Yellowstone Treasures Blog

Opinions and controversy concerning the wolves near Yellowstone continue to appear in media stories. Here are two recent examples.On January 29 the state of Wyoming and a U.S. Justice Department lawyer presented arguments before a U.S. District Judge… more »

Things are off to a slow start this year, with snow cover just sufficient to open the roads to over-snow vehicles on December 15. As of Dec. 27, Old Faithful and the West Entrance had 15 inches of snow on the ground, the East Entrance had 14, and Mammoth… more »

According to the Defenders of Wildlife Web site, the judge agreed that, in delisting the bears in 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not "take into consideration the continued decline of the whitebark pine, a critical grizzly food source threat… more »

I just read today that both blacks and grizzlies are coming out of their dens a little early this year. It's not really surprising, since the snow pack is way below normal, and it has been relatively warm in Yellowstone. Tracks and bears have been sighte… more »

Wanting to get an idea of the larger picture of the ongoing controversy about wolves, I recently bought and read my fifth book about Yellowstone and wolves, but this one from the point of view of a journalist, Wyoming resident, and (in recent years) shee… more »

The Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review published the following figures on March 21st, gleaned from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: In addition to at least two packs each in the states of Washington and Idaho, they have counted a minimum population… more »

The day after I posted my sort-of-book-report about wolves, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition put up a very thoughtful article on the same general subject. Interested readers might take a look at the URL from the New West Blog that I'm sending here. more »

For an amazing list of animals just sighted during a very few days in Yellowstone, click on “More” at the bottom of the post for Day Four of the South Salem, New York’s, Wolf Conservation Center trip, at: http://nywolf.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-four-in-ye… more »

The top of the food chain is always the most controversial. Last week U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Montana overturned last fall’s decision by the Interior Department to remove the gray wolf’s Endangered Species protective listing. The previous de… more »

Doug Smith, the biologist in charge of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, gave an important report on the state of Yellowstone’s wolves last week In Cody, Wyoming. Speaking at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Smith mentioned that fall is “the hardest time… more »

Here is a wonderful wolf report from last month by one of our best observers of Yellowstone wolf behavior, Kathie Lynch:http://wolves.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/kathie-lynch-late-summer-yellowstone-wolf-viewing-is-sparse/#more-13864.I’ve been meaning… more »

Back on April twelfth, I posted a sort of book report about Cat Urbigkit’s Yellowstone Wolves book and its eye-opening take on the 1990s wolf introduction from a Wyoming rancher’s point of view (see Yellowstone>Wildlife here for that post). The item t… more »

Here’s a nice story about how a small Montana town was able to deal with an apparently confused trumpeter swan: http://www.westyellowstonenews.com/news/article_1790edc0-ef2e-11df-8d19-001cc4c03286.html When he took off from the Madison River outsid… more »

Much has been written in the past few weeks about Yellowstone’s bison and their brucellosis problem. I will not go into details here, which are much too complicated to be dealt with effectively in a guidebook writer’s post, but I will send along the URL… more »

Take a listen to this on the first days of spring! At the following Web site, you’ll find a short video that will introduce you—and all those kids who’ve been brought up on Kermit—to the real thing. A remarkable little park inhabitant that will be co… more »

While we wait for a court decision about a March settlement between conservation groups and the U.S. Department of the Interior concerning the Yellowstone wolves, I will pass along a few details of that settlement and also parts of an interesting winter… more »

Just in time for National Park Week (April 16 through 24), when entry to Yellowstone and all other parks is free to all visitors, things have changed for the Northwest’s wolves and bison. First, the agreement between conservation groups and the U.S.… more »

If you happen to have a lot of time on your hands and are interested in the probable plight of the wolves in the U.S. Northwest, now that Congress has stepped in and mandated delisting in Idaho and Montana, you may want to read this very long post on the… more »

Back in 2009, when Yellowstone grizzly population had reached about 550, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the grizz. But Chris Servheen, acting for the USFWS appealed that decis… more »