The hot springs affect the park's vegetation. For most plants, direct contact with the silicate-containing , warm water is damaging. Others, in turn, change their growth rate as a result.

fauna

Elk near Madison Junction

Coyote in the southwest of Yellowstone Park

Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone National Park

The park is a retreat for animal species that have become rare , for example bison and pronghorn . Mule deer , pumas and lynxes are native to the lower areas of the park , and bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the higher areas . Elk is mainly found in the Mammoth Hot Springs region. Other mammals in the park are moose , black bears , at least eight bat species ( Myotis lucifugus is by far the most common) and in the hinterland grizzly bears , wolves and coyotes , but also chipmunks , gray squirrels , silver badgers , beavers , marmots , tree spines , muskrats and also against 40 other species.

Attacks by bears on humans are rather rare, because bears avoid human proximity. Dangerous encounters between bears and humans can only occur when an animal is harassed or has cubs with it. Most wildlife accidents happen with bison. Many visitors fail to realize that these are also wild animals and underestimate the possibilities of these animals. Bison are unpredictable and can very quickly accelerate to over 50 km / h and maintain this speed for a long period of time.

Of the 18 species of fish in the park, the Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout ( Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri ) are particularly popular with anglers. However, the Yellowstone Cutthroat trout are being displaced by the imported, non-native lake trout. In Clear Creek, east of Yellowstone Lake, over 70,000 Yellowstone Cutthroat trout were counted in the 1970s, compared to 471 in spring 2006.

318 bird species (as of April 2004) were officially registered. Common bird species include the cinnamon , the broad-tailed elf (a type of hummingbird ), the red-necked sap-lick (a type of woodpecker ), titjay and tiaras , magpie , rhinoceros pelican , scarab , spatula , great gray owl and sandhill crane . With a bit of luck you will see bald eagles , hawks , rock mountain fowl and pine sap delicacies . Of the less common birds, the common loons , collar ducks , ospreys , peregrine falcons and trumpeter swans should be mentioned. In the forest areas hit by the fire there are good opportunities to observe the spruce woodpecker and black-backed woodpecker . In 1998 two whooping cranes were also spotted in the park . However, this is an absolute exception.

The cool and dry climate limits the reptiles in the park to six and the amphibians to four species.

• Reptiles: prairie rattlesnake , bull snake , California garter snake , Wandering Garter Snake , Rubber Boa and the Spiny Lizard Sceloporus Graciosus (English Sagebrush Lizard.).
• Amphibians: Western toad , choir frog , tiger salamander and the frog species Rana pretiosa (Oregon Spotted Frog).

The size of the amphibian populations fell to less than half between 1992 and 2008 as ponds dried up due to global warming.

Thermophilic bacteria and algae

Morning Glory Pool

A wide variety of thermophilic bacteria and algae live in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park . Very few of them have been scientifically researched. The major researched thermophilic bacteria discovered in Yellowstone National Park include Thermus aquaticus and various cyanobacteria . 2009 in eukaryotic the genus algae Cyanidioschyzon discovered the park, that they have the high arsenic concentrations tolerate and arsenic in complex organic binding compounds. In this form, arsenic is significantly less available to other organisms and no longer develops its toxic effect. These algae exist in Yellowstone National Park waters that are fed by geysers and other hot springs of volcanic origin. Work is in progress on a use for depletion in drinking water.

The National Park Service signed an agreement with US biotech company Diversa in August 1997, “under which the company obtained the intellectual property rights to the heat-stable microorganisms that live in geysers and hot springs in the park. This agreement came to light in March 1998, whereupon several NGOs protested against this case of biopiracy and took legal action. In March 1999, this bio-prospecting contract was finally canceled by a US court. "

The bacteria isolated from sources in Yellowstone National Park hold huge financial potential for pharmaceutical companies. The Swiss group Roche, for example, sells an enzyme from Thermus aquaticus , the Taq polymerase , for the reproduction of genetic material (DNA) and generates revenues in the billions. According to a court ruling from the year 2000, the National Park Service is authorized to participate financially in future research results that have been achieved in Yellowstone National Park.

