Issues

Cam Sholly, still in his first year as superintendent, doesn’t foresee any dramatic changes in Yellowstone National Park operations, dismissing talk of limiting access to the Park in the busiest summer visitation days.

The Yellowstone wolf population remained steady in 2018, according to a report issued by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as part of its management of the state wolf population.

The annual spring culling of Yellowstone bison has begun, as 23 bison that were part of a larger herd heading north of Mammoth Hot Springs were captured near the Stephens Creek facility.

Quarantined Yellowstone bison are finally headed to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, as an agreement to transfer bulls reached last year finally comes to fruition.

The proposed ban on mining north of Yellowstone National Park, the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, was passed today by the U.S. Senate as part of a major, bipartisan public lands package that now heads for the House of Representatives.

In a win for conservation and Yellowstone tourism over mining, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced the withdrawal of 30,000 acres of federal lands in southwest Montana north of the Park from mining for 20 years.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen restored Endangered Species Act protections for Yellowstone-area grizzly bears, and in the process permanently ended planned trophy hunts in Idaho and Wyoming.

While there are few outbreaks of Yellowstone forest fires in 2018, one fire on the western boundary of the Park — the Bacon Rind Fire — continues to expand.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen extended a temporary restraining order that blocks a Yellowstone-area grizzly trophy hunt in Idaho and Wyoming, as the legal debate continues over federal delisting of the bears from endangered status and turning management over to the states.

Yellowstone visitation in August 2018 was down some 11 percent when compared to August 2017, as hot and dry weather may have impacted the overall recreational numbers.