Lower Falls, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

National Geographic Devotes Entirety of May 2016 Issue to Yellowstone

If you pick up the May 2016 issue of National Geographic, you may notice something: it’s all Yellowstone.

And not just the national park. Indeed, in honor of the National Park Service’s centennial, the travel magazine has decided to dedicate the entirety of said issue to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Entitled YELLOWSTONE: America’s Wild Idea, the issue covers issues and stories from the GYE’s roughly 22.6 million-acre expanse. Among the questions raised by the magazine: Why is Yellowstone so special? Are we doing enough to preserve the GYE? And what does the future of Yellowstone look like? From a Yellowstone press release:

“Yellowstone National Park staff worked with National Geographic photographers, writers, and fact checkers for more than two years to create this special issue,” said Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk. “Our goal was to illuminate how special this place is and the incredible challenges it faces today. Everyone who cares about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and its future should read this issue.”

“It takes a global community to manage, support, and sustain the gift that is the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Grand Teton National Park Superintendent David Vela. “The passion and efforts of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, gateway communities, and neighboring private landowners are all essential to the stewardship of this ecosystem. This special issue of National Geographic provides a snapshot of these stewards at work.”

As David Quammen, the award-winning, principal author of the issue writes: “Yellowstone is more than just a park. It’s a place where, more than 140 years ago, people began to negotiate a peace treaty with the wild. That negotiation continues today, with growing urgency, at Yellowstone and all over the planet, as the human world expands and the natural world retreats. Can we come to terms?”

In addition to the May 2016 issue, National Geographic has also helped spearhead a unique exhibit on elk migration across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Entitled “Invisible Boundaries: Exploring Yellowstone’s Great Animal Migrations,” it’s slated to open at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center of the West (BBHC) May 27. It will remain at the BBHC for at least the remainder of 2016 before heading out to Yale University. The exhibit is also on display at the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. from now until September 30.

Currently, you can get the issue in Park bookstores as well as online through both the Yellowstone Association and the Grand Teton Association, as well at newsstands.

About Sean Reichard

Sean Reichard is the editor of Yellowstone Insider and author of Yellowstone Insider For Families 2017.

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