natural reserve

Bison by a hot spring

Wolf in Yellowstone

Conservationists like George Catlin and Henry David Thoreau had already called for the protection of nature and animals in the Yellowstone region as the first national park to be founded. When the park was founded, however, appropriate protective measures were not anchored in the law; they only flowed in over time. Since January 15, 1883, more than ten years after it was founded, most animals in the park have been banned from hunting. Poachers could not be legally prosecuted, however, and so hunting enthusiasts repeatedly used the opportunity to shoot wild animals. With the National Park Protection Act (also known as the Lacey Act ) of May 7, 1894, the US Parliament created the legal basis for the effective protection of wild animals, birds and natural resources. The law prohibits the killing of all animals in the park, only fishing without a net is allowed. Trees, minerals and natural rarities must not be damaged.

At that time, the park's bison population was estimated to be around 200 and the Yellowstone herds consisted of the last remaining wild bison. Between 1896 and 1902, the park officials' estimates ranged between 22 and 50 bison. In 1902 they bought 15 cows and 3 bulls from external bison farms and moved them to an enclosure south of Fort Yellowstone. By 1920 the bison population in Yellowstone had recovered to around 500 animals. Today the herds contain stabilized populations between 3500 and 4500 animals, in 2005 the park officials reported a high of around 5000 animals. Every winter the bison move north in search of food, and quite a few leave the park. The farmers in the area fear that the bison could infect their cattle with brucellosis . It has not been established whether this is possible. Bison outside the park are either chased back or slaughtered. Every year around 1,500 Yellowstone bison are killed outside the park.

The grizzly bear has been protected in Yellowstone National Park since 1886. From 1975 to 2007 it was on the US Fish and Wildlife Service's list of threatened and endangered species and was therefore also protected outside the park. Today over 500 animals live in the park or in the adjacent area; In 1975 it was 136 to 312. In 2009, a Montana district court ordered the US Fish & Wildlife Service to put the grizzly back on their list of endangered and endangered species.

In the 1970s, black bears got used to the tourists and ate waste and human food. Educational leaflets and a rigorous feeding ban are now successfully keeping the bears away from camping and picnic areas and protecting them from addiction. Today it is forbidden to feed any animals in the park.

The Yellowstone area wolves were hunted for years and wiped out completely in the 1930s. As a direct consequence, the natural balance of the animal world became disrupted. That is why 14 Canadian wolves were successfully resettled and placed under protection in 1995. The Yellowstone wolves have now mixed with immigrant wolves from Canada and their population has increased to almost 100 animals within the park (end of 2009) and to 1645 animals (end of 2008) in the Idaho / Montana / Wyoming area. As a result, on March 28, 2008, the Yellowstone Wolves should be removed from the federal list of endangered species. The protection of the wolf population would have been transferred from the US Fish & Wildlife Service to the three affected US states Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The project was stopped by a federal court in July 2008 after a coalition of nature conservation associations complained that the measures in Wyoming did not meet the level of protection prescribed by the federal government and that the preservation of the population was not guaranteed. In August 2010 the lawsuit was upheld on the grounds that the wolf population in the Yellowstone area should be considered as a whole. In May 2011, the species was finally transferred to state jurisdiction in Idaho and Montana, and after Wyoming passed a sufficient protection law, the wolf was released from federal protection there in October 2012.

Since the reintroduction of the wolves, the elk population in the northern Yellowstone area has decreased from 17,000–19,000 to around 4,600 in December 2010. One of the main reasons, in addition to the greater drought in recent years, is that elk due to the wolves move to higher areas with less food in winter.

Forest fire in Yellowstone

In 1988 there was the last big forest fire (see Fires in Yellowstone National Park 1988 ), which covered almost 4000 km² of the park: 2300 km² of forest burned completely, on 1450 km² only the undergrowth. In addition, the grass and occasionally bushes burned on 250 km². In the past, every kind of forest fire was fought immediately, since 1988 the realization has been established that forest fires in the park are something completely normal. Forest fires are no longer fought, but only monitored to prevent uncontrolled spread. In some cases, the forest fires are started on purpose so that there are no catastrophic fires like the one in 1988. The effects of this fire can still be clearly seen in many places after more than 20 years.

