Download a current Amtrak service map and you’ll see a huge hole in the middle of the West: Wyoming, one of the few states in the Union lacking rail service. That wasn’t always true.

By Sean Reichard

There are many icons in Yellowstone National Park, in and of itself one of the most iconic places in the United States. Old Faithful Geyser, Castle Geyser, Morning Glory Pool, Old Faithful Inn, a herd of bison, a lone elk standing proudly on a hill as the sun rises.

A bad economy and uncertainty about the legal status of the winter season probably drove down the number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park this past winter, as 86,793 visitors came to the Park between December 2008 and March 2009, down 13.2 percent from last year’s number of 99,975. In an economic recession as widespread as the one at hand, …

Yellowstone National Park officials are openly concerned about the future of the East Entrance during the winter season after only 97 snowmobiles and no snowcoaches used that route to enter the Park. It costs the Park $325,000 annually to keep the East Entrance and the Sylvan Pass open. It’s not easy: Because there’s a constant danger of avalanches, a bazooka …

By Sean Reichard A herd of 41 bison are being moved from Yellowstone National Park to the Wind River reservation in Fremont County, Wyoming. This is part of an effort to spare the bison from a government program that slaughters bison in an effort to prevent brucellosis from spreading to other animals. The bison are currently set to stay in …

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With the northwestern roads of Yellowstone National Park cleared of snow, we have the first time in the spring and summer season where the public can enter the Park — but they must be on a bike. The Yellowstone winter season is officially over, which means the snowmobiles and snow coaches are not allowed in the Park. Despite a surfeit …

A new management plan proposed by Montana and U.S. officials would allow more bison to roam past the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park this winter, as surrounding states work out a management plan for brucellosis. THe new plan combines a previous proposal to eventually allow up to 100 bison to head north of the Park via the Royal Teton Ranch …

You couldn’t tell from the throngs of people clogging the roads around Old Faithful this summer, but the number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park was slightly down through the end of September, according to figures from the National Park Service. At the end of October, the 2008 tally was 3.09 million, down a little more than 1 percent under …

After weeks of internal deliberations and an initial assertion that such a plan could not be legally crafted, the National Park Service has submitted for public review a Yellowstone National Park winter-use plan calling for 318 four-cycle guided snowmobiles and 78 snow coaches into the Park daily during the upcoming winter season. The temporary plan would be in effect for …