tourism

Snowmobiles in Yellowstone

Beartooth Pass

Lower Falls

The park can be reached via five entrances. To the north of Livingston and Gardiner (Montana), to the northeast of Red Lodge and Cooke City via Beartooth Pass (Wyoming), to the east of Cody , to the south of Jackson and from Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming) via the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway and to the west of Idaho Falls, Idaho and West Yellowstone, Montana. It combines a wide variety of attractions: geysers, hot springs, a deep canyon, a river with several falls, forests, lakes, mountains, wilderness and wildlife. The tourist options are correspondingly diverse. They range from hiking and mountaineering to kayaking and fishing to wildlife viewing and horse riding. There are around 2000 kilometers of marked hiking trails for hikers, spread across the entire park.

Accommodation in hotels and cabins is available in Mammoth Hot Springs in Mammoth Country; Tower-Roosevelt in the Roosevelt Country; Canyon Village in Canyon Country; Lake Village and Grant Village in the Lake Country; and Old Faithful in Geyser Country. In addition, there are eleven campsites in the park as well as a space in Fishing Bridge, which is only approved for campers due to the danger from bears . The towns are connected to one another by streets in the shape of a big eight. Depending on the season and snow conditions, some streets and towns in the park are closed.

The peak season in Yellowstone National Park runs roughly from early May to late October. From mid-June to the end of August, all facilities such as accommodation, petrol stations and restaurants are accessible, during the rest of the time only parts of them. In winter, apart from the road from the north entrance to the north-east entrance, all roads in the park are only accessible with snowmobiles and snow coaches ( chain- driven buses ). The daily number of motorized snow vehicles in the park is limited. Driving without a recognized guide is not permitted.

In the 1980s, almost ten times more tourists were using snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park than in 1968. By 1995 the number of snowmobiles was 75,000 per year. Environmentalists increasingly drew attention to the negative consequences such as stress on animals due to the noise and environmental pollution. US President Clinton had the snowmobiles banned in Yellowstone National Park in January 2001, shortly before the handover to George W. Bush . His successor lifted the ban, but issued stricter technical requirements and a limit on the maximum number of snowmobiles allowed per year. Since then, environmentalists and the snowmobile lobby have been fighting a legal tug-of-war over the amount, which is constantly being adjusted accordingly. At the same time, the National Park Service is conducting extensive studies to study the effects of snowmobiles in the park.

Graphic: Annual number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park

At least 2.8 million tourists have visited the park annually since 1990. The largest number of visitors to date was recorded in 2016 with over 4.25 million people. In the winter seasons, the number of visitors is around 140,000.

The park employs around 4,500 workers during the main season. Hotels, restaurants and shops in the park are operated by Xanterra Parks & Resorts. The concessionaire was awarded the Travel Industry Association's and National Geographic Traveler Magazine's Geotourism Award for Sustaining the Environment of a Place in 2007 for its efforts to promote sustainable tourism in Yellowstone National Park .

Information on the history of the park, flora and fauna, geology, individual or guided hikes and other activity options are available in visitor centers and information stations in Mammoth Hot Springs, Canyon Village, Madison, Fishing Bridge, Grant Village, West Thumb as well as Old Faithful. There are also museums about birds and wildlife in Yellowstone (Fishing Bridge), history and wildlife (Mammoth Hot Springs), geology and thermal objects, and national park rangers (both Norris).

meaning

On October 26, 1976, UNESCO granted Yellowstone National Park the status of an International Biosphere Reserve, and on September 8, 1978, UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site . Seven objects and sites within the park have been designated as National Historic Landmarks by the National Register of Historic Places : The Obsidian Cliff , Fort Yellowstone, Norris Geyser Basin Museum, Fishing Bridge Museum & Visitor Center, Madison Information Station , the Old Faithful Inn and the Lake Hotel .

Yellowstone National Park generated around $ 300 million for the region in 2005. 6,815 people in the Yellowstone region got their jobs from the park. Tourists who travel to Yellowstone National Park because of the wolves alone brought the area around the national park $ 35 million in 2006.

In addition to the Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone area in the broader sense, various geographical objects have this name component: in addition to the Yellowstone River and Yellowstone Lake , Yellowstone County in Montana, the villages of West Yellowstone west of the park and Yellowstone City , the former administrative seat of the Parks, Fort Yellowstone , and the wooded areas of Yellowstone National Park Timberland Reserve and Yellowstone Forest Reserve . In addition, some historical personalities had Yellowstone in their nicknames: The Scout Luther S. Kelly was known as Yellowstone Kelly , Jack Baronett - also Scout - as Yellowstone Jack and the businessman Jack Haynes as Mister Yellowstone .

Even today, the name Yellowstone is used repeatedly for commercial products such as newspapers, drinks, boats, etc. The Hanna Barbera cartoon series Yogi Bear is set in Jellystone National Park .

literature

• Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden and the founding of the Yellowstone National Park . With Sketches by Thomas Moran and Photographs by WH Jackson. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey (US).
  • The Yellowstone Founding Bill December 4, 1871.
• Mark H. Brown: The Plainsmen of the Yellowstone - A History of the Yellowstone Basin. GP Putnam's Sons, New York 1961.
• Philip Burnham: Indian Country, God's Country: Native Americans and the National Parks . Island Press , Washington, DC 2000.
• John M. Good, Kenneth L. Pierce: Interpreting the Landscape of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks . Grand Teton Natural Hist Assn, 1997, ISBN 0-931895-45-6 .
• Aubrey L. Haines: The Yellowstone Story - A History of our First National Park. University Press of Colorado, Niwot 1996, two volumes: ISBN 0-87081-390-0 and ISBN 0-87081-391-9 .
• Joel C. Janetski: Indians in Yellowstone National Park. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City 2002, ISBN 0-87480-724-7 .
• Chris J. Magoc: Yellowstone: The Creation and Selling of an American Landscape, 1870-1903 . University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque 1999.
• Judith L. Meyer: The Spirit of Yellowstone - The Cultural Evolution of a National Park. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham (Maryland) 1996, ISBN 0-8476-8248-X .
• Peter Nabokov, Lawrence Loendorf: Restoring a Presence: American Indians and Yellowstone National Park . University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2004.
• Elli H. Radinger: The Wolves of Yellowstone. Von Döllen Verlag, Worpswede 2004, ISBN 3-933055-15-6 .
• Thomas Riepe: Yellowstone - In the land of wolves and coyotes. Monsenstein and Vannerdat, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-86582-124-3 .

Web links

Commons : Yellowstone National Park  - Album containing pictures, videos, and audio files

Wikivoyage: Yellowstone National Park  Travel Guide

• National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park (official site; English)
• Official site for accommodation and restaurants in the park (Engl.)
• American Park Network: Yellowstone National Park (English)
• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Yellowstone Caldera (German, numerous video clips)
• Yellowstone.net (engl.)
• Total Yellowstone Page (English).

Individual evidence

1. ^ National Park System Organic Act , National Park Service (November 2, 2008)
2. ^ Haines: The Yellowstone Story. 1996, Vol. 1, p. 165
3. ^ Haines: The Yellowstone Story. 1996, Vol. 1, pp. 287-289
4. ↑ The Parks in Railroad Advertising: Empire Building: 1873–1885 ( Jan. 4, 2008)
5. ↑ National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park's First 130 Years (January 4, 2008)
6. ↑ Mr. President, This Is Your Life , Washington Post, February 18, 2007, p. P 02.
7. ^ Robert B. Smith, Lee J. Siegel: Windows into the Earth . Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-19-510596-6 , pp. 111-131.
8. ^ Hugh Crandall: Yellowstone . KC Publications, 1987, ISBN 0-916122-21-2 , p. 12.
9. ^ William J. Fritz: Roadside Geology of the Yellowstone Country. Mountain Press Publishing, 1985, ISBN 0-87842-170-X , p. 38.
10. ^ John M. Good, Kenneth L. Pierce: Interpreting the Landscape of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks Grand Teton Natural History Association, 1997, ISBN 0-931895-45-6 , pp. 29-57.
11. ↑ ^{a b c} National Park Service: Yellowstone Fact Sheet ( Memento of March 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (January 6, 2008)
12. ↑ ^{a b} National Park Service: Weather (October 28, 2007)
13. ↑ Wyoming Climate Office: Severe Weather ( February 19, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive ) (October 28, 2007)
14. ↑ Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Page no longer available , search in web archives: Ancient trees 'discovered' in Yellowstone (October 5, 2008)
15. ^ Douglas A. Keinath: Yellowstone's World of Bats - Taking Inventory of Yellowstone's Night Life . (pdf; 1.3 MB). In: Yellowstone Science. Vol. 15, No. 3, 2007.
16. ↑ Casper Star Tribune: Page no longer available , search in web archives: Trout in trouble (January 6, 2008)
17. ^ Sarah K. McMenamin et al .: Climatic change and wetland desiccation cause amphibian decline in Yellowstone National Park . In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. October 27, 2008.
18. ↑ Jie Qin et al .: Biotransformation of arsenic by a Yellowstone thermoacidophilic eukaryotic alga . In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Abstract
19. ^ Klaus Pedersen: Nature conservation and profit. People between displacement and the destruction of nature. Münster 2008, p. 119.
20. ↑ Roche: PCR - an excellent method ( Memento from January 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (pdf - October 28, 2007; 353 kB)
21. ↑ Billings Gazette: Page no longer available , search in web archives: Park Service may license microbe use (October 5, 2008)
22. ↑ National Park Service: Benefit-Sharing in the National Parks Environmental Impact Statement (October 28, 2007)
23. ↑ National Park Service: General Conditions for Scientific Research and Collecting Permit (October 28, 2007)
24. ↑ The Lacey Act of 1894 (pdf; 23 kB)
25. ^ Haines: The Yellowstone Story. 1996, Vol. 2, p. 483.
26. ↑ National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park - Yellowstone Releases Summer Bison Population Estimate ( Memento December 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), press release August 8, 2012.
27. ↑ US Fish & Wildlife Service: Successful Recovery Efforts bring Yellowstone Grizzly Bears off the Endangered List (January 6, 2008)
28. ↑ Decision of the US District Court for the District of Montana Missoula Division (pdf; 217 kB)
29. ↑ Yellowstone National Park News Release: Yellowstone Wolf Population In Transition ( December 8, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive ) (March 20, 2010)
30. ↑ National Park Service: Yellowstone Wolf Project - Annual Report 2008 (pdf - February 26, 2010; 2.0 MB)
31. ↑ US Fish & Wildlife Service: Interior Department removes Northern Rocky Mountain Wolves from Endangered Species List (March 30, 2008)
32. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Idahostatesman: Wolves again have federal protection , July 19, 2008.
33. ↑ Decision of the US District Court for the District of Montana Missoula Division ( Memento of December 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (pdf; 4.0 MB)
34. ↑ US Fish & Wildlife Service: Service Declares Wyoming Gray Wolf Recovered Under the Endangered Species Act and Returns Management Authority to the State ( Memento from February 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), press release from August 31, 2012.
35. ↑ National Park Service: Winter Count Shows Decline in Northern Elk Herd Population ( January 17, 2015 memento in the Internet Archive ) (January 16, 2011)
36. ↑ Scott Creel et al: Glucocorticoid stress hormones and the effect of predation risk on elk reproduction . In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 2009.
37. ↑ National Park Service: Four Season Guide to Travel in the Park ( Memento of March 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (November 1, 2008)
38. ↑ Jeffrey L. Arnold, Todd M. Koel: Effects of Snowmobile Emissions on the Chemistry of Snowmelt Runoff in Yellowstone National Park ( Memento from September 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (pdf; 818 kB). Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Section, Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, 2006.
39. ↑ Denver Post: Snowmobile rulings on Yellowstone at odds , December 5, 2008.
40. ↑ National Park Service Public Use Statistic Office: Yellowstone National Park: Annual Park Visitation (All Years) (January 16, 2011)
41. ↑ National Park Service: Yellowstone NP (Aug. 15, 2017)
42. ^ E-Travel Blackboard: Sustainable Tourism Award in Yellowstone (January 6, 2008)
43. ↑ Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: National Parks Tout their Economic Benefits ( Memento of January 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) , August 14, 2006 (December 27, 2008)
44. ↑ Montana's News Station: Wolf tourism in Yellowstone region , February 16, 2008 (December 27, 2008)

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 13, 2006